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2 6 T r i c h u r . Return to the Original F aith. A f t e r the depa rture o f Roco3, the chu rc h o f Our L a d y o f Dolo u rs at T r ic h u r rev er ted to the Original faith and p la ce d itself under the ju r is d i c t io n o f Goa. Thus it c ontin u ed on ce again te be Ca tholic till 1874. The church falls again into Schism. In 1874, the same Cath olic Patriarch o f B a by lo n , Jo seph O udo, sent anoth er Sy ria n Bish op named John Elias Melius at the request o f the people o f T r ich u r. On 7th F e bru ary, 1875, Bish op Melius pu bli sh ed a p ro clam a tio n , wherein he p rofessed him self to have been sent out b y the Patri arch with the permis sion o f P o p e Pius IX . N ot befo re long, h owev er, the people o f Ollur g o t in reply to an e n qu ir y b y them an au tograph letter o f P o p e Pius I X th rough the then D iw an o f Coc hin, the late Mr. T. San ku n ny Menon. In this letter the R o m o - S y r i a n s o f Malaba r w ere co m m a n d e d “ to g iv e no heed to the falseh oods o f Bishop Melius who by Our au th orit y has been already e x c o m m u n ic a t e d ” . The faithful o f the c o u n tr y were w arne d in the sHme letter that “ the P atriarch o f B a b y lon holds no pow er or ju r is d i c t io n fr om Us ov er the c h u rch es and peo ple o f M ala ba r” . The auto graph letter is date d 1st May , 1875, A t the time o f the pr o cla m a tion o f this d o c u m e n t B ish op Melius bad under him about 60 churches in T r a v a n co r e , Cochin and British Malabar, but most o f them soo n afte rw ar ds left Melius and retu rn ed to the tru e fold either under V e r a p oly o r the P a d ro a d o , In the meantime an o r d e r was sent from R o m e a s k in g the Patriarch to recall B ish op Melius fr om India. The P atriarch obey ed this or d e r at on ce , bu t B ish op Melius rem ained obd urate. The efforts of the H oly See to end the Mellusan Sehism. In 1876 Dr. L eo Meurin, Bishop o f B om b a y , was sent to Malabar as V i s it o r A p o s to lic. Dr. Meurin visit ed several R o m o - S y r i a n chu rch es and made the people underst and that Bish op Melius was an im post or. Th e V isit o r A p o s t o l ic also op en ed n egotia tio ns with the pa rt y o f Bish op Melius but with little im media te effect.
The P a t r i a r c h ’ s o rder r e ca llin g Melius was eventually o b e y e d in 1881, when the latter left In dia fo r good. H e made
T r i c h u r . 27 his recon cilia tion with the P atriarch , subm itted to the H oly See anJ was pla ced in c h a rg e o f his fo rm e r d ioc ese o f A e r a , in Chaldea, where he died. The Schism after M elius' departure. W hen Melius left T ric h u r, he pla ced his adherents in c h a rg e o f a nati ve priest named T h o n d a n a t A n th o n y and a Cor-epis copu s named Au g us tin e , a Chaldean priest who had ac c o m p a n ie d Melius from Mosul. Thonda na t A n th o n y was o rdain ed priest in 1850 by Dr. Lo uis, Bishop o f V e r a p o l y . H o w he fell out with the E u r op e an m ission aries o f V e r a p o ly after his ordin ati on, how he proce e ded to B a bylo n and got h jm self c o ns ecrate d Bishop by the Nestorian Patriarch and his su bs equ ent history are detailed in the T r a v a n c o r e State Manual. T hondanat A n th o n y died in 1900. The C orepis copu s contin u e d to pr eside over the d w in d lin g remnants o f the S ch is m atic s, a very large num ber o f them hav in g in the meantime reverte d to their old faith. The Corepis copu s died in 1910.
The L ou rdes Church, A w ord about the present L o u rde s Church seems called f o r in this co n n e ct io n . W hen Bish op Melius cre ate d this schis m , o n ly fou r families remained loyal to the old faith. A t their request a small cha pel was c o n s tr u c te d in 1874 u nde r the au sp ices o f the late Dr. L eo n ard Mellano, A r c h bish o p oE V e r a p o l y . The sp iritual needs o f this small co n g re g a t io n were attended to b y priests fro m the Carmelite M ona stery at Elthuruth. f o u r miles to the west o f T r ich u r, The num ber o f parishioners o f this chapel in c r e a s in g ev ery year, a separate site with a suitab le b u ild in g in it was pur chased clo se by. The re ligio us serv ic es and f u n c tio n s were then tr an sferred to the latter. It was si nce rebuilt and is n o w k n o w n as the Lat in Church. One o f the priests resident in the chapel f o r som e years was a European M is sio n ary. P o ly c a r p by name, who about the year 1885, pu rch ased a p ie c e o f land and built the pr esent L o u rdes Church on it. B ish op M e dly cott , the first V i c a r A p o s t o l ic o f T richur! arriv e d here in 1887. With some u n de rstan din g with thè A r c h b is h o p o f V e r a p o l y the L ou rd e s Church was allow ed to be used b y Bish op M edly eott as his Cathedral ch u rch . In
2 8 T r i c h u r . 1905 afte r n e gotia tio ns with R om e the L o u rdes Church and its pr em ises were co m ple te ly g iv en ov er to the late Bishop J oh n M e n a c h e r y , M e d ly c o t t ’ s s u c ce s so r , on pa ym en t o f a nomin al p ric e , JElow a part o f the congregation o f the Church o f Our Lady o f JDolour8 turned “ Neatorian'. When the Cor-epis cou s was a d v a n c in g in year s, his people lo oked out f o r a s u c c e s s o r to him. The Local P r o te st ants, both E u rope an and In dia n, happened to get in fo rm atio n o f this matter. T h ey a p pro a ch e d the Sch is m atic s with su g ge s tio n s tha-t a bish op co u ld be got down from M ar Simon, the Nestorian Patriarch o f B a bylo n . A l s o a Protest ah t gentleman named Ittiyera Chandy, a retired apoth ecary o f the Cochin Medical se rv ice, cam e to T r ie b u r from K o ttayam . his native p la ce , and resided iu the Church for about three months,
T h e people were made to believe that the d o c t r in e s and p r a c tic e s o f the c hu rch presided ov e r by Mar Simon were the same as those oE the Church o f Our L a d y o f Dolours, A fa c tio n o f the parish pla ced relian ce on this a ssu ra n ce and conse nted to open negot iations, with the Patri ach. They had also in terviews with the local P rotestan t Pastor, the late R e v . J, H. Bish op m .
. A f t e r som e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e with Mar Simon, one R ev. Brow n, b e lo n g in g to the Canterb ury A r c h b i s h o p ’ s mission in A ssy ria , came to T r ic h u r and held lo n g •conversations with the pa rishioners. A fo r m e r ap plicatio n to Mar Simon a s k in g for a bishop fo r their co m m u n ity w as prepared in consulta tio n with the Pr otest ants . But it was sign e d by o n ly a few o f the parishioners. Th e rest kept aloof as their su sp icio n was roused by the gratu itous in terferen ce o f the Pr otest ants . In resp onse to this requisition Mar Sim on deputed in 1907 Mar A b im a lek Tim otheus to T r ic h u r . E v e n b e f o r e his ar r iva l several churches had alread c o m e ba ck from schism to the Catholic faith, mostly of their ow n a c c o r d and in some cases th rough lit ig ati on. Consequentl y when M ar A b im a lek T im oth eu s cam e to T r ich u r only two churches, namely the Church o f Our L ad y o f Dolours and a small v illa ge chu rc h at Pattikad a b o u t 6 miles from T r ich u r a c k n o w le d g e d him as their bi sh op. On his ar rival the bishop o f co u r se fou nd that the d o c tr in e s and pr ac tic es o f the c h u rc h were R o m a n Catholic. F o r a little o v e r a year he kept quiet.
Th en gra dua lly he began to prea ch his d oc tr in es and to act in depen den tly o f the C or-e pis copu s. A certain Fr.
T r i c h c r . 29
r e sid in g in tbe cbu ro h was in terdic ted by Mar Tim oth eus fo r ba ptisin g a heathen and bis wife on tbe plea tbat adults o u g h t not to be baptised withou t tbe express perm is sio n o f tbe bishop. Tbi s event led to a civ il suit ia 1909 in which Fr. John claim ed da mag es for defam atio n to the extent o f Rs. 1500 and be g o t a decree for Rs. 3 0 0 - and c osts and tbe d ec ision was upheld by tbe Chief Court on ap peal. In bis written statement filed in Court in tbis case M ar Timotheus stated am o n g oth e r things tbat “ tha a lle ga tions in paras 3 and 4 o f the plaint that I am atte m ptin g to establish Nes torian faith in the c b u r c b are false” ! T be
d eposit ion o f Mar A b im a le k Tim otheus in c o n n e ct io n with tbis case clearly shows bis creed as well as his Protest an t c o n n e c t io n s . He does uot be lie ve in tran su bs ta ntiation nor in p u rg a t o ry . He o b je ct s very strou g ly to tbe use o f im ag es, i u v o c a t i o n 'o f saints and tbe c e lib a c y o f tbe c le rg y . He calls the Blessed V i r g in Mary the M other o f Jesus and not o f God and does not .acknow le dge that tbe sacram en ts are seven in n um ber. O w ing to tbe doctr in al innovatio ns which Mar Tim oth eus at tem pted to in tr o d u ce in the chu rch as his o ppo n e n ts co ns idere d them to be, the latter ( w h o th e n ce fo r w a r d called themselves In depen dent Ca th o lic s) took legal steps in 1910 to get the bishop and his adherents restrained f r o m h av in g a n y th ing to do with the church. Oil the a p p lic a ti on o f tbe plaintiffs tbe co u r t g a v e a tem pora ry in ju n ction p e n d in g the final dis posa l of the suit and a p poin ted a r e ceiv e r to look after the temporal affa ir s o f tbe c b u r c b and its propertie s. By v ir tue o f this in ju n ctio n the defen dan ts were o r dere d to have their religious servic es in tbe separate b u il d in g , namely, a small c b u r c b ab ou t a mile off and s u b s id ia r y to the main one. It is needless to follow in detail the progress o f this suit and its c o n c lu s io n since tbey are still fresh in o u r m em ory. Suffice it to quote here a few ex tracts f r o m the r e co r d e d e v id e n ce in the case which will g iv e some in sig b t into tbe c h a ra cter o f the B ish o p ’ s mission to T r ic h u r . E x tract from the ju d g m e n t o f the first Court : — “ From 1904 till 1903 there bad been a series o f applicatio ns, and the c o r r e s p o d d e n c e was carrie d on d u r i D g the m a jo r part o f this pe riod by the late Ittiy era Ch andy (a native P r o te s t a n t), a pensioned a p o th e ca ry o f this State, • as ag ent o f tbe plaint c h u rc h . A p o t h e c a r y Chan dy did not c o rr e sp o n d with Mar Sim o n d ir e c t but a p p ro a ch e d the latter through two channels. 30 T r i c u u r . He co rr e s p o n d e d with Dr. Brow n at Quidshan es th rou gh R e v . Palm er o f K o tta va m , and with Rev . W ig r a m at Va n through R ev.
W als h at T r ich in o p o ly . Rev . Brow n and Rev. W ig r a m acted as agents o f M ar S im o n ” . E x tr a c t from Rev. W a lsh ’ s letter, da ted, 15 Ju ly . 1905, to Mr, Tttiyera Ch andy : — “ If the T r ich u r brethren are b r o u g h t into liv in g union with their brethren in K urdis ta n and there b y with the ( C a n t e r b u r y ) A r c h b i s h o p ’ s A s sy ria n M ission, they might, in G o d 's mercy, b e c o m e the rally in g point for the presen t dis in te grate d parts o f the Syrian c o m m u n ity . Their historical claim s on co n t in u it y would be a p ow e rfu l lever tow ards unity and
if they could o f their own xnitintive free themselves o f Rom an errors and b e c o m e h zealous M issionary Church full o f the
H o ly Spirit, m a in taining their freedom and in depen den ce, I should think the R eform ed Syrians first and later on the J a co b ite s would be draw n to them by ir resistible fo r ce. Then they would w ork as a sister Church to the Church o f E n g la n d and in c o m m u n io n with her for the g rea t com m o n purpos e in the nva ugelis ation o f E n g lan d. E v e n tu ally the Ch urch o f E n g la n d m ig h t hand ov er her bodie s o f nati ve Christians in that pa rt o f lu d ia and con c en tra te hers elf in other regio n s
the Chaldean Church when he was here and he was v ery much in te re ste d.” E x tr a c t from the d eposit ion o f the late R ev. J. H. Bish op : — “ Dr. Brown was sent here by the A r c h b is h o p o f Canterbury in c o n n e ct io n with the Christian Mission o f which he was th« head ....... Mar Simon is by name a Nes toria n but not by doc tr in e. I knew it from Dr. W ig r a m ....... I d o n ’ t k now if Mar Simon com es under the d esig n atio n Pr otest an t. P er so n a lly I would call him a P r o te stan t.” It is w orthy o f note iu this c o n n e ct io n that Bish op R o c o s cam e here 47 years and Bishop Melius 60 vears after the fou n d a tio n o f tha Church. On either o c ca sio n there lived num erou s men in and out o f T r ic h u r w*>o had actu ally seen the Church b e in g fou nded as Rom an Ca tholic. The Coch in Census R e p o r t of 1874, the year o f Bishop Melius’ arrival, when d e s c r ib i n g the town of T r ich u r, says, in page 19 o f its A p p e n d i x , that *‘ the habitations o f the Christians are in c o m p a c t form c ollected in the v ic i n it y o f R o m o - S y r i a n Ch urch, f r o m which run several stre ets.” A g a i n on page 40
T r i c h u r . 31 o f the Stat istical table of the C o c h in Census R ep o r t o f 1880 the uum ber o f R o m a n Ca th olic s in the T r ich u r District is give n as 23,772, that o f P rote stan ts as 544, and o f J a cob it es as 445 and no oth er Christian d e n om in atio n is mentioned in it.
S ir W illia m H u n te r in his Imperial Gazetteer o f India, w r it in g o f T r ich u r, says, “ Th e fo rtificatio ns now out o f r e pair were er ected in 1774. The Zilla or D is trict Court and Jail are here as well as a R o m a n Catholic Church and an est ab lis hm ent o f the Church M is sio n ary S o c ie t y . ” The Madras Catholic D irec to r y o f 1851 c ontain s a list o f the c h u rc h e s then uuder the A r c h b is h o p o f V e r a p o ly . The
T r ic h u r Ch urch was then in hi? ju r is d i c t io n and finds a place in the list. The Cochin State Manual unh esi ta tin gly calls the Church R o m o — Syrian. Furt her, Rev. W hitebouse, f o r mer ly P a s to r o f British Cochin and Dr. Spencer, Bishop oE Madras, both A n g lic a n s , happened to visit the church d u rin g the first h alf o f the last c e n t u r y and bs v e. in their well k n ow n bo oks, testified to the chu rc h b e i n g Rom an Catholic. In reply to a letter, dated 27th A u g u s t, 1870, fr om the Diw an of Cochin to the G o v e r n o r o f C ran g an ore a s k in g f o r detailed list o f the c h u rch es uuder him, the latter wrote to Diw an under date, 9th N o v e m b e r, 1870, g i v i n g c o v e r to the list called for. Tue T r ic h u r Church is incl uded in it. Certified copie s o f these do cum e nts were o btain edt from the fl u z u r office and filed in the suit instituted by the Catholic pa rishioners, which will be re fe rr e d to later on. A venerab le old R o m o-S y ria n priest b e l o n g in g to the di o ce se of the Bishop of T r ich u r who had said mass in the T r ic h u r Church in his y ou n g er days while the Church was yet Catholic, is still alive. He has never been ‘ Nes torian ’ no r Prote st ant nor J a co b ite till now. It is needless to la bou r this poin t si nce it is publi c pr o p e rty that the Church o f Our L a d y o f Dolours at T r ic h u r was origina lly founded as a R om an Catholic Church ; and there is no k n ow n historical w o rk w hatever statin g to the c o n t r a r y . The Church has now been finally decla red to have been ‘ N e s t o r i a n ’ all aloner. A m o n g the members o f the presen t ' Nestorian ’ families themselves there are numerous Hom an Catholic laymen and a priest.
Th e first o f these was made by Bishop M ed ly cott , first V i c a r A pos to lic of T ric h u r, who st ood as the sole plaintiff in a
32 T s i c h u r . civ il suit instituted by him— and. to be brief, he lost the case. One o f the issues laid dow n was whether the plaintifl had any
r e s p e c t o f the T r u s t ? And the issue was d e c id e d ag ainst him at any rate by the first Cou rt although pla in tiff’ s c oun sel in vited the atten tion o f the Court to the Canon Law which l « y9
down that the Bishop is the ad m in is tra tor o£ the re venues o f the Churches situated within his dio cese . The next attempt was made by a b o d y . o f rep resentativ e Catholic p a ris hioners who instituted a similar suit, in which the present In dependents and ' N es toria ns ’ were j o i n t defen dants . In this case about 50 docum ents, am o n g others, from the ar c h iv es o f the plaint c hu rch in the c u s to d y o f the R eceiv er ap poin ted by the Court, were p r o d u c e d in e v id e n ce which c o n c lu s iv e ly showed that the c hu rch was R o m an Catholic, But the sco pe o f in qu ir y was prelim in a rily narrowed dow n to the question as to whether the suit was not barred by the law o f res judicata and it was de cide d that a c c o r d i n g to the Canon Law the Bish op alone is co m pete n t to sua in a matter like this and that b e c a n se Bishop M edly- cott had already sued, the plaintiffs had n o r igh t to c o m e in again and the suit was dis missed on this s o lita ry g ro u n d . Later Visitors to the Church. Sir Charles and L a d y T o d h u n te r visited the c hu rch two years ag o and at a g lan ce into the in terio r thereof excla im ed *' A purely R o m an Catholic C b n r c h . ” T w o o r three months b efor e the an n o u n c em en t o f the award the A r b i t a t o r in the Church case, Mr. C. W. E. Cotton C. I. E., I. C.S., P o li tic al A g e n t to the G over n or -G e u er al, Madras States, visited the c hu rch , saw the altars, the imag e o f Our L a d y o f Dolours to w hom the c h u r c h is d e d ica ted , the lighted can dle s, the Crucifix, all the statues o f Saints and A n g e ls in the Church, the im ag e o f the dead b o d y o f Christ w hich in taken in p r o ces sion roun d the chu rch after the Mass o f the Pre- Sanctified on G o o d F rid ay , the vessels set in the walls c o n t a in in g E o ly water, the c o n fessio n al, the pic tu res o f the fo u rteen st at ions on the Via Crucis o r the w ay o f the cro s s, the list in crib e d on the wall o f the names o f certain dec eased parishioners for whose souls Masses are said on stated dates, in short he had a clo se in spection o f the ch u rc h an d its pr em is es.
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