 Catholic Church in India | |
|---|---|
 Mylapore'sSanthome Basilica atMadras (Chennai), built in 1523 by thePortuguese in Goa and Bombay, over the tomb ofThomas the Apostle. Renovated in 1896 byBritish Indian architects. It is an important shrine of theapostolic age in the world. | |
| Type | Christian denomination |
| Classification | Catholic |
| Orientation | Eastern &Western |
| Scripture | Catholic Bible |
| Theology | Catholic theology |
| Polity | Episcopal polity |
| Governance | CBCI |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| President of bishops' conference | Andrews Thazhath |
| Region | India |
| Language | Multiple |
| Headquarters | New Delhi |
| Founder | Thomas the Apostle |
| Origin | AD 52 (1974 years ago) |
| Members | 23 million (1.57%) |
TheCatholic Church in India is part of the worldwideCatholic Church under the leadership of thePope. There are over 23 million Catholics in India,[1] representing around 1.57% of the total population,[2] and the Catholic Church is the single largestChristian church in India.[1] There are 10,701parishes that make up 174dioceses and eparchies, which are organised into 30ecclesiastical provinces. Of these, 132 dioceses are of theLatin Church, 31 of theSyro-Malabar Catholic Church and 11 of theSyro-Malankara Catholic Church. Despite the very small percentage-wise population that Indian Catholics make up in the country, India still has the second-largestChristian population in Asia, after theCatholic Church in the Philippines. AllCatholic bishops, from all dioceses, come together to form theCatholic Bishops Conference of India, first convened inBritish India, in 1944.[3] Theambassador representing theVatican City, to theGovernment of India, is theApostolic Nuncio to India. Thediplomatic mission of the Holy See to India, similar to an embassy, was established as the Apostolic delegation to theEast Indies in 1881. It was raised to anInternunciature byPope Pius XII in 1948, and to a fullApostolic Nunciature byPope Paul VI in 1967. ArchbishopLeopoldo Girelli is the current Apostolic Nuncio, named byPope Francis on 13 March 2021. The Apostolic Nunciature is located at 50-C, Niti Marg, Chanakyapuri,New Delhi.
The majority, about 78.3%, belong to the Latin Church, the rest areSyrian Catholic Christians. The Syro-Malabar Church, one of theEastern Catholic Churches, makes up around 19.7% of Indian Catholics, while the Syro-Malankara Church accounts for approximately 2.0%. These figures reflect the diverse liturgical traditions within Indian Catholicism, with Eastern Catholic communities primarily based in theMalabar region (present-day state ofKerala).[1]
Christianity reached India in AD 52 whenThomas the Apostle reachedMuziris inMalabar Coast presently called the state ofKerala.[4] He preached Christianity in Eastern and Western coasts of India.[5] TheseSaint Thomas Christians are known as Nasrani, which is aSyriac term meaning Follower of the Nazarene Jesus. The Christian community in India later came under the jurisdiction of Bishops from Persia. Historians estimate this date to be around the fourth century.[6] As a result, they inherited the East Syriac liturgy and traditions of Persia. Later, when the Western missionaries reached India, they accused this community of practicingNestorianism, a heresy that separates Christ's divinity from his human nature. They formed the most ancient church, diocese, and metropolitan province in theIndian subcontinent and theFar East. The East Syriacdiocese of India was elevated as a metropolitan province in the eighth century by PatriarchIshoyab III. In the words ofPope John Paul II, this community, while being a part of theEast Syriac Church, had never broken the communion with the worldwide Catholic Church explicitly.[7] Today, the continuity of this early Christian community is found in theSyro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Oriental Church in communion with Catholic Church, followingEast Syriac traditions.
John of Monte Corvino was a Franciscan sent to China to become prelate of Peking in around 1307. He travelled from Persia and moved down by sea to India, in 1291, to theMadras region or "Country of St. Thomas". There he preached for thirteen months and baptised about one hundred persons. From there Monte Corvino wrote home, in December 1291 (or 1292). That is one of the earliest noteworthy accounts of the Coromandel coast furnished by any Western European. Travelling by sea from Mailapur, he reached China in 1294, appearing in the capital "Cambaliech" (now Beijing).[8]
FriarOdoric of Pordenone arrived in India in 1321. He visited Malabar, touching at Pandarani (20 m. north of Calicut), at Cranganore, and at Kulam orQuilon, proceeding thence, apparently, to Ceylon and to the shrine of St Thomas at Maylapur near Madras. He writes he had found the place where Thomas was buried.
FatherJordanus Catalanus, a French Dominican missionary, followed in 1321–22. He reported to Rome, apparently from somewhere on the west coast of India, that he had given Christian burial to four martyred monks. Jordanus is known for his 1329 "Mirabilia" describing the marvels of the East: he furnished the best account of Indian regions and the Christians, the products, climate, manners, customs, fauna and flora given by any European in the Middle Ages – superior even to Marco Polo's.
TheDiocese of Quilon headquartered atKollam is the first Roman Catholic diocese in India in the state of Kerala, first erected on 9 August 1329 and re-erected on 1 September 1886. In 1329 Pope John XXII (in captivity at Avignon) erectedQuilon as the first Diocese in the whole Indies as suffragan to the Archdiocese of Sultany in Persia, through the decree "Romanus Pontifix" dated 9 August 1329. By a separate Bull "Venerabili Fratri Jordano", the same Pope, on 21 August 1329 appointed the French Dominican friar Jordanus Catalani de Severac (OP) as the first Bishop ofQuilon.(Copies of the Orders and the related letters issued byPope John XXII to Bishop Jordanus Catalani (OP) and to the diocese ofQuilon are documented and preserved in the diocesan archives).In 1347,Giovanni de Marignolli visited the shrine of St Thomas near the modern Madras, and then proceeded to what he calls the kingdom of Saba, and identifies with the Sheba of Scripture, but which seems from various particulars to have been Java. Taking ship again for Malabar on his way to Europe, he encountered great storms.
Another prominent Indian traveller was Joseph, priest over Cranganore. He journeyed toBabylon in 1490 and then sailed to Europe and visited Portugal, Rome, and Venice before returning to India. He helped to write a book about his travels titled The Travels of Joseph the Indian which was widely disseminated across Europe.
In 1453, thefall of Constantinople, a bastion of Christianity inAsia Minor to IslamicOttoman Empire, marked the end of theEastern Roman Empire or Byzantine Empire, and severed European trade links by land with Asia. This massive blow toChristendom spurred theAge of Discovery as Europeans were seeking alternative routes east by sea along with the goal of forging alliances with pre-existing Christian nations.[9][10] Along with pioneerPortuguese long-distance maritime travellers, that reached theMalabar Coast in the late 15th century, came Portuguese missionaries who introduced the Latin Catholic church in India. They made contact with theSt Thomas Christians in Kerala, which at that time were followingEastern Christian practices and were under the jurisdiction ofChurch of the East.
In the 16th century, the proselytism of Asia was linked to thePortuguese colonial policy. ThePapal bullRomanus Pontifex,[11] written on 8 January 1455 byPope Nicholas V toKing Afonso V ofPortugal, confirmed to the Crown of Portugal dominion over all lands discovered or conquered during the age of discovery. Further, the patronage for the propagation of the Christian faith (see "Padroado") in Asia was given to the Portuguese.[12] The missionaries of the different orders (Franciscans,Dominicans,Jesuits,Augustinians, etc.) flocked out with the conquerors, and began at once to build churches along the coastal districts where the Portuguese power made itself felt.
The history of Portuguese missionaries in India starts with the neo-apostles who reachedKappad near Kozhikode on 20 May 1498 along with the Portuguese explorerVasco da Gama who was seeking to form anti-Islamic alliances with pre-existing Christian nations.[1][13] The lucrative spice trade was further temptation for the Portuguese crown.[14] When he and the Portuguese missionaries arrived they found no Christians in the country, except in Malabar known as St. Thomas Christians who represented less than 2% of the total population[15] and the then-largest Christian church within India.[1] The Christians were friendly to Portuguese missionaries at first; there was an exchange of gifts between them, and these groups were delighted at their common faith.[16]
During the second expedition, the Portuguese fleet comprising 13 ships and 18 priests, under CaptainPedro Álvares Cabral, anchored at Cochin on 26 November 1500. Cabral soon won the goodwill of theRaja of Cochin. He allowed four priests to do apostolic work among the early Christian communities scattered in and around Cochin. Thus Portuguese missionaries established Portuguese Mission in 1500. DomFrancisco de Almeida, the first Portuguese Viceroy, got permission from the Kochi Raja to build two church edifices – namelySanta Cruz Basilica (founded 1505) andSt. Francis Church (founded 1506) using stones and mortar which was unheard of at that time as the local prejudices were against such a structure for any purpose other than a royal palace or a temple.
In the beginning of the 16th century, the whole of theEast Indies were under the jurisdiction of theArchdiocese of Lisbon. On 12 June 1514, Cochin, Goa-Anjediva andBombay-Bassein became the prominent fields of missionary activity; under the newly createdDiocese of Funchal inMadeira. In 1534,Pope Paul III, by the Bull Quequem Reputamus, raised Funchal as anarchdiocese andGoa as itssuffragan, deputing the whole of India under thediocese of Goa. This created anepiscopal see –suffragan toFunchal, with a jurisdiction extending potentially over all past and future conquests from theCape of Good Hope toChina.
Portuguese explorers arrived in Chennai in 1523 and built theSanthome Church over the tomb ofSaint Thomas the Apostle, it was the first church inChennai (Madras). In 1545,Francis Xavier visited this church, prayed in the Tomb of St Thomas and stayed for about one year before his Apostolic trip toChina. This church was later elevated to the status of a cathedral in 1606 byPope Paul V, with the inauguration of theDiocese of Saint Thomas of Mylapore at the request of Portuguese King. Later the cathedral church was rebuilt by theBritish in 1896 with the style ofNeo Gothic. It was made a basilica in 1927 byPope Pius XII.
Around 1540, missionaries from the newly foundedSociety of Jesus arrived in Goa. The Portuguese government supported their work, as well as the work of the other religious orders in Goa (Dominicans, Franciscans & so on) who had been arriving since thePortuguese conquest of Goa in 1510. NativeGoans who converted were rewarded by the government with Portuguese citizenship.[17] At the same time, manyNew Christians from Portugal migrated to India as a result of thePortuguese Inquisition. Many of them were suspected of beingCrypto-Jews andCrypto-Muslims, converted Jews and Muslims who were secretly practicing their old religions. Both were considered a threat to the solidarity of Christian belief.[18] Saint Francis Xavier, in a 1545 letter toJohn III of Portugal, requested theGoan Inquisition but the tribunal was set up only in 1560.[18][19]
In 1557,Goa was made an independent archbishopric, and its first suffragan sees were erected atCochin andMalacca. The whole of the East came under the jurisdiction ofGoa and its boundaries extended to almost half of the world: from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, to Burma, China and Japan in East Asia. In 1576 the suffragan See of Macao (China) was added; and in 1588, that of Funai in Japan.
The death of the lastEast Syriacmetropolitan Archbishop –Mar Abraham of theSt Thomas Christians, an ancient body formerly part of theChurch of the East[20] in 1597; gave the then Archbishop of GoaMenezes an opportunity to bring the native church under the authority of the Latin Catholic hierarchy. He was able to secure the submission ofArchdeacon George, the highest remaining representative of the native church hierarchy. Menezes convened theSynod of Diamper between 20 and 26 June 1599,[21] which introduced a number of reforms to the church and brought it fully into his control. Following the Synod, Menezes consecrated Francis Ros, SJ, as Archbishop of theArchdiocese of Angamalé for the Saint Thomas Christians; this created another suffragan see to Archdiocese of Goa andLatinisation of St Thomas Christians started, against the wish of St Thomas Christians (East Syrian Tradition). The Saint Thomas Christians were pressured to acknowledge the authority of the Pope and most of them eventually accepted the Catholic faith, but a part of them switched toWest Syriac Rite.[21] Resentment of these measures led some part of the community to join theArchdeaconThomas I, in swearing never to submit to the Portuguese or to accept Jesuits as their masters in theCoonan Cross Oath in 1653. Those who accepted theWest Syrian theological and liturgical tradition of Mar Gregorios became known asJacobites. The ones who continued withEast Syriac liturgical tradition came to be formally known as theSyro-Malabar Church from the second half of the 19th century onward.
TheDiocese of Angamaly was transferred toDiocese of Cranganore in 1605; while, in 1606 a sixth suffragan see to Goa was established at San Thome, Mylapore, near the modern Madras. The suffragan sees added later to Goa were the prelacy of Mozambique (1612) and in 1690 two other sees at Peking and Nanking in China.
Missionary work progressed on a large scale along the western coasts, chiefly inPortuguese Bombay and Bassein, that extended fromDamaon and Diu, toSalsette Island and Chaul; the missions were a great success until theMahratta Invasions of Goa-Anjediva and Bombay-Bassein, during which a number of churches and convents were demolished. Conversions were also carried out on the eastern coasts at San Thome of Mylapore and as far asPortuguese Chittagong, and beyond Bengal in the East Indies. In the southern districts the Jesuit mission in Madura was the most famous, it extended to the Krishna river, with a number of outlying stations beyond it; the mission of Cochin in the Malabar region of South India, was also one of the most fruitful, until thepersecution of Catholic Christians by DutchCalvinists, in former Portuguese lands began.[22][23] Several missions were also established in the interior northwards, for eg, that of Agra and Lahore in 1570 and that of Tibet in 1624. Still, even with these efforts, the greater part even of the coast line was by no means fully worked, and many vast tracts of the interior northwards were practically untouched.
With the onslaught of the Dutch and decline of the Portuguese power, other colonial powers – namely the British and other Christian nations gained influence.
Bettiah Christians, the northern Indian subcontinent's oldest Christian community, was established in the 18th century by Italian Christian missionaries belonging to theOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin, a Roman Catholic religious order.[24] The patron of the Bettiah Christian Mission was Maharaja Dhurup Singh, king of theBettiah Raj in Hindustan, who requestedGiuseppe Maria Bernini to treat his ill wife and was successful in doing so.[24][25] The Bettiah Christian Mission flourished under the patronage of the royal court of the Bettiah Rajas, growing in number.[24]
The Portuguese spread the Catholic faith inGoa, then inCape Comorin, inland districts ofMadurai and the western coast of Bassein, Salcette,Bombay, Karanja, and Chaul.[26] With the advent of suppression ofJesuits in 1773 the missionary expansion declined in India[27] along with the need for organisations within the Church in India.[26] Especially when theVicar Apostolate of Bombay was erected in 1637[28] which was under the direct ruling from Rome, this caused misunderstanding between the Portuguese missionary and the Apostolate.[26] TheInquisition of Goa had caused strained relationship and mistrust with theHindus of India.[19] The strained relations between the Church and the Portuguese missionaries reached a climax when in 1838 the Holy See cancelled the jurisdiction of the three suffragan Sees of Crangaqnore, Cochin, and Mylapur and transferred it to the nearest vicars Apostolic, and did the same with regard to certain portions of territory which had formerly been under the authority of Goa itself.[26] Finally in 1886 another concordat was established, and at the same time the whole country was divided into ecclesiastical provinces, and certain portions of territory, withdrawn in 1838, were restored to the jurisdiction of the Portuguese sees.[26]
On 30 October 1945 in theAll India Conference of Indian Christians (AICIC) formed a joint committee with theCatholic Union of India to form a joint committee that passed a resolution in which, "in the future constitution of India, the profession, practice and propagation of religion should be guaranteed and that a change of religion should not involve any civil or political disability."[29] This joint committee enabled the Christians in India to stand united, and in front of the British Parliamentary Delegation "the committee members unanimously supported the move for independence and expressed complete confidence in the future of the community in India."[29] The office for this joint committee was opened inDelhi, in which the Vice-Chancellor ofAndhra University M. Rahnasamy served as president and B.L. Rallia Ram ofLahore served as General Secretary.[29] Six members of the joint committee were elected to theMinorities Committee of the Constituent Assembly of India.[29] In its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947, the joint committee of the All India Conference of Indian Christians and All India Catholic Union prepared a 13-point memorandum that was sent to the Constituent Assembly, which asked forreligious freedom for both organisations and individuals; this came to be reflected in theConstitution of India.[29]
Concern with charity was common toCatholics andProtestants, but with one major difference: whilst the former believe thatsalvation comes from faith in God and dedication to good works, which can manifest itself as charity, the latter believe thatonly one's faith alone is a sufficient requisite of salvation, and that one's works are not necessary to gain or lose salvation.[30] Consequently, Catholic charitable efforts in India have been extensive.[improper synthesis?][original research?]
In Portuguese India, for instance, SaintFrancis Xavier and his fellow missionaries were especially careful to help the local charitable institutions by tending to the sick, both spiritually and physically, and performing other works of mercy.[30] The Jesuits' educational institutions have left a prestigious impact through their education institutions.[31] Education has become the major priority for the Church in India in recent years with nearly 60% of the Catholic schools situated in rural areas.[32] Even in the early part of the 19th century, Catholic schools had emphasised relief for the poor and their welfare.[33]
In 2019, Father Vineeth George, a 38-year-old Catholic priest, was awarded as the 'Best Citizen of India'. The title is an acknowledgment of his work with the marginalized in the north of the country.[34]
Cherubim John, a writer and historian, said the Bettiah community began after Italian Capuchin Father Joseph Mary Bernini cured the local queen of an "incurable" illness. The king donated 16 hectares of land later known as the "Christian Quarters" to the Capuchins. The king allowed Father Bernini, who was on his way to Tibet, to preach, and helped build a church next to his palace.
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