天主教聖言會(Societas Verbi Divini,簡稱SVD)是由德籍楊生(Arnold Janssen, 1837-1909)神父於1875年創立於荷蘭史泰爾(Steyl),當時正值十九世紀中期以後,歐洲浪漫主義運動與天主教復興而促成之海外宣教熱潮,諸多專為傳教而設立的組織、團體先後成立,聖言會亦是在此背景下產生。聖言會成立後四年(1879)即派出兩名會士往中國傳教,首先在香港學習,1882年轉至山東南部工作,正式開啟該修會在華人社會的傳教事業。此後直到1909年楊生過世為止,近三十年間,歐洲母會與在華傳教士聯繫不斷,除持續派遣傳教士赴華拓展相關工作,及長期支援傳教事業所需之經費、物資外,楊生亦對在華教會工作提供建言與指導;這些內容可見於當時彼此往來之書信資料中,而本文即是透過此一手史料,呈現聖言會在魯南傳教事業首個階段(1879-1897)的發展歷程,就當時主客觀環境與實際狀況予以剖析說明,以提供學界之參考了解。
The Catholic Society of the Divine Word (Societas Verbi Divini, SVD) was founded in 1875 by Fr. Arnold Janssen (1837-1909), a German priest, at Steyl in the Netherlands. In the mid-19^(th) Century, the Romantic Movement and Catholic revival in Europe contributed to a wave of enthusiasm for missionary works overseas; many missionary organizations and groups, including SVD, were established in the fervor. In 1879, four years after its establishment, SVD dispatched two of its members to China for missionary work. They received training in Hong Kong before moving to southern Shandong in 1882, officially beginning their missionary activities in China. For nearly 30 years, until Janssen's death in 1909, SVD maintained contact with the missionaries in China, while also continually sending missionaries to China to expand the scale of their missionary works and providing them with long-term financial and material support. Janssen also provided churches in China with advice and guidance on missionary works, the content of which can be found in the letters exchanged between him and the missionaries in China. Using these first-hand historical materials, this study examines SVD's missionary works in southern Shandong, analyzing and explaining the subjective and objective environment and the actual conditions of SVD's missionary work during the first stage of its development (1879-1897).