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The Church in miniature - Regina Mundi
Irene Mary Breslin, S.U.

During the last eight years of his residence in Rome Father Rijk was associated as guest speaker, then as professor, with the Pontifical Institute "Regina Mundi". The some four hundred sisters who each year study theology at this institute constitute a group that in several respects is unique among the varied international groups of religious women in Rome. The students represent seventy different nationalities and over one hundred and fifty religious congregations whose apostolic service reaches people from Iceland to South Africa, from Canada to Chile, from Ghana to Japan, from Spain to Australia.

Following courses in the English, Spanish, French or Italian language sections, the regular students — who in recent years come mainly from the southern hemisphere — pursue their studies for three or four years to obtain a Master's degree in Religious Sciences granted by the Gregorian University to which the Institute is aggregated. Other religious women who have already had a number of years of apostolic experience take advantage of the Theological Renewal Course offered annually in English, Spanish, French and German. Pope Paul VI, in a visit to the Institute, saw "Regina Mundi" . . . "with its ethnic and cultural variety, its diversity of religious congregations" as "the Church in miniature . . . a home of unity in regard to faith, charity and strength of purpose" and trusted that, "founded with such foresight" (more than twenty-five years ago) it would continue "in the forefront of renewal and adaptation", particularly in theological studies, according to the norms of Vatican Council II.

Father Rijk was first invited as guest speaker in 1970 to give a series of conferences to the Fourth Year students as part of a special program organized to explain the work of the various Secretariates functioning to implement the Council norms for ecumenical progress. The program operated for two years exclusively for the Fourth Year, then an optional course in Ecumenism became part of the regular subjects offered in all sections.

Course on Ecumenism

From 1972 to 1978 Father Rijk was in charge of the two-credit course in Ecumenism in the English section. His first series of lectures bore the title: "The Mystery of Israel" and the description:

"The revolutionary impact of Vatican Council II's declaration Nostra Aetate on the theology of the relations between world religions and specifically between the Church and Judaism. Theology of Jewish-Christian relations in past and present with a view to the future."

In the academic year 1975-6 Father Rijk gave a one-semester course in the French section on "Biblical Prayer", and in the following year initiated in that language his course: "Theology of the Relations between the Church and Judaism: Ecumenical and Christological Aspects". In 1977-8 he began teaching also in the Italian section on Biblical Prayer and was scheduled to initiate there the course on Ecumenism for 1978-9 when the sudden onset of his illness obliged him to relinquish all his teaching commitments in Rome. It is interesting to note that the impact of a deepened ecumenical attitude for the renewal of Christian life became increasingly important in Father Rijk's teaching. The course description of his last series of lectures reads:

"The ecumenical attitude, promoted by Vatican Council II, has a great influence on the life and thought of Christians. The relationship between the Church and the Jewish people especially, can throw light on the on-going task of renewing Christian faith. This course deals with the main discoveries in this process of renewal."

Besides his lectures in the classroom, Father Rijk rendered great service to several groups of students in the English and French sections by his talks in preparation for the pilgrimage to the Holy Land organized each year by the Institute. His indications of the biblical themes were a marvellous enrichment for the experience: the Land, the People of God, the Desert, the Covenant wherein God chose to reveal himself through prophetic word and salvific action until the fulfilment of the promise in Jesus Christ; his deeply scriptural reflections gave substance and perspective all during the stay in Israel.

Through Father Rijk many religious women attending "Regina Mundi" came to know and appreciate the fruitfulcontinuing Judeo-Christian Dialogue fostered by Vatican Council II, the conferences and publications sponsored by SIDIC, the beauty of Jewish liturgical service in connection with certain aspects of Christian liturgy. Above all they were impressed by the quality in the content and methodology of Father Rijk's teaching, and even more by his ability to communicate something of his own deep sensitivity to God's Word and Action operative in and through men's lives in today's world. By these same students such insights and understanding will undoubtedly touch many in the varied countries to which the sisters return to begin or to resume the ministry in the Church that is confided to them after their study in Rome.