The Vincentians: A General History of the Congregation of the Mission (Volume 4: 1843 to 1878) (Vincent de Paul)

With soaring membership, the Congregation resumed many former posts and embraced new ones. The Ottoman Empire missions stretched from Bulgaria through the Middle East. The missions thrived in the United States, Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru), and the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean (notably Cuba) and the Philippines. Vincentian China continued to grow with European and native confreres. The Missioners were greatly helped by others in the Vincentian Family, especially the Daughters of Charity; organizations developed by them, like the Children of Mary; the Ladies of Charity; and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Advanced science and technology enabled western nations to colonize other areas of the world, opening doors for missionaries. France supported the Congregation in its asserted protectorate over Christians in China and the Middle East. Inevitably, many colonized people struck back, and missionaries offered handy targets. China, Persia, and Ethiopia had sporadic outbursts; Spain and Mexico brought government suppressions; Russia drove the Congregation out of Lithuania and parts of Poland; and Bismarck began his Kulturkampf against the Church in Germany. The tight control of Jean-Baptiste Etienne and Eugène Boré guided the expansion but met resistance from new ideas and cultures. The Church authorities countered such challenges with the Syllabus of Errors and the decree on papal infallibility. About the Series
This series tells the story of priests and brothers who have worked to improve others' spiritual and material welfare for almost four centuries. This work has brought them into contact with the abject poor and the highest royalty, and with the peoples and customs of widely disparate countries (in Europe; the Middle East; Asia, including China; North and South America; Africa; and Australia). For the first time, modern readers will have a thoroughly-researched history based on original documents and the studies of numerous scholars, past and present. It gives a thorough picture of the Missioners' daily lives and describes their failings as well as their exalted acts of heroism.
There will be six volumes:
(1) From the foundation to the end of the seventeenth century
(2) The eighteenth century to the French Revolution
(3) The French Revolution to 1843, the election of Jean-Baptiste Etienne
(4) From 1843 to 1878, the election of Antoine Fiat
(5) From 1878 to 1914, the First World War
(6) From 1914 to 1984, the publication of the Constitutions of the Congregation