From Texas to the world - Religious life: special section

National Catholic Reporter, Feb 22, 2002 by Patricia Lefevere

Fifteen decades have passed since the Oblates arrived in south Texas. Known as the "the Cavalry of Christ," these early missionaries from France rode hundreds of miles across the Lower Rio Grande Valley, their saddlebags heavy with catechisms, scriptures and altar vessels.

True to their charism of taking the Good News to those least touched by the church, they preached in the countryside and among the urban poor. Oblates evangelized cowpokes, field hands and ranchers in the brush country, as well as fishermen and marketers along the Rio Grande. They galloped with the gospel to Corpus Christi and Brownsville and across the border into Mexico.

Hurricanes, heat, humidity, drought, bugs, bandits, snakes and yellow fever all made life inhospitable in South Texas of the mid-19th century. But whether caught in an inclement climate or having to conduct their ministry while civil wars and other conflicts raged on both sides of the Rio Grande, the Oblates persisted.

Today a small band of Oblates continues a wide range of apostolic work -- much of it headquartered in San Antonio where the order, known as the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, have had a presence since 1884. Today the busy street outside the Oblate compound is called Oblate Drive. Instead of riding the range, Oblate priests, brothers, their associates and colleagues bring the Good News into classrooms, parishes, retreat and renewal centers. They are planning to bring "distance learning" via the Internet to Catholics 200 miles from San Antonio in Del Rio and Eagle Pass.

"Over 150 years, the Oblate presence has developed into a strong presence that is felt in many institutions," said Oblate Fr. Robert Wright, associate professor of systematic theology at the Oblate School of Theology here. The Oblates have maintained a special commitment to the San Antonio diocese and surrounding areas.

Next year the School of Theology marks its centenary. The school prepares seminarians, priests, religious and laity to serve the needs of the church in the modern world. Several of its 124 students come from Mexican and Latin American backgrounds and are enrolled in the school's Hispanic ministry programs. Others come from Asia, Africa and Europe as well as from dioceses and parishes across Texas and the Southwest.

The bilingual and multicultural nature of the school as well as of the city of San Antonio attract a diverse student body. The school is regarded as a leader in the field of supervised ministry and offers field training, internships and practice that allow students to blend academic theology with ministerial practice under the guidance of an experienced minister.

Charism for collaboration

Collaborative ministry is the hallmark of the school, said its academic dean, Maryknoll Sr. Marcella Hoesl. She cited collaboration with 10 religious communities and houses of formation, including Assumption Seminary here, which counts students from some 20 U.S. dioceses. In all, 26 different religious orders are represented on campus.

Students in the School of Theology are a blend of ordained and laity, women and men, Catholic and non-Catholic. The student body is a reflection of the fact that in today's church, pastors and their associates must work as a team, in the church and the community, Hoesl said.

A new avenue of collaboration began last year when the U.S. Army chose the school for 20 of its chaplains because of the Oblates' supervised ministry programs. What attract ed the Army was the school's Clinical Pastoral Education program, which works with 11 hospitals and medical centers in five Texas cities.

Three of the Army chaplains are Catholic. The group also includes two Seventh Day Adventists, a member of the Full Gospel church, one from the Assemblies of God, a Southern Baptist and several from mainline Protestant denominations, as well as chaplains from Ireland, the Netherlands and Nigeria.

Hoesl, who is a professor of systematic theology, also runs the popular Evening of World Faiths program. On March 21 students can hear the wife of a Jewish cantor and the wife of a Muslim imam discuss the role of women in Judaism and Islam. The events of Sept. 11 have raised a greater awareness of world religions and the need to know more about their creeds and practices, she noted.

This year's fourth annual summer school session will focus on scripture and spirituality within the Jewish, Islamic and Christian faiths. Last year 72 attended the two-week summer session held in mid-June. The school's large outdoor swimming pool can prove as popular as the air-conditioned library in San Antonio's summer.

One of the proudest moments for Hoesl and Wright is graduation day each May when candidates in the school's Lay Ministry Institute and its Instituto de Formacion Pastoral don cap and gown and march with students receiving their master's and doctoral degrees.

Students in the two lay programs receive a Certificate in Pastoral Lay Ministry following two years of study.