Antiquissima Christianità: Indian Religion or Idolatry?

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 471-498
Author(s):  
Ines G. Županov
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Global Expansion ◽  
Malabar Coast ◽  
Indian Christianity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Jesuit Mission ◽  
Indian Religion

Abstract The Jesuit mission among the “ancient Christians” on the Malabar coast in today’s Kerala was one of the watershed moments—as I argued a decade ago—in their global expansion in Asia in the sixteenth century, and a prelude to the method of accommodation as it had been theorized and practiced in Asia. In this article I want to emphasize the invocation of comparisons with and the use of Mediterranean antiquity in crafting the identities, memory, and history of Indian Christianity. Jesuit ethnographic descriptions concerning the liturgy, rites, and customs of māppila nasrānikkal, also known as St. Thomas Christians, triggered a series of debates involving various missionaries, Catholic Church authorities in Goa and Rome, as well as Syrian bishops and St. Thomas Christian priestly families. Caught up in the contrary efforts at unifying and homogenizing Christianity under two distinct helms of the Portuguese king and the Roman pope, the missionaries generated different intellectual tools and distinctions, all of which contributed to further jurisdictional struggles. The St. Thomas Christian community became a model of “antique” Christianity for some and a heretical or even idolatrous sect for others. It became a mirror for the divided Christianity in Europe and beyond. In India, it was precisely the vocabulary and the historicizing reasoning that was invested in analyzing and defining these Indian homegrown Christians that would be subsequently applied by comparison, analogy, or contrast to formalize and reify other Indian “religions.” The dating and the autonomous or derivative status of Indian (“pagan”) antiquities emerged, a century later, as a major orientalist problem.

Some French Reactions to the Council of Trent

1964 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Kingdon
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
John Calvin ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
Ideas And Institutions

In this age of growing ecumenicism, many scholars are turning to the history of the sixteenth century for a fresh examination of the origins of those ideas and institutions which continue to divide the Christian community. During these years of the widely publicized meetings of an ecumenical council sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church, many are turning specifically to the canons and decrees drafted by the Council of Trent for a fresh study of the extent to which they do or must divide Christians. But fully to understand these Tridentine decisions from an ecumenical perspective requires not only a knowledge of their texts and of the debates from which they emerged. It requires also a knowledge of the hostile reactions which they aroused among the many Christians who would not accept these decisions or the authority of those who promulgated them. An interesting spectrum of such reactions can be found among French criticisms of Trent published during the sixteenth century. Of these publications, three semto me to demonstrate this proposition neatly: one by a distinguished French theologian, John Calvin; a second by a dustinguished French Jurisconsult, Charles Dumoulin; a third by a prominent French lawyer and historian, Innocent Gentillet. These works have not been ignored by such experts on the historiography of Trent as professor Jedin. But I feel they merit a more detailed and more considered examination than they have as yet received. This paper sketches some of the lines upon which such an examination might proceed.

Devasahayam: The First Martyr For Jesus Christ In Travancore

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Pushpa Raj ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
South India ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The People ◽  
Malabar Coast ◽  
History Of

Travancore was the first and foremost among the princely states of India to receive the message of Jesus Christ. According to tradition, St. Thomas the Apostle came to India in 52 A.D. He made many conversions along the west coast of India. It had to the beginning of Christian Community in India from the early Christian era. He attained martyrdom in 72 A.D. at Calamina in St. Thomas mount, Madras. He was the first to be sacrificed for the sake of Christ in India. During the close of the second century A.D. the Gospel reached the people of southern most part of India, Travancore. Emperor Constantine deputed Theophilus to India in 354 A.D. to preach the Gospel. During this time the persecution of Christians in Persia seemed to have brought many Christian refugees to Malabar coast and after their arrival it strengthened the Christian community there. During the 4th century A.D. Thomas of Cana, a merchant from West Asia came to Malabar and converted many people. During the 6th century A.D. Theodore, a monk, visited India and reported the existence of a church and a few Christian groups at Mylapore and the monastery of St. Thomas in India. Joannes De Maringoly, Papal Legate who visited Malabar in 1348 has given evidence of the existence of a Latin Church at Quilon. Hosten noted many settlements from Karachi to Cape Comorin and from Cape Comorin to Mylapore. The Portuguese were the first European power to establish their power in India. Under the Portuguese, Christians experienced several changes in their general life and religion. Vas-co-da-gama reached Calicut on May 17, 1498. His arrival marked a new epoch in the history of Christianity in India. Many Syrian Catholics were brought into the Roman Catholic fold and made India, the most Catholic country in the East. Between 1535 to 1537 a group of Paravas were converted to Christianity by the Portuguese. In 1544 a group of fishermen were converted to Christian religion. St. Francis Xavier came to India in the year 1542. He is known as the second Apostle of India. He laid the foundation of Latin Christianity in Travancore. He could make many conversions. He is said to have baptized 30,000 people in South India. Roman Congregation of the propagation of Faith formed a Nemom Mission in 1622. The conversion of the Nairs was given much priority. As a result, several Nairs followed Christian faith particularly around Nemom about 8 k.m. south of Trivandrum. Ettuvitu pillaimars, the feudal chiefs began to persecute the Christians of the Nemom Mission. Martyr Devasahayam, belonged to the Nair community and was executed during the reign of Marthandavarma (1729-1758). It is an important chapter in the History of Christianity in South India in general, and of Travancore in particular.

Cardinals' Patronage and the Era of Tridentine Reforms: Giulio Feltro della Rovere as Protector of Sacred Music

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-291
Author(s):  
Valerio Morucci
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Sacred Music ◽  
Dual Role ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Administrative System ◽  
New Information ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Catholic Church

In the history of the Catholic Church, cardinals have exercised a degree of influence almost as vital as that of the pope himself. Standing at the summit of the pontifical administrative system, they typically held a dual role as papal and courtly sovereigns and also served as the pope's electors and main counselors. To date, however, their substantive role in the patronage of sacred music in sixteenth-century Italy has attracted comparatively little musicological attention, largely because the familial archives of cardinals are more difficult to locate and less likely to be catalogued than those of kings, dukes, and popes. Newly discovered correspondence and musical sources serve to establish the significance of Cardinal Giulio Feltro della Rovere as a patron of sacred music. The letters addressed to Giulio Feltro provide new information on the musical careers of Costanzo Porta and other composers working under the cardinal's ecclesiastical sway. These letters also contribute to our understanding of mid-sixteenth-century printing practices and provide concrete evidence of the influence of the Council of Trent on sacred music.

scholarly journals The role and place of the magazine "Missionary" in the founding of the secular order of St. Basil the Great in the UGCC

2020 ◽  
pp. 174-188
Author(s):  
Mariia Khrystyiana Holomidova
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Formation ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
The World ◽  
Monastic Life ◽  
History Of

The article is intended to acquaint a reader with that important role and place of the Basilian periodical Misionar which it played in the foundation of the Lay Order of Saint Basil the Great in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church by the Righteous Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. The article investigates the initial period of the foundation of the Lay Order of Saint Basil the Great, which was covered in the pages of the periodical Misionar in 1897-1898. The Lay Order of Saint Basil the Great, the earliest name of which is the Brotherhood of Law of Saint Basil the Great, was founded at the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in the time of the Dobromil's reform of the Basilian Order in 1897 by the hegumen of the monastery of Saint Onuphrius in Lviv, father Andrey Sheptytsky, the Order of Saint Basil the Great, the future metropolitan. In the pages of the periodical Misionar, which was also founded by the hegumen and father Andrey Sheptytsky, the Order of Saint Basil the Great, in May in the year of 1897, within June 1897 - December 1898 the materials were published relating to the earliest period of the foundation of the Lay Order of Saint Basil the Great. This is the period when the father A. Sheptytsky, the Order of Saint Basil the Great, fulfilled the duties of the hegumen of Lviv Monastery until August 26, 1898 and later was appointed as a Professor of moral and dogmatic theology at Krystynopol. The first editor of the periodical was the father Platonid Filias, the Order of Saint Basil the Great. By the time the father A. Sheptytsky, the Order of Saint Basil the Great, became the Stanislavsky bishop (1899), he was also the responsible editor of the periodical Misionar. The hegumen and father Andrey Sheptytsky, the Order of Saint Basil the Great, having founded Misionar and having founded the centres of the Brotherhood of Law, used the periodical to popularize the Brotherhood of Law and its development, thus encouraging readers to the perfect Christian life in the world in the community of Brotherhood in order to do good deeds for the benefit of all “Russ community” by joint efforts. The periodical provided information about the formation of centres of the Brotherhood of Law in localities, where the Basilian missions took place. The articles were printed that contributed to the formation of new centres and spiritual formation of community members. In particular, under the heading “The Life of the Saints”, the Basilian fathers, telling about the life of Saint Dalmat, his son Favstva and Saint Isaac, encouraged readers of Misionar to imitate the life of these Saints, the monastic life in the world and the formation of monasteries in villages, like the monastery of St. Isaac. They advised how this could be done. In the heading of the periodical “Misionarski Visti” [Missionary News], it was reported in which localities the centres of the Brotherhood of Law were founded. From May till December 1898, the story “The Christian community” was printed in 12 issues of the periodical that described the life of the law and the Christian life in general. These articles contributed to the spiritual formation of the members of the founded Brotherhood of Law and all readers of the periodical as well as the introduction of the “Rules of St. Father N. Vasyl V. for Mirsky people”, which were concluded by the hegumen and father Andrey Sheptytsky, the Order of Saint Basil the Great for the Brotherhood. Thus, favourable conditions were created for the foundation and development of the Lay Order of Saint Basil the Great, and the periodical Misionar played a special role in this. We can assert that the periodical Misionar occupies an honourable place in the entire now more than 120-year history of the existence and activities of the Lay Order of Saint Basil the Great in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.

Latino Catholicism

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Matovina
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Societal Impact ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
The U.S

Most histories of Catholicism in the United States focus on the experience of Euro-American Catholics, whose views on social issues have dominated public debates. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the Latino Catholic experience in America from the sixteenth century to today, and offers the most in-depth examination to date of the important ways the U.S. Catholic Church, its evolving Latino majority, and American culture are mutually transforming one another. This book highlights the vital contributions of Latinos to American religious and social life, demonstrating in particular how their engagement with the U.S. cultural milieu is the most significant factor behind their ecclesial and societal impact.

THE HISTORY OF CATHOLICISM IN BASHKORTOSTAN: A BRIEF HISTORIOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (4) ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
F.A. KRYZHANOVSKY ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
General Nature ◽  
South Urals ◽  
The South ◽  
Middle Volga Region ◽  
History Of

The article examines the main publications covering the centuries-old history of the Catholic Church in the lands of modern Bashkortostan, as well as partly affecting the interaction of local Catholic communities with coreligionists from other cities located in the South Urals, as well as in the Middle Volga region. Unfortunately, there are quite a few special studies on the history of this Christian denomination in our republic. Many works, in one way or another related to this issue, are of a general nature and contain a schematic listing of factual information, or are more devoted to the history of national communities, for which this religion is, to a certain extent, one of the most important elements of traditional ethnic culture. Here it is necessary to note, first of all, publications on the history of the Polish and German diaspora, which provide information about the participation of representatives of these communities in the creation of Catholic parishes and public associations associated with charity and education. At the same time, the significance of the confessional aspect is to a much lesser extent revealed in works on the history of Latvian immigrants from Latgale, Belarusians and Ukrainians from Volyn and Eastern Galicia, who, due to various circumstances, left their homes during the First World War, as well as other Catholic emigrants from Central and Western Europe, located in the Ufa province at the beginning of the XX century. In some articles on demography and striking features of social stratification, one can find indirect references to the presence of Catholics, but this information only It is noteworthy that most publications indicate the middle of the 17th century as the earliest dating of the appearance of believing Catholics in the South Urals, and evidence of missionary trips to the Eastern Hungarians during the 13th-15th centuries allows us to make hypothetical assumptions about their role in the life of the local religious community. It can be noted that the presence of a certain part of Catholics on the territory of Bashkiria during the 16th20th centuries. was associated with forced migration due to the fact that, as a result of military clashes, some of them were captured, as well as due to participation in activities that conflicted with the interests of the Russian leadership are considered, with a few exceptions, only in the context of the problem of the origin of the Bashkir people, most likely due to the modest results of the preaching.

ZAANGAŻOWANIA KOŚCIOŁA KATOLICKIEGO NA RZECZ MIGRANTÓW – PRZESŁANKI DOKTRYNALNO-PRAWNE

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (`1) ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Piotr Wojnicz
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Religious Orders ◽  
Important Thing ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is naturally associated with migrants and its history and doctrine areinextricably linked with the migration of people. Many of the documents of the Catholic Church referto the history of human migration. The responsibility of the Catholic Church for migrants has deephistorical and theological roots. The Catholic Church sees both the positive and the negative sidesof this phenomenon The pastoral care of migrants is a response to the needs of these people. It doesnot replace the territorial structures. They both work closely together and complement each other.The primary objective of the pastoral care of migrants is to enable migrants to integrate with thelocal community. An important element of these structures are religious orders of men and women.The most important thing for migrants is the Christian attitude of the local community tothem. Church repeatedly stressed the importance of hospitality to migrants. Both human andChristian attitude towards migrants expresses itself in a good reception, which is the main factorin overcoming the inevitable difficulties, preventing opposites and solving various problems. Thisattitude helps to alleviate the problems associated with the process of social integration.

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