Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/433

 SAINT THOMAS

385

SAINT THOMAS

of such an eventuality Admiral Boscawen annexed the place and built a redoubt to the south-east of it, thus rendering it a part of Madras, as it still is. The British now regretted having harboured the French Capuchins, as they suspected that the capture of Fort St. George by the French was largely due to the infor- mation supplied by them. Consequently R. P. Rene, on whom the suspicion rested most heavily, was de- ported to Europe, and the others were expelled from the fort and settled in what is now Georgetown (Madras), where the cathedral of Madras now stands, four miles from the cathedral of Saint Thomas.

On the death of Bishop da Incarnacao on 22 No- vember, 1752, Fre. Theodoro de Santa Maria, O.S.A., was presented for the see and confirmed by the Holy See. He belonged to the priory at Saint Thomas, but hesitated to receive episcopal consecration. Two Italian Barnabites destined for the vicariate Apostohc in Burma came with letters of commendation to the bishop-elect, who welcomed and speeded them to their destination. At last Fre. Thedoro, the bishop-elect, renounced the see into the hands of Fre. Bernardo de San Caetano, O.S.A., who was then consecrated bishop. Bishop Bernardo in turn consecrated one of the two Barnabites just mentioned, Dom Percotto, Bishop and Vicar Apostolic of Burma, in 1768. But Bishop Percotto did not reach the field of his labours, as on his voyage back to Burma the vessel foundered.

The Diocese of Saint Thomas of Mylapur was min- istered to at this period as follows: — By the Portu- guese Franciscans, Portuguese Dominicans, Portu- guese Augustinians, and Portuguese Jesuits. Besides these, there were French Jesuits and Italian Bar- nabites working in the diocese in harmony with the ordinary, and French Capuchins defying their au- thority, at least occasionally. One drawback of this total manning of the diocese with the religious orders was the ab.solute neglect to form an indigenous clergy to meet the emergency that presently arose. For it was at about this time that the Marquess of Pombal suppressed the houses of the Society of Jesus in Por- tugal and thus cut off the supply of Portuguese Jes- uits to the diocese. The emergency became still more acute, when, in 1773, Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus. Withal, the situation was not quite so hopeless as to call for drastic measures in re- gard to the diocese from without. For it was not till 1S34 that the houses of the other religious orders in the Portuguese dominions were suppressed. And as the Diocese of Saint Thomas of INIj'lapur was situ- ated wholly outside of Portuguese territory, there was nothing to prevent the Portuguese religious orders from thriving there. Nevertheless, as at home voca- tions became fewer, the houses in India gradually died out, the last to be represented in the diocese being the Portuguese Augustinians in Bengal, the last member of the order dying in 1869.

On the extinction of a religious house in any place, the property and rights of the religious revert to the Church, as represented by the local diocesans. But all Catholic Europe was so incensed against Portugal for the initiative taken by the Marquess of Pombal against the Society of Jesus, that without waiting to weigh the justice of their action in turn, reprisals be- came the order of the day in the Diocese of Saint Thomas of Mylapur, the Congregation de -propa- ganda fide supporting the missionaries of other na- tionalities against the Portuguese. On the suppres- sion of the Society of Jesus by the Holy See, the Fathers of the Missions etrangeres of Paris were sent out to take charge of the Society's missions in the Dio- ceses of Saint Thomas of Mylapur and of Cochin, of which Mgr Champenois, Bishop of Dolichum in parti- bus, was appointed vicar Apostolic. Bishop San Cae- tano resented this, as he was filling up the places of the Jesuits with Indian secular missionaries from Goa; but his protests were of little avail. In course of XIII.— 25

time, as the members of the other religious orders died out, these same Indian missioners from Goa as- sumed charge of their churches under the; order of their diocesans, though more often than not there was a dispute between them and the missionaries Apostolic. The latter did not hesitate to misrepresent the Goan missionaries to be ignorant and immoral as a whole, though the diocesan seminary at Goa was conducted by the Jesuits until their suppression, and thereafter by members of the other religious orders till 1835. On the other hand, between 1652 and 1843, no less than seven of their fellow-countrymen were deemed worthy of episcopal consecration by the Crown of Portugal, the Holy See, and the Sacred Congregation de Pro- paganda Fide, not to speak of the Venerable Joseph Vaz, who was of their race. Howbeit, since then and up to the present time the majority of the priests working in the diocese have been Indian secular mis- sionaries from Goa.

Bishop San Caetano died in 1780, and was suc- ceeded by Fre. Manoel de Jesus Marie Jos^, O.S.A., a native of Goa and the prior of the Augustinian con- vent there. He was consecrated in 1788, and died at Saint Thomas in 1800. He was succeeded by Fre. Joaquim de Mcnezes e Athalde, O.S.A., who was con- secrated and took charge of his see by procuration in 1805, but before he could come out he was trans- ferred to the Diocese of Funchal. As a result, Fre. Jos(5 de Gra(^a, who on the death of Bishop Jesus Maria Jose had been appointed administrator, con- tinued as such till his death on 14 July, 1817, when Fre. Clemente de Espiritu Santo, O.S.F., was ap- pointed administrator. During the hitter's tenure of his office, Madras was visited by Dom Pech-o d'Alcan- tara, O.C., Bishop of Antipheles in parlibus and Vicar Apostolic of the Grand Mogul [sic] and visitor Apos- tolic of the French Capuchin missions, who "according to the mind of the Sacred Congregation de Propa- ganda Fide declared the Capuchins of Madras to be in- dependent of the Bishop of Saint Thomas of Mylapur not alone in temporal but also in spiritual matters". But the administrator dechned to accept his decision, as being a reaffirmation of the Decree of the same Sacred Congregation, which had been annulled. Fre. Clemente resigned the adminisi ration of the diocese to Fre. Manoel de Ave Maria, O.S.A., in 1820.

The British i)owcr was now [jarainount on the Coro- mandcl Co;ist, and Knglisli was univ(>rs;illy si)ok('n by the Indo-European jiopulation that formed the main- stay of the Cathohc congregation of Madras, as it al- ways was and still is all over India. Withal, the French Capuchins would not conform to the times, but continued to preach in Portuguese (which had de- generated in Madras to a patois) and Tamil, the lan- guage of the Indian Christians. As a result, many Indo-European familes gave up the practice of their religion and in time became Protestants. Finding their representations to the Capuchin prefect Apos- tolic unheeded, a band of young men represented the matter to the Holy See. In response to this appeal the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide raised the French Capuchin prefecture into a vicariate Apostolic and sent out Dr. O'Connor, O.S.A., with Irish priests, in 1828 to take over the work of the Frenchmen.

Portuguese Civil War of 1826, and its Consequences. — On the outbreak of the Peninsular wars. King Joao VI of Portugal, with his elder son Dom Pedro, sought refuge in Brazil. Presently a movement was set on foot to have his younger son, Dom Miguel, pro- claimed king, a movement which had the support of the religious orders, but not of the bishops or of the secular clergy. However, Joao returned to Portugal and quelled the insurrection. In the meantime Brazil proclaimed its independence with Dom Pedro as its emperor, an arrangement in which Joao acquiesced. On the death of Joao VI the loyalists in Portugal pro- claimed Dom Pedro of Brazil Iving of Portugal; but,