Capuchins in India 

Introduction

Of all the saints of the Middle Ages, Francis of Assisi seems, at first glance, the one whose hagiographic existence would be the best established. A cloud of witnesses in the church, in the world, in the order, should refract in a multi-coloured rainbow the aura of holiness which illuminates the strangely complex personality of this man who only wanted to be simple. whose happiness consist in giving rather than  winning it for oneself  who gave important to the fraternal life (religious community) that is the life sheared in love ,because this fraternal communion itself moves us  to the charitable service in the community and in world at large.   

The missionary zeal of St. Francis of Assisi is still proactive. The communities, the custodies, the vice provinces, the provinces are designed to establish the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi in the every junction of the world  thus History gives witness to this profound truth.

In this specific assignment I would like to emphasis on the topic call “A Brief History of the Province in the Context of the History of Capuchins in India. There will be main seven points on which I would like to build my assignment. The points are as follows:

1.      The Beginning of the Capuchins in India

2.      The Growth of Capuchins in India

3.      The First Indian Province 

4.      The Growth in to Other Provinces

5.      The Growth of Maharashtra  Province

6.      The Names of the Provinces of the Indian jurisdiction

7.      Additional Growth

Since I belong to Maharashtra province I am going to bring St. Bonaventure Province of Maharashtra in to a picture along with the capuchin history in India.

1.     The beginning of the Capuchins in India:

The arrivals of the Capuchin in India dates back to the year 1632 when a band of foreign Capuchin missionaries landed in Pondicherry, their intension was to extend their missionary thrust to Tibet and Nepal. However it turned out that they continued their missionary ventures in the Vicariate of Agra and Patna. After slogging as missionaries for about two and half centuries, the idea of implanting the order in India was considered as a possibility. Hence in 1880 a novitiate house was opened in Mussoorie. Just ten years later, however, this novitiate was closed down for want of vocation. A second attempt at beginning the order in India made on 26^th February 1922, at the instance of the then general Minister of the order, Br. Joseph Anthony of Persecutor. He inaugurated the novitiate personally at Sardhana, which could be said as the cradle of the Capuchin order in India for many years to come, two Indian novices wear vested on this occasion in the novitiate named after St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen.

 The superior Regular of Agra, Ajmer Allahabad and Lahor were jointly responsible for the success of this venture. Vocation to the order came from many dioceses of India but more from the south than the North. To overcome many of the initial teething troubles in the area of formation , the novitiate was later placed under the care of the Superior Regular of the Ajmer and to continue the post –novitiate formation , a study houses wear started at St. Francis Monastery, Mussoorie. The early Capuchins ware then sent to Europe to pursue their further studies with the French friars at Breust, Tours and Nantes. The first batch of 12 clerics had left India on 22^nd June 1927, Br. Marie Egide Uhlennuth of Ajmer leading theme.

2.     The Growth of Capuchins in India

The absence of a strong, vibrant and populous Christian community in north India, even as the extreme weather conditions of the place called for a transfer of the novitiate from North to a more favourable location in the South the Provinces of the Paris was called upon to undertake this venture. The capuchin was offered a little hill at Farangipet, called Monte Mariano, in the diocese of Mangalore and hence the decision to shift the novitiate was carried out in May 1930. Monte Mariano therefore can well be called the second cradle of the Capuchins in India .from then on the growth of the Capuchins in India was rapid and already in 1932a study house was set up in Quilon and most of the students who had not yet finished their studies abroad were brought back to continue their studies here.

            Naming of Br.Guido Le Floch as the General Commissary in 1933 marked the next phase of the growth of the Order in India. The influx of candidates was unabated and the order grew from strength to strength. From 1948 to 1954, Br. Richard Brunner from Calvery Province of USA was put in charge of Indian Capuchin Mission.  He was made Commissary Provincial in 1951. By 1954, the hands at the helms were changed and Fr. Cyril Andrade became the first Indian Commissary Provincial. In 1956, the Agra Archdiocese was entrusted to the Order and Fr. Dominic Athaide was consecrated as the first Indian Capuchin Bishop of Agra. In 1957, Fr. Cassian Timmins, a Canadian Missionary from Gorakhpur was appointed to guide the destiny of the Commissariat and he guided it during the next 6 years. The number of Capuchins by now had grown from 41 in 1933 to almost two hundred in 1960.

3.    The First Indian Province 

Fr. Clement of Milwaukee, the General Minister, who had known the growth of the Capuchin jurisdiction in India already at the time of his first visit. He paid a second visit in 1962, especially for constituting the Indian unit into a full-pledged Capuchin Province. Fr. John Berchmans Puthuparambil was appointed as the first Provincial Minister of the Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, India. Moreover, in the first elective chapter in 1966, Fr. John Berchmans was elected as Provincial Minister. During the second elective chapter held in 1969; Fr. Jacob Acharuparambil was elected as the Provincial Minister. He was also the last of the Provincial Ministers of the united Indian province as the jurisdictions had grown too big and as such stood in great need of a division , if only for the sake of sheer good administration . Meanwhile in December 1971, Br. Symphorian Keerprath was nominated Bishop of Jalandhar diocese and a whole civil state of Punjab was thus entrusted to the care of the Capuchins in India.  

                                                                                                                            

4.    The Growth into Other Provinces :

Ever since the novitiate was shifted to Monte Mariano, the Province had seen nothing but steady and rapid growth. it could count about 500 friars distributing among 40 houses in the five states of Karnataka , Goa ,Maharashtra , a Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Besides, they were working also in many other states and some in foreign countries. In this circumstances, the need of creating smaller jurisdictions for the sake of greater efficiency and a better implantation of the order. The first discussion to this effect took place during the provincial Chapter of 1969.

The general Minister and his definitory, having taken note of the situation, sent br. Aloysius ward to conduct an on the spot and thorough study of the state of affairs prevailing in the Province during the visitation from November 1971 to February 1972. As a result at the end of March 1972,the general minister and his definitory took the important and necessary decision to dismember the province into four unites ,namely ,the province of St. Joseph ,Kerala, the province of holy trinity , Karnataka –Goa-Maharashtra , the province of Amala Annai, Tamilnadu and the vice province of St. Francis , Kerala. The decree of this effect, signed on 9^th May 1972, was promulgated at St. Joseph’s friary, Kotagiri, on 17^th May by Br. Aloysius Ward, along with the names of Provincial superiors and their definetory.`

5.    The Growth of Maharashtra Province :

The new Province of KGM was carved out of the former Indian Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The three states of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra were indicated as its geographical territory. Br. Remigius Sequeira was appointed as the first Provincial Minister of the new province with Br. Liguory Noronha as Provincial Vicar and the First Definitory. Further, due to the rapid growth in vocations, there was the need of implanting the Capuchin presence in Maharashtra. Consequently, St. Bonaventure Capuchin Vice Province was erected. Within a span of ten years, the progress in the Vice Province has resulted in its elevation to the status of a Province.

Province of St. Bonaventure opened the new chapter of its life and mission on 4th June 2008 in the presence of our Minister General in the Fatima Friary, Vidyavihar-Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra. During the Eucharistic Celebration, which was presided by Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, Br. Mauro Jöhri, our Minister General, announced the new Team of Provincial Minister and Definitory:  Brothers Michael Fernandes as Minister Provincial,  Leo D’Monte as Vicar Provincial, Benher Patil second definitor, Joseph D’Souza third definitor and Terence D’ Souza as fourth definitor.

On 3rd June 2008, the Minister General himself received five of our brothers into the Order: Ashok Brahmane, Suhas Pereira, Nitin D’Souza, Rakesh Ghavtya and John Garodi. This ceremony took place during the Holy Mass at which Br. Mauro presided along with all of the friars of Maharashtra, the Definitor General for India, Br. John Antony, as well as other provincials of Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

6   .    The Names of the Provinces of the Indian Jurisdiction:

1.         Marymatha Province in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa (Collaboration with the Province in Switzerland and with Vice province of Arabia)

2.         St. Joseph Province in Kerala (Missions – Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Bavarian Province, Germany)

            3.         St. Thomas province in Kerala

            4.         St. Francis Province in Kerala

5.         Holy Trinity Province in Karnataka (Delegation of Nagaland –Manipur, Delegation of Mizoram, Delegation of Sri Lanka)

6.         St. Bonaventure Province in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh (Collaboration with the Irish Province)

7.         Krist Joyti Province in Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu-Kashmir.

8.         St. Fidelis Province in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jarkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Bengal, Chattisgarh and Middle Andaman (Collaboration with the Irish Province in New Zealand, Uganda and Custody in Japan)

9.         Amala Annai Province in Tamilnadu (Padre Pio Custody, Zimbabwe, House of Presence in Burkina Faso, France, Canada, Gulf Mission)

          10.       St. Antony’s Province in Goa

          11.       Pavanatma Vice Province in Kerala

7    .    Additional Growth:

10 Provinces

1 Vice Provinces

2 Custodies

3 Provincial Delegates

compare to earlier time where the missionaries would come from other countries to India but now the things have really change that to say upset down. We have our friars in many countries to serve as missionaries. Even one of the General Councillor Br. Michael fernandes is from (Maharashtra) India, the General Councillor Br Clayton Jaison Fernandes is from (Goa) India and still there are many others who are holding the good and the best offices in Roam.

CCMSI is known as the Commission of Capuchin Major Superiors in India works for the progress of capuchins in India and takes some of the decisions.

 AFFI is known as the all Franciscan families in India works for the all Franciscans in India. It is the center where Franciscan studies are done.

8. Conclusion:

To evangelize is to make the kingdom of God present in our world. The work of making kingdom present in the world is still energetic through the Franciscans that is what I precisely learn from this assignment. It also helped me lot to know the origin and derivation of my (capuchin) way of life in India and filed me with the weighty knowledge. Evan it facilitated me much to know the evolution and expansion of our own province (Maharashtra).  

References

·         Directory of St. Bonaventure Province of Maharashtra.

·         Franciscan Capuchin sources.