The MEP in India (1776-1947): an overview

Infiltrating the Indian subcontinent with Thomas the Apostle in the 1^st century, Christianism then goes on to spread mostly in Southern India, in the Kerala region. The late fifteenth century, marked by the arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama, sees the rapid expansion of colonial powers in India, a strategic crossing point to the Far East. The Portuguese foothold in Goa brings about a second wave of conversion to Catholicism in Southern India, a region in which Lisbon carries out the missionary policy of the Holy See through the Padroado system. From the sixteenth century onwards, led by congregations and religious orders, the conversion movement continues as other western powers, like France and England, expand their grip on Indian territory. In 1776, the MEP replace the Society of Jesus in the Pondicherry region, a territory ceded to France during the seventeenth century.

Between 1776 and 1886, the Pondicherry mission faces difficult beginnings, complicated by the political, economic, and religious context. Paralysed during the Revolution and closed during Napoleon’s reign, the Paris seminary cannot send any reinforcement before 1821, the year of its reopening. However, the MEP manage to develop a colossal mission with few numbers. The foundation of the society for the Propagation of the Faith in 1822 marks a new turning point for the mission, as the will of the Holy See to re-establish a balance of power with the Padroado bishoprics becomes particularly strong. The suppression of these bishoprics (except Goa), confirmed in the Multa Praeclare papal bull (24^th of April 1838), leads to the creation of apostolic vicariates the same year, including the Pondicherry one, placed under MEP jurisdiction. The efficiency of their missionary enterprise being recognised by the Holy See, the MEP are assigned the Mysore (1845) and Coimbatore (1850) missions, both of which will later become dioceses in 1886.

The following decades speed up the rise of an Indian church. Additionally, new MEP missions are created, including the Sikkim one, in the North of the country. The Indian independence in 1947 allows the local clergy to assert itself within a national Church in full expansion, assisted by the remaining missionaries.

Chronology

• 1687: with the Siamese revolution, the MEP procure in Ayutthaya is banished. The procure is then transferred to Pondicherry.
• 1744: there are 375,000 Catholics in Southern India.
• 1771: the Ayutthaya Vocational College reconstitutes near Pondicherry, in the Virapatnam village.
• 1776: the MEP replace the Society of Jesus in the Pondicherry region.
  M^gr Pierre Brigot accepts the office of superior of the Malabar mission.
• 1788: first ordinations of the Ourgalet seminary built ten years earlier by M^gr Brigot.
• 1791: M^gr Champenois takes over as head of the Pondicherry mission after the death of M^gr Brigot.
• 1793-1816: England controls Pondicherry, hindering the proper functioning of the mission.
• 2^nd of March 1815: reopening of the Paris seminary by Louis XVIII. The MEP in India can receive reinforcements from Paris as of 1819.
• 1810-1836: M^gr Hébert governs the Pondicherry mission.
  Only nine Indians are ordinated priests. There are nine missionaries, including six MEP ones.
• 1822: foundation of the society for the Propagation of the Faith.
• 1838: creation of the Pondicherry apostolic vicariate, place under MEP jurisdiction.
  M^gr Bonnand is the head of the vicariate until his death in 1861.
  The vicariate consists of 20 missionaries, 4 indigenous priests, 102 catechists and 82,000 Christians.
• 1845: creation of the Mysore mission, detached from Pondicherry, led by M^gr Charbonnaux.
• 1850: the Coimbatore mission is detached from Pondicherry. M^gr Godelle succeeds to M^gr  de Marion-Brésillac as head of the mission.
• 1859: M^gr Bonnand is nominated apostolic visitor for the whole of the Indian missions by pope Pie XI.
• 1864: M^gr Godelle is nominated vicar apostolic of Pondicherry.
• 1868-1892: episcopacy of M^gr Laouënan in Pondicherry.
• 1892-1909: episcopacy of M^gr Gandy.
• 1889: there are 2 bishops, 82 MEP missionaries, 31 Indian priests, 612 churches or chapels, 3 seminaries, 117 schools and 206,350 Catholics in the Pondicherry archdiocese.
• 1914-1918: First World War. The missionaries face heavy losses: many are mobilised or enrol in the army; an important part dies on the front.
• 1929: the Sikkim territory is established as an independent mission, in an effort to expand towards China and Tibet.
  There are only 1,300 Christians in Sikkim in 1937.
• 1930: the Kumbakonam diocese is the first to be transferred to the indigenous clergy.
  Under the episcopacies of M^gr Bottero and then M^gr Chapuis, the number of Christians rises from 85,000 in 1899 to 105,000 in 1930.
• 1939-1945: Second World War. Without any contact with mainland France, the number of MEP missionaries reduces but at the same time the number of Indian priests continues to grow.
• 1947: Indian national independence. The clergy finally becomes fully Indian.