Jesuits in India
The Society of Jesus, founded in 1540 by Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556), is a Roman Catholic religious order known worldwide for its evangelical, charitable, and educational work as well as for its concern for social issues. Members ( Jesuits) are bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and apostolic labors.
Saint Francis Xavier (1506–1552) was the first Jesuit to work in India; he represented the society in Goa on the west coast of India from 1540, where he worked among the paravas, a fisher caste, and made many converts. After his death his body was enshrined in the cathedral in Goa, where he is venerated by people of all faiths.
Jesuits published India's first printed book in 1556. Thomas Stephens (1549–1619), an English Jesuit stationed in Goa, wrote a Konkani grammar, a manual of Christian instruction in Konkani and Marathi, and Kristapurana (Christian Purana, 1615), a Marathi poem in the style of the Puranas. Roberto de Nobili (1577–1656), another linguist, wrote a Tamil catechism.
The Society of Jesus enjoyed many successes in India, but these were often tempered by momentary trials and setbacks. In 1744 Pope Benedict XIV (1675–1758) issued a papal bull suppressing the rites used by Indian converts. In 1759 the prime minister of Portugal, Marquês de Pombal (1699–1782), expelled all Jesuits from Portugal and Portuguese territories (including Goa), and in 1773 Pope Clement XIV (1705–1774) abolished the Jesuit order (it was reconstituted in 1814 by Pope Pius VII). Jesuit missionaries struggled with social issues, often involving caste. At first their evangelization targeted the lower-caste Hindus, who were known as "rice Christians" because their mass conversions were seen as tainted by desire for material comforts (such as food), but subsequent efforts, which focused on social change through education, attracted high-caste converts. By 1858 they had founded colleges in Goa, Mumbai (Bombay), Calcutta, and Cranganore. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Jesuit missions in India are engaged in educational and social programs, having established over twenty colleges, more than one hundred high schools, and several technical, labor relations, and management institutes in India.
Further Reading
Bangert, William V. (1986) A History of the Society of Jesus. St. Louis, MO.: Institute of Jesuit Sources.
Correia-Afonso, John. (1997) The Jesuits in India 1542–1773. Anand, India: Gujarat Shahitya Prakash.
De Souza, Teotonioo, and Charles J. Borges, ed. (1992) Jesuits in India: In Historical Perspective. Macao, China: Instituto Cultural de Macau.
Neill, Stephen. (1985) A History of Christianity in India, 1707– 1858. 2 vols. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
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