Cross-Cultural Heritage

Jonas Van Mulder is a research associate and curator at KADOC Documentation and Research Centre on Religion, Culture and Society of KU Leuven. Thomas Coomans is a full professor of architectural history and built heritage conservation at KU Leuven and director of the Advanced Master in Conservation of Monuments and Sites (RLICC), at the Faculty of Engineering Science. Dries Vanysacker is professor of history of Church and Theology at KU Leuven and head of the Study and Documentation Centre Capuchins in the Low Countries. Idesbald Goddeeris is professor of colonial history at the research unit MoSa (Modernity and Society, 1800-2000), KU Leuven. Idesbald Goddeeris is hoogleraar koloniale geschiedenis aan de KU Leuven.

• Missionary Heritage: Legacies of Religious Imperialism, Inculturation, and AppropriationJonas Van Mulder, Thomas Coomans, and Dries VanysackerENCOUNTERS AND INTERPLAYSBolivian Missionary Musical Repertoire, Heritagization, and Contemporary RolesPaola GranadoBelgian CICM Missionaries, Territorial Heritage, and the Chico River Dam Resistance in the PhilippinesLeah AbayaoChallenges to Catholic Identity in Southern Togo. Ewe Christianity and the Marshall OrderKwami Edem AfoutouCo-Mission. The Material Dimension of Missionary Work in the PacificKaren JacobsPLACE AND MEMORYIdentity and Memory of Christian Missions among the Maguzawa in Nigeria, 1940–2017Naziru Yahaya ShuaibuFrom Mainland to Island. The Architectural Legacy of Belgian Franciscan Missionaries in Early Postwar TaipeiLeon BouwmeesterDreams, Nostalgia, and Commercialization. Telling Stories about Missionary Schools for Girls in Modern ChinaJennifer BondREPRESENTATION AND MEMORIALIZATIONText and Mission in Transition. The Indigenization of the Ranchi Jesuit Province, 1956–2000Rinald D’SouzaEthnographic Objects and Provenance from Missionary Contexts. The Chile Missions of the Bavarian Capuchins and their Museum in Altötting, 1896–1932Markus A. Scholz‘Benefactors of Humanity’? Monuments for Missionaries in the Belgian Public SpaceIdesbald Goddeeris

In summary, Cross-Cultural Heritage offers an engaging and richly illustrated exploration of the way missionary legacies continue to shape identities, landscapes, and cultural memory across diverse contexts. Its breadth of cases and methodological creativity make it an important resource for both scholars and students. At the same time, its commitment to foregrounding local agency and intercultural exchange enriches mission historiography by revealing the layered and often contradictory ways missions were remembered, contested, and reinterpreted. The creativity in methods and inquiry—particularly in combining archival studies of mission societies with contemporary perspectives—points towards fruitful directions for future research. For instance, studies that integrate mission archives with examinations of how contemporary churches remember and interpret their identity through the lens of mission history represent a promising avenue. Even where it leaves questions open, the volume invites further inquiry and dialogue, making it a welcome contribution to both mission studies and heritage scholarship, and draws attention to overlooked dimensions of mission legacy. - Simon Larsson, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 40:3, 536-539, DOI: 10.1080/13537903.2025.2549626