“My missionary life was an adventure of the heart”: An interview with Fr. Barry Martinson, S.J.
Father Barry Martinson, S.J., discusses his new memoir "Diary of a Young Missionary: All This Freshness Fuming," which covers his first seven years as a missionary in Taiwan from 1969 to 1976. He explains the book was inspired by letters he wrote to his mother and earlier stories about his early life in Taiwan, aiming to share his humorous and inspiring experiences with a wider audience. The interview highlights his vocation story, the challenges and joys of missionary work in the Far East, and his desire to serve those in need through spiritual and bodily healing. Catholic World Report conducted the interview, providing insight into Martinson’s perspective and the publication of his third volume in the Diary series.
4 months ago
Father Barry Martinson, S.J., reflects on his decades‑long missionary service in Taiwan, the inspiration behind his new memoir Diary of a Young Missionary: All This Freshness Fuming, and the personal and cultural lessons he gathered while living among the island’s indigenous peoples. 1
Martinson explains that his desire to serve the needy, modeled on Jesus’ public ministry, led him to seek a missionary assignment. After an initial plan to go to Latin America proved impossible, he chose Taiwan because of its historic ties to the California Jesuits and his brother Jerry’s prior posting there. 1
The book grew from a trove of letters Martinson wrote to his mother during his formation and early ministry, which he used to revive memories of his first seven years in Taiwan (1969‑1976). It follows his earlier volume, Diary of a Young Jesuit: All This Beauty Blooming (2025). 1
Martinson recounts both the warmth he received—students shouting “I love you!” and invitations to play guitar—and the cultural gaps he faced, especially while mastering Mandarin and learning local customs. He describes the experience as a return to childhood learning. 1
Taiwan’s open society meant Martinson never faced persecution, yet most locals were indifferent to religion, practicing Buddhism, Taoism, or secularism. He did not prioritize conversion, instead focusing on friendship and sharing his faith when opportunities arose. 1
While his brother Jerry succeeded as a media missionary, Martinson’s ministry remained largely person‑to‑person until his books and a stained‑glass studio reached readers in Taiwan and mainland China. He views missionary identity more broadly as “shepherding” than merely converting. 1
Chapter Two of the memoir details his year with the Yami tribe on Orchid Island, where he felt fully integrated into the community and describes the period as one of his happiest years. 1
Martinson hopes his candid, humor‑filled stories will resonate with anyone seeking purpose, encouraging young people to consider service, language study, and cultural immersion, even though the book is not a self‑help manual. 1
Assess Catholic missionaries’ adaptation to Eastern cultures
Catholic “adaptation” of missionaries to Eastern (especially Asian) cultures is best assessed through the Church’s own framework of inculturation—a process that is not mere external change, but a deep integration of authentic cultural values with the Gospel, while protecting the integrity of the Christian faith and remaining in communion with the universal Church.
Many misunderstandings come from conflating two things:
John Paul II explicitly warns that inculturation is “not a matter of purely external adaptation” and defines it as:
“the intimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in Christianity and the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures.”
A related liturgical principle adds that true inculturation is interaction + integration + transculturation (retaining identities), and it must include discernment because not everything in a culture is compatible with the Gospel.
The Church gives two “basic” guiding principles:
“inculturation must be guided by two principles: compatibility with the gospel and communion with the universal Church.”
So an assessment of missionaries’ work in Eastern cultures should ask:
Inculturation is not one-sided cultural “borrow-and-adopt.” It is a dialogue in which Christianity can critique cultural patterns and institutions in light of the Gospel—while still respecting what is good.
Therefore, a legitimate Eastern cultural engagement includes:
John Paul II emphasizes inculturation as slow and requiring a mature, balanced approach. Inculturation must be:
This matters especially in Eastern contexts, where religious and philosophical patterns can be deeply formed and resistant to quick reinterpretation.
John Paul II gives a direct standard for missionaries:
Missionaries must “immerse themselves in the cultural milieu… learn the language… become familiar with the most important expressions of the local culture, and discover its values through direct experience.”
And they do not renounce identity, but evangelize through a credible sign of Gospel witness and solidarity.
Ecclesia in Asia notes that Christianity almost vanished in parts of Asia for multiple reasons, including:
It further observes that even when missionaries later made “new attempts” to inculturate, the Church was still often perceived as “foreign to Asia,” sometimes associated with colonial powers.
So, a fair assessment is that adaptation failures were not merely aesthetic—they could affect receptivity, credibility, and long-term stability of local Christian life.
Paul VI highlights a legitimate principle for Eastern mission:
He also insists on a concrete missionary posture:
Crucially, he frames the fruit as true integration:
This offers a strong benchmark for assessing whether missionary adaptation achieved genuine ecclesial maturity rather than importing a foreign cultural form of Christianity.
A Catholic evaluation of Eastern-culture engagement should typically show these marks:
Even when focusing on worship, the liturgical approach stresses that inculturation aims at a form of worship “culturally suited to local people,” leading to “active and intelligent participation,” but still as an authentic result of Gospel-rooted faith.
Inculturation can fail in two opposite ways:
So a proper assessment should not ask only, “Did they use local customs?” It should ask, “Did the Gospel reshape those customs from within, while remaining unmistakably the Gospel?”
Catholic missionaries’ adaptation to Eastern cultures should be assessed as inculturation, not as cosmetic “adaptation.” When it is done well, missionaries immerse themselves in culture (language, values, lived experience), enter a dialogue that discerns and critiques, and seek a slow, community-rooted integration that remains compatible with the Gospel and in communion with the universal Church.