8 - Gregory IX and Mission

Summary

Abstract

This chapter explores Gregory IX's involvement in external mission, that is, conversion efforts among non-Christians, and internal mission, that is, mission among Christians weak in faith or Christians who did not belong to the Latin Christian Church. Analysing some of his central letters about mission, including the highly influential letter Cum hora undecima of February 1235, it discusses Gregory's perception of such ventures, the role of the mendicants, with whom the pope had a long association, and the impact of previous papal missionary involvement, particularly under his predecessor, Honorius III.

Keywords: Mission, Martyrdom, Friars, Apocalypse, Gregory IX

In February 1235, Pope Gregory IX issued the letter Cum hora undecima to a group of Dominicans who wished to take up mission in the East. Gregory gave the friars a number of tasks and licenses, stating that:

Since the eleventh hour has come [Matt. 20:9] in the day given to mankind […] it is necessary that spiritual men [who have] purity of life and the gift of understanding should go forth with John [the Baptist] and prophesy again unto many peoples and nations and languages and kings [Rev. 10:11], because, according to the prophet Isaiah, the salvation of the remnant of Israel will not occur until, as Paul the Apostle says, the fullness of the Gentiles enters first [into the kingdom of heaven] [Rom. 11:25].

Cum hora undecima was to become the most influential missionary letter from Gregory's pontificate. It was repeatedly reissued by his successors, throughout the rest of the thirteenth century, starting with Innocent IV who in 1245 used it when he sent his first envoys directly to the Mongols. Gregory's successors made some specifications and minor alterations to the letter, but the arenga and the main message of Gregory's letter remained untouched, testifying to the importance ascribed to it by subsequent popes.

This essay explores Gregory IX's involvement in both external mission, that is, conversion efforts among non-Christians, and internal mission, that is, mission among Christians weak in faith or Christians who did not belong to the Latin Christian Church. Analysing some of his central letters about mission, it discusses his perception of such ventures, the role of the mendicants, and the influence of previous papal missionary involvement.