page_title: Maryknoll
section_title: First and second departures to China
hierarchical_section_title: Maryknoll / History / Foundation of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers: 1911-1919 / First and second departures to China
caption_attribution_description: English: Maryknoll Orphanage at Luoding, China 1921
context_page_description: Maryknoll is a name shared by three organizations that are part of the Roman Catholic Church: Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Maryknoll Sisters, and Maryknoll Lay Missioners. The organizations are independent entities with shared history that work closely together in the joint focus of the overseas mission activity of the Catholic Church particularly in East Asia, China, Japan, Korea, Latin America and Africa. The organizations officially began in 1911, founded by Thomas Frederick Price, James Anthony Walsh, and Mary Joseph Rogers. The name Maryknoll comes from the hill outside the Village of Ossining, Westchester County, New York, which houses the headquarters of all three. Members of the societies are usually called Maryknollers.
  Maryknollers are sometimes known as the "Marines of the Catholic Church" for their reputation of moving into rough areas, living side-by-side with the indigenous peoples and learning the language. Maryknollers focus on "combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and advancing peace and social justice" in the countries they serve and have built numerous orphanages, primary schools and secondary schools.
context_section_description: World War I ended in 1918 and three Maryknoll priests were ready to make the first Maryknoll mission to China. James Edward Walsh, Francis X. Ford, and Bernard F. Meyer along with Price as Mission Superior departed for China on September 7, 1918.
  Walsh and Meyer arrived first, Price and Ford some weeks later. Their first stop in Asia was Hong Kong (a British colony at the time), to acclimate briefly with the Paris Foreign Missions Society, which was the predominant Catholic organization in China. From Hong Kong, they went to Yeungkong and started their missionary work in China from there. Although he was only successful at learning a few words in the local dialects, Price quickly set the tone for the mission and those that would follow; 
   Father Price liked China equally with us, but he had one enthusiasm only... all those precious souls that make up the vast population of common people that we went to help and to save. He gave this emphasis in a way that was very simple and yet highly important, and that was by taking very seriously every little piece of work that was done for the people – the simplest service in the Church, even though it should be attended by only a handful, the insistence on a complete schedule of church services for them just as if he had been in the biggest parish in his own country; the immediate planning for whatever they needed in the matter of religious, educational, medical and other help, even though plans could not be immediately realized, the most patient and courteous reception for every visitor; the scrupulous visits to the outlying villages, even though some of them contained only a few apparently hopeless apostates; and, in general, the placing of himself, his mission and all his energies and resources at the complete service of the people.
  In short, Father Price knew why he went to China, and if we did not know it, we soon learned it from his example. I think this emphasis has persisted throughout the development of our missions, and I believe that his short and sacrificial mission career was a providential means in bringing this about. 
  — James E. Walsh 
  Daniel Leo McShane led the second Departure Group in 1919. McShanes's first assignment was to assist Meyer. When the Maryknollers arrived, they discovered that Chinese orphanages did not accept infants or sick children. An orphanage was begun in Yeungkong and in 1920. McShane was then sent to be the pastor of Luoding and immediately set up an orphanage for abandoned children there, as well, despite local opposition. The abandoned babies were almost all female and traditionally drowned before the Maryknollers built facilities and began offering a few cents for every child. Soon the Yeungkong orphanage was averaging 450 baptisms a year and the Luoding facility close to a thousand.
caption: Maryknoll Orphanage at Luoding, China 1921
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