1577-1599 - Diamper

As was explained in a preceding article (Cf. Dehoniana 99/3), in the first half of the XVI century the Nestorian Bishops were not allowed to settle in India.

However, in 1577 the Nestorian Patriarch of Baghdad sent for the Nestorian Archbishop, Abrahan, who took up residence in Angamale near Cochin, and, in order obtain Portuguese protection more easily, he came over to the Roman Church.

Fr. Valignani, the Jesuit Provincial, did not want to waste this good opportunity and he ordered that a mission should be started in all the villages. The fruits were very encouraging. Then, when Archbishop Abrahan died, the Archdeacon who was in charge of the Church while the post was vacant, wanted, since he was a rabid Nestorian, to bring back his flock to the ancient obedience to the Patriarch of Baghdad and threatened to issue an interdict to the Church of the Latin priests. Then, in 1590, the Archbishop of Goa, Alessio de Maneses, took action to prevent apostasy, and in 1599, under his chairmanship, the famous synod of Diamper was held.

One account of the synod of Diamper states: “In the communities of Malabar certain deficiencies were noted, particularly in the liturgy, due to the enforced isolation from Rome and its contacts with the Churches of the Middle East, which were not fully Orthodox. Efforts were made to remedy such deficiencies. A Malabar catechism would have been useful to give a deeper knowledge of the faith. The Archbishop of Goa reserved his right to elect Latin priests for the Dioceses of Malabar”.

Another version of what happened at the same synod of Diamper said: “The Archbishop of Goa, Alessio de Maneses, forced the Indians to destroy their liturgical books, to reform the liturgy and their spiritual life in line with the Latin Church, and to accept his jurisdiction and his right to nominate bishops”.

Whether it was because of such interventions, or because of some imprudent action on the part of government, or because of the policy of Latinization; or whether it was because of the ambition of the families of the archdeacons who, until the institution of the bishops had, practically speaking, the direction of the Malabar communities in their own hands, the fact is that the situation became more and more uneasy. This continued until 1653 when, under Archbishop Francesco Garcia, things openly erupted into a schism. Tomé de Campo, Archdeacon, was declared bishop by “catanares” (priests) and the archbishop in office was deposed. He tried with all his resources to lead the rebels back to the right path, but all was in vain. Indeed, the rebels dragged practically the entire Malabar community with them and the schism became definitive. The archbishop appealed to Goa but obtained nothing. He then turned to Rome, presenting his case directly to the Pope.

The Decision of Rome

The Pope, Alexander VII, dedicated to this problem all the attention it deserved and adopted, as the most opportune solution, that of sending people who could be objective observers. He thought of the discalced Carmelites. This choice was suggested by the Malabar people themselves, who remembered with esteem the Carmelites who had come to Goa in 1642; and also because the Carmelites, although living under the jurisdiction of Portuguese Patronage, had shown that they seconded the directives of the Pope.

The Carmelites did not come from Lisbon but were sent from Rome; and the mission received by the Pope was not principally to convert the infidels but to promote the union of Christians who were separated. To insure the good outcome of the mission in those times when travelling was dangerous, two pairs of Apostolic Commissars were nominated and were instructed to take off separately: Fr. Giacinto and Fr. Marcello were to go by sea, passing via Lisbon, while the other two, Fr. Giuseppe Sebastiani and Fr. Vincenzo, were to follow another route over land: Syria, Mesopotamia and India. The two that left by sea spent a whole year in Lisbon. Because of this the two who went by land arrived first, even though their journey had also lasted exactly one year and they had many adventurous tales to tell of it.

The Discalced Carmelites

When they reached Malabar they did not think of taking a rest. They headed straight for the residence of the usurper archdeacon. However, they realized how difficult their task was going to be. All possible arguments had no effect on the archdeacon, who did not wish to recognize the invalidity of his nomination, much less submit himself to the authority of the prelate. He was an ambitious individual, resolutely attached to his schismatic position. The Carmelites therefore presented the pontifical briefs to the Chapter of Cochin and to the Archbishop of Goa and travelled round to the various Churches sowing the seed of reunion.

Partial reunions were held with priests, (“kasanares”), but it was always useless. However, after eight months of efforts the first tangible result was obtained: a good number of priests around Cochin met together, 43 declared their adhesion to the Roman Pontifices and broke off their relationships with the archdeacon. But there was a reservation in their declaration: they did not want to have anything to do with the archbishop. The Carmelite commissar, whose mission was to bring the faithful back to the legitimate archbishop (but who had instructions that if this was not possible he should at least obtain union with Rome), accepted this declaration.

Commissar Giuseppe Sebastiani, who came to Rome to report on his work and on the problems he had encountered, was nominated Apostolic Administrator and was consecrated bishop in the Vatican; this was done secretly in order not to offend the susceptibilities of the Portuguese Patronage. It is necessary to recall the difficulties which, for the organization of missions, frequently arose between the Portuguese Patronage and the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. When he was given permission to return to Cochin he renewed his visits to the parishes and achieved the unity with Rome of thirteen other communities. There were still 33 more who adhered to the archdeacon, but in spite of his efforts he was unable to persuade them to reconcile themselves with the Catholic Church.

The Dutch in India

Just when it seemed possible for a total return to unity the Malabar coast was conquered by the Dutch, who were Calvinists. This lead to an ongoing commercial and military struggle which continued until they won over even the small Portuguese settlements on the south coast.

In 1662 the Malabar people and Cochin, the last Portuguese bulwark, fell into the hands of the Dutch. The first effect of this event was the immediate expulsion of the missionaries, among them Msgr. Sebastiani, the Carmelite Bishop of reconciliation.

But, once the first savage wave of the destruction of Churches and Catholic monuments had passed, the Dutch too realized that for their commercial interests it was more convenient to seek a “modus vivendi” which respected the Catholics of the region.

The result of this was that four Carmelite missionaries were able to leave Rome and set off for Malabar. Subsequently, during the XVIII century, the arrival or substitution of missionaries was able to take place without any particular difficulties.

Provided they respected certain conditions the Dutch government authorized the Discalced Carmelites to stay in India, provided they did not belong to the Portuguese Patronage and provided they were Belgians, Germans or Italians.

Towards the Final Objective

The Malabar people never lost their hope of obtaining prelates of their own rite. In 1778 they sent two priests to Rome, José Kariatil and Tomàs Paremmakal. Of these the first was designated Archbishop of Cranganor, but he died in Goa in 1786 during his return journey to Malabar. He was succeeded by the second, who became Apostolic Administrator of the Archdioceses but was not consecrated as a bishop. He died in 1799. During his mandate almost all the Malabar Catholics came under his jurisdiction.

In 1838 Gregory XVI suppressed the seat of Cranganor and of Cochin, and as a result of this all of the Malabar people remained annexed to the Carmelite Apostolic Vicariate of Veràpoli. Naturally they tolerated, but were unwilling to accept, dependence on a Latin hierarchy and made attempts to obtain their own prelates though the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, José Audo VI. Although against the orders of Rome he sent them a Chaldean Bishop, mar Tomàs Rokos. But the Holy See refused to acknowledge this and he had to go back to Mesopotamia. A new attempt was made in 1874 when the Bishop mar Elias Mellus was sent. He not only refused to obey Rome’s orders but set up a new dissident Malabar community on his own. This community still exists today with approximately 5000 members. They are called the Mellusini.

But the Malabar Catholics continued to call for a bishop of their own rite; and this anomalous situation, of an oriental Church with Latin prelates, lasted until 1887, the year in which two apostolic vicariates were set up. They began as followers of the Latin rite with its respective Latin prelates, but in 1896 the first Eastern Bishops, nominated by Leo XIII specifically for the Malabar vicariates, started to be their guides. Then finally, in 1923, the residential hierarchy was established. This included a Malabar ecclesiastical Province which, in 1956, was reorganized into the two ecclesiastical Provinces of Ernakulan and Changanacherry, with their respective suffrages.

Thus the Syro-Malabar problem which, after so many changes and lasting for three whole centuries, had caused so much strife was finally resolved.

The Malankari

The Malankari constitute a Catholic Church of Eastern rite which has been united to Rome since 1930. It derived from the group of Jacobite Christians which broke away from Rome in 1635 and which adopted the Syrian-Antioch rite. From the end of the XIX century a certain disquiet appeared to be growing among the Jacobites of Malabar. The Metropolitan Dionisio had also himself shown the desire for union with Rome, but he died before he could achieve it. In 1919 one of his priests, who later became the famous Bishop mar Ivanios, founded a religious confraternity in Bethany. They took the name ‘Imitation of Christ’ and there were two branches: one for males and one for females. In 1925 he was consecrated bishop and the following year, during a synod of Jacobite bishops, he insisted on the need for union with Rome - all the more because the primacy of Rome was acknowledged by their liturgical books.

The synod authorized him to get in contact with the Vatican, but only on the condition that they could keep the Antioch rite and that all of the bishops would retain their current seat and pastoral office. The Holy See accepted all these conditions, but out of five bishops only two decided to take the definitive step: the Bishop mar Ivanios and one of his religious who had been consecrated Bishop of Tiruvalla. On September 20, 1930 they made their profession of faith in the Catholic Church and thus was begun a new, united Church. In order to distinguish it from the Church of Malabar, they called this new Church, Malankar.

The rite of the Malankar Church is Syro-Antioch, or Syro-Western. That of the Malabar Church is Syro-Armenian or Syro-Eastern.

The Present Situation

For the first time in history the chairman of the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India was, in the 90’s, a bishop of the minority Syro-Malabar rite, Msgr. Joseph Powathil (born 1930, priest 1952, bishop 1972), who is currently Bishop of Changanacherry, in Kerala. His election as chairman of the Conference of Indian Bishops was interpreted by everyone to be an important sign of reconciliation and mutual acceptance among the various Catholic rites in India.

Msgr. Powathil, claimed by some to be a “chauvinist” supporter of the Eastern rite, wished to tranquilize his detractors by declaring: “Many people know me as one who has fought for the independence of the Churches of India. We have three rites. That is a historical fact. I, for myself, since I discovered the problem of the Eastern rites in India, have never done anything which might be interpreted as showing a lack of respect for or an undervaluation of the Latin Rite Church”.

The honor of his election to the chairmanship was also reflected in the Syro-Malabar Church at a moment when the tension between this Church and the Latin Church was very strong, tension caused by liturgical matters and by the problem of the “missions”.

In an open letter a section of the Syro-Malabar community expressed themselves in this way: “Figures show the immensity of missionary work in this country: 14 million Catholics and 453 million pagans. There is a prejudice throughout the entire country, above all in the north. People in the north feel that the spread of Christianity in India was due to European colonialism. Presented in the form of a Western Christianity, with a liturgy in Latin and Western Christian and social customs, the Church is considered to be a foreigner in India. On the contrary the Syro-Eastern liturgy of the Syro-Malabar Church, which comes from Mesopotamia and Persia and was adapted to the Indian mentality, represents an Asiatic way of life and in many common points of view coincides with Indian religious feeling to the extent of being an integral part of the culture and the heritage of our country. In addition, the Syro-Malabar Church finds itself with an advantage regarding the challenge of evangelization. With this objective, it is necessary that the Syro-Malabar Church should have the freedom to work freely in the whole country, and not only in the state of Kerala and other small territories. The path is not easy because the difficulties in this field are based on an opposition to any non-Eastern Catholics in India. The Latin rite Catholics do not want the Eastern rite bishops to care for the spiritual needs of their faithful who are currently living in areas under Latin jurisdiction, and even less do they want the Syro-Malabar Church to extend its missionary work to places which have not yet been evangelized”.

The Synod of 1996

From January 8-15, 1996 the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church was celebrated in Rome. The most debated problems were the missions, the liturgy and the seminaries. The assembly came to a close on January 15 without any common agreement. On January 16 a last meeting was held; this permitted the signing of a provisional conclusion.

With regard to the missions the problem was the pastoral care of the Malabar faithful who might found themselves outside of Kerala or even outside of India, where some minorities can be found. In the light of the Synod an important agreement was reached. The same agreement was reached concerning seminaries but not concerning liturgy. One group of bishops is for a liturgy which remains faithful to the ancient tradition of the Church of Syria and of Malabar, while the majority wish to incorporate the new ideas of Vatican II in their Syro-Malabar liturgy. This liturgy is very solemn but wordy, therefore it is often excessively long for the rhythms of modern life and for the participation of the faithful.

Since a common point of agreement was not reached, the “status quo” remains. In the meanwhile the creation of a center of liturgical studies has been decided upon. The problem will be re-discussed later when a greater majority of agreement is to be hoped for.

Ut Unum Sint

Our brethren who opened the first S.C.J. mission in India, have as their primary objective the proclamation of the Good News to the immense majority of the country’s inhabitants (97.50%) who do not know the Gospel.

They also will promote pastoral vocations, in a field which also appears fertile for the growth of the Congregation, in order to achieve the task of evangelization which exists in that vast country.

However, at the same time another objective has appeared, perhaps something we had not even hoped for, but very important: commitment so that the evangelical maxim “Ut unum sint”, which was so dear to the heart of Fr. Dehon, becomes a concrete reality for the Catholics of the three rites which comprise the Catholic Church. We have seen that in past centuries, human weaknesses and lack of understanding have obstructed correct relationships between members of the same Church. In this time of ours the commandment of Christ has become particularly urgent: “Ut unum sint”, so that the world may believe! Unity, the sign of credibility for non-believers... We hope that the Dehonian charism of unity may be one of the most fruitful fruits of the S.C.J. apostolate in India.