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1656 marked the beginning of the Carmelite Mission to
Malabar. In 1956, the 300th anniversary of this event, two commemorative
letters were sent from Rome to all the Carmelites of the world, one by
Fr. Anastasio, General of the Order, the other by Pope Pius XII. Fr.
Anastasio wrote his letter on January 25, 1956, feast of the
Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. I quote just one sentence: “Since
of all the missions accredited by the Holy See to the Teresian Carmel,
the Malabar mission is for so many reasons the most celebrated, it is
only right that I should commemorate its third centenary by this letter,
and that we should give thanks to God and strive more and more to
appreciate and promote the sacred work of the missions”. The reason I quote that little paragraph is not because
it might be the most significant but because it contains the underlined
phrase. We should not simply glory in our mission record, however
celebrated it was. The first thing to do is to give thanks to God for
all that has been done, and then to strive to appreciate and promote the
sacred work of the missions.
Various Apostolates Pius the XII wrote his letter on October 3, feast of St.
Thérèse. His words are very interesting because they indicate all the
various apostolates that the Carmelites in three centuries have
accomplished in Malabar. “Not only did the Carmelite missionaries
instruct and inculcate Christian morals by word and example, but they
promoted peace among them, fostered culture and learning, consoled by
their Christian charity the poor and oppressed, and carne to the help of
the sick, caring for their immediate needs and their eternal
salvation. They set up schools and promoted study. In this context we
mention particularly their work in seminary training for the benefit of
the various rites, a work which still flourishes and prospers in the
Apostolic Seminary in Alwaye”. Portuguese Explorer Let us begin this story of the Carmelite mission with a look at secular
history. In 1498 the great Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama came to
the Malabar coast. Gradually in the early l6th century Portuguese
trading posts and little enclaves began to dot the coast of Malabar:
Goa, Calicut, Cochin, Cranganore, and others. As the early missionaries
followed the flag: Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, they began the work
of evangelization. Saint Francis Xavier, for example, worked in this
region from 1541. The early missionaries soon became aware of the fact
that groups of Christians, called Syrian or St. Thomas Christians, were
already in existence here for centuries. They were called Syrians
because Syriac was their liturgical language, and St. Thomas Christians
because their tradition was that their forebears had been converted
through the mission work of Thomas the Apostle.
From the beginning Western missionaries found it very difficult
to understand the situation. The Latin clergy who came from the west
at that time had a very great sense of order in everything: in the field
of Canon law, for example. The rite of the Roman Mass was very much
uniform, especially after the Council of Trent. Church organization, the
education of the clergy, and so forth, were strictly regulated in the
West. Now they encountered an Eastern Christianity where things were
very different. And on both sides misunderstandings arose. Synod of Diamper In 1599 a Synod was convoked in a place called Diamper, by the Archbishop
of Goa, who had jurisdiction in Malabar at that time. To this he
summoned representatives of the Syrian (St. Thomas) Christians. At
that Synod there was further misunderstanding. The Syrian Christians
felt that they were not understood at all. The Latin prelates felt that
there were a lot of irregularities, as they would say, in the liturgy,
in the Canon law, in the administration of the
Syrian Church. Let us not assign blame for the situation even at this
distance in time. It was a lack of knowledge of the East by the people
from the West, understandable at the time. This gave rise to a certain
hostile reaction on the other side. The result was tragic in its final
outcome. The Synod took place in 1599. Up to the year 1653 the rift
continued to widen. Attempts at reconciliation failed and ultimately it
solidified. And in 1653 the Syrian Christians, under an Archdeacon
Thomas a Campo decided to “have nothing further to do with Latin
prelates”, the famous Coonan Cross oath. The rift was a fait
accompli. Appeal to Rome At this
juncture the Archbishop appealed to Rome for help in resolving the
crisis. Alexander VII was Pope at the time, and he chose Carmelite
missionaries for the work of reconciliation. A Carmelite foundation in
Goa had been made in 1620. And two Carmelite missionaries from Goa had
spent some time among the Syrian Christians in 1642, and had made a
favorable impression. So when the suggestion was made that the
Carmelites would be chosen for the mission, it found ready acceptance
among the Syrian Christians. Likewise in Rome. There had been a powerful
Carmelite dimension in the recent setting up of the Congregation of
Propaganda Fidei. Hence the Pope decided to send Carmelites from Rome to
Malabar to try and heal the schism. The man chosen to lead the mission
was Giuseppe de S. Maria Sebastiani. He was from Caprarola near Rome, of
a very noble family, and was in every way a worthy choice. Passage to India The missionaries, originally six, set forth in two groups. Two of
them set out by way of Lisbon: Fr. Jacinto (an Italian) and Fr. Marcelo
(a German), Sebastiani and his three companions: Fr. Vincent, Fr.
Raphael, and Brother Louis, set out from Rome. We have an interesting
account of their voyage. They first sailed down the Tiber in a little
bark and were nearly shipwrecked opposite St. Paul’s basilica in a
collision with another boat. Sailing out to sea by Ostia, they touched
in at Naples. After some weeks they took a larger boat to Messina,
Sicily. Next port was Malta and from there they set course for Haifa.
What a thrill surely as they sailed in under Mount Carmel. Then on to
Aleppo (in Syria at the present day). From there, they prepared
themselves for a desert trip of two months, to Baghdad. Nowadays it
could be done by bus in two days. They set out in caravan, in the company of a group of
soldiers. They had to dress themselves up as Turks because at that time
travel was very dangerous. They got safely to Baghdad; and later from
Baghdad south to Basra. Now by sea again from Basra to Hormuz.
Next stop was Karachi (presently in Pakistan). Then to Sauli,
Surat, and on to Mangalore. That’s in present-day Kerala. Next port
was Calicut, where Vasco da Gama had landed in 1498. They disembarked
finally in Parur. It had taken them a whole year to complete their
journey; it was February 22, 1657. Work of Reunion Immediately they began the work of reunion. After eight months the
first tangible result: 43 of the churches were reunited once again with
Rome. That represented about one-third of all the dissidents, who
originally numbered about 130,000. In January 1658 Msgr. Sebastiani returned to Rome, and
gave a full account to Propaganda Fidei of the situation in Malabar. As
a result he was given the office of Apostolic Administrator of the
Syrian Christians, consecrated bishop, and returned to the mission with
three more Fathers, one of whom died on the journey. Soon 13 more
churches with their congregations were reunited with Rome. Thus by 1662,
56 churches had come back; 33 still remained aloof, under the leadership
of Archdeacon Thomas a Campo. It was then, in 1662, that the Dutch ousted the
Portuguese on the Malabar coast, and became the dominant power in the
region. The result was a major setback for the missionaries, because the
Dutch were Calvinists and very anti-Catholic. One of the first things
they did was to expel all the Catholic missionaries from Kerala. Msgr.
Sebastiani was forced to leave Malabar in February 1653. He stayed for a
year in Goa, but was never able to return to his mission. He went back
to Rome, where he was given a Papal mission to the Aegean Isles. Later
he became bishop of Bisignano, and died as Bishop of Città de Castello,
near Rome, in 1689. Church of Antioch It was at this time of problems with the Dutch conquest of Malabar
(1652-) that the Syrian Christians who were still in conflict with
Rome began to make contact with the Monophysite Church of Antioch.
This occurred during the years 1661-5; its purpose being to obtain the
consecration of bishops for the dissident flock. In 1665 Mar Gregorios,
Metropolitan of Jerusalem, came to Malabar. It is not known whether he
consecrated Thomas a Campo as bishop. But he certainly succeeded in
propagating the Monophysite heresy among the dissidents of Malabar. From
this time, what had been a schism, came to involve heretical teaching
also. And this served to solidify and perpetuate the stance taken by
the Syrian dissidents. Henceforth they would go under the name of the
“Jacobite” church. By the year 1670, the Dutch rulers of the region had become more amenable
to the Catholic missionaries; a kind of modus vivendi was
reached. It was aided on the Carmelite side by one of the
missionaries, Fr. Matthew, a noted botanist. It happened at that time
that the Dutch Governor of Cochin, a man called Van Rheede, was also a
student of botany. And the two became great friends. In fact, they
collaborated in writing a celebrated botanical text: Hortus
Malabaricus (the garden of Malabar). In it are descriptions and
illustrations of all the plants and fruits of Malabar, indicating also
their therapeutic properties; it is a storehouse of knowledge of the
botany of the region. Fr. Matthew was also the sole author of another
similar work: Viridarium Orientale. Seminary of Verapoly Through this providential circumstance and friendship, the Carmelite
missionaries were able to continue their mission in Malabar. Even
further at that time, they were able to found two monasteries: Chathiath
(1673) and Verapoly (1674). And Verapoly in 1682 saw the first
emergence of a Carmelitestaffed seminary. It was ephemeral, but that
work of seminary training was destined to continue, culminating in the
seminary at Alwaye in 1932. Mission work continued; time passed; missionaries
came and went, as we by-pass about 100 years. In 1795 the English
replaced the Dutch as the dominant power in Malabar. This introduced
another element in our story; the coming of Protestant missionaries to
Malabar. This finally resulted in a breakaway Protestant infiltrated
group from the Jacobites which would come to be known as the Mar Thoma
church. At about this time (1776-89) Fr. Paulinus of St. Bartholomew
(an Austrian Carmelite) was the Vicar Apostolic of the Mission. He was
a profound scholar, noted as a linguist, orientalist, historian and even
tutor of rajas (native princes). He brought great calm to an extremely
turbulent period in the mission. He gives the relevant statistics for
the period. Syrian Christians (in union with Rome); 64 churches,
120 clergy, 94,000 members. Latins (new converts), 24 churches, 34
clergy, 84,000 members. Jacobites, 32 churches, 80 clergy, and 50,000
members. Return to Rome Paulinus returned to Rome in 1789, where he became in turn Prefect of
Studies in the Collegio Urbano; Consultor to Propaganda Fide; and
Procurator to the O.C.D. Missions. He published the first Sanscrit
Grammar in Europe (1790) which aroused interest for the first time
in European universities for the study of that language. His India
Orientalis Christiana - a Religious History of India - was published
in 1794, and Voyage to East India in 1796. He died at La Scala
Monastery, Rome, in 1806. Never of robust health, he was an
indefatigable missionary and gifted scholar. In his later work for
Propaganda Fide in Rome, he gave wise and clear direction to Church
policy towards mission work in India. Let us pass now to some very significant dates and
events in the later history of our mission. In 1886, the hierarchy was
established in India, and in the same year the first inter-rite seminary
was set up in a place called Puthempally. This was to be a central
seminary for the training of the clergy of both the Syrian and Latin
rites. And the Carmelites were given charge of it. In 1932 that seminary
was transferred to a new location at Alwaye on the banks of the
Periyar River. Conversion work Another mission landmark is 1908 when Carmelites in Malabar
decided to go into conversion work as well. The work of reunion had
stabilized to an extent, and opportunities were opening up for the
conversion of pagans. Carmelites from the Basque and Belgian provinces
mostly accepted large territories for evangelisation. These later
developed into as many as five dioceses: Verapoly, Vijayapuram, Quion,
Kottar and Trivandrum. In the succeeding years the emphasis will be on
this work: and prelates such as Louis Mary Benziger, Bishop of Quilon
from 1905 until 1931, will play a very zealous role in promoting the
work. There were others: in Verapoly, Bishop Bernard Arguinzoniz (1919) and
Angel Maria Perez y Cecilia (1934); but Bishop Benziger deserves special
mention for his zeal and dynamism. He was the eldest son of the family
of Einsiedeln, Switzerland, of printing and publishing fame. He joined
the Belgian province of the Order, and after ordination volunteered for
the Malabar mission. His first assignment in India was as Professor in
Pathempafly Seminary in 1890. He became Bishop of Quilon in 1905. By
the time he resigned as bishop in 1931 the diocese counted 150,000
new converts. He set up a major and minor seminary in the diocese. And
from about 1908 he began an apostolate among the Jacobites who still
were separated from Rome. The result was that in 1931 things had
reached such a stage that a small group, led by Mar Ivanios, came back
to union with Rome. Pius XI delegated Msgr. Benziger to receive them
into communion with Rome. Others followed, until a whole new group,
the Syro-Malankara church came into being, with its own rite,
government and identity. It was certainly providential that, as the
Carmelites in 1656 were the first to engage in this work of
reconciliation, so the latest group to make peace with Rome should also
do so through the instrumentality of Carmel. |
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Updated
06 giu 2003 by
OCD General House
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