The Role of François Marie De Tours in the Capuchin Mission in India and Tibet1
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ORIENTALIA SUECANA 2020. Vol. 69: 29–41. UPPSALA UNIVERSITY Research article Rudolf Kaschewsky* The Role of François Marie de Tours in the Capuchin Mission in India and Tibet1 https://doi.org/10.""06"/di#a-40%6&9 Abstract: This paper describes the activities of the French missionary François Marie de Tours who in the beginning of the 18th century laid the foundation of the Capuchin mission to Tibet, which was at that time a rather risky venture! "n the one hand he was well prepared by his missionary wor in #orthern $ndia, where he had started linguistic research by writing a thesaurus of what he called Lin- gua mogallana %a predecessor of &industani'! "n the other hand, he had no e(perience of the land of the lamas. What had motivated him, was the ancient rumour that there might have been Christian communities in Tibet which had only to be *revitali+ed,! François Marie presented his &industani thesaurus to the -atican authorities in order to suggest them to agree to his Tibet plan. .esides that, the paper throws some light on François Marie/s theological attitude %perceptible in his discussion of certain missionary methods)! Keywords: Capuchin mission, $ndia, Tibet, missionary methods Introduction Two activities of the Capuchin Friar François Marie de Tours %1 1234' stand out as particularly im5 portant! "ne is his famous %but still unpublished' dictionary and grammar of what he called Lingua Mogalana, a predecessor of Modern &industani!6 The other is his wor to establish a Catholic Mission in Tibet! The Capuchin Order $n order to understand the personal +eal and missionary attitude of François Marie de Tours it seems helpful to have a look at the origin and development of his monastic order! The Capuchins are a prod5 uct of internal reforms within the Franciscan "rder,7 which was split into the Conventuals and the stricter "bservants, with the Capuchins being descendant of the latter, following more closely St Francis of 9ssisi/s ideal of living a poor and simple life! They originated in the $talian region of the Marches. The founder of the new branch was Matteo di .assi who in prayer heard a voice e(horting him to *"bserve the :ule to the letter,, which means more strictly and in an ascetic way! &e soon 1 This paper is a slightly enlarged version of an introductory lecture for the *)or shop on the ;uropean <iscovery of =&indi/, %>ppsala >niversity, <epartment of ?inguistics and @hilology, Aune BCD, 631B'! $ am grateful to my col 5 league Bri0a5Maria Eruber, Bonn, for improving my ;nglish! $n this paper, $ am not dealing in e(tenso with the life of François Marie and the Thesaurus Linguae Indianae, be5 cause $ did not want to interfere with the ongoing maFor proFect of producing an edition of the Thesaurus under the guidance of &ein+ )erner )essler %>ppsala'! 9 Glm on that proFect is also in preparation! ! The Franciscan "rder as such began missionary wor shortly aHer its foundation %1634 I 1614', and might proba5 bly be called *the Grst missionary "rder in the Church, %A! @rasad @into, *Cultural Contribution of the Capuchins in $ndia,, inJ Indian Missiological Review 16 %1443', 172C1B2, hereJ 172'! " '(s)i)ut f+ Asie($ und O ie()s)udie(. A/). Ti/e)ologie und Mongolis)ik. 2(i#e si)3) Bon(. 5$6ail: RuKasch@)$onli(e.de -pe( ,ccess. 8ublished /y )he 9epa )6e() of :i(guis)ics a(d 8hilology. 2ppsala 2(i#e si)y. 0his work is lice(sed unde )he ; ea)i#e Co66ons Att i/ution 4.0 I()e (a)ional <;; B= 4.0> lice(se. R. K,?;@5A?K= 0@5 R-:5 -B BR,CD-'? 1,R'5 95 0-2R? changed his monastic habit %robe) by forming the cap into a long hood, and this was the starting point of the Capuchin order in 1D6D! That form of monastic habit was not only a piece of dress for the new congregation, but also a symbol of their return to the time of the origin of the FranciscansK they took for granted that it was the e(act type of garment worn by St Francis himself!B .oth observing the rule literally and wearing the hooded habit became the distinguishing mar s of the new move5 ment! For François Marie de Tours, his Capuchin habit was so important that he wore it continuously in the Tibetan capital of ?hasa, as it was proof of their freedom and acceptance in the city, as he told in a letter to his Superior!D The Indian Mission $n March 1L74, the Grst three Capuchins reached the port of Goa, but as soon as they arrived they were robbed of all their belongings and even submi0ed to cruel torture! "ne friar remained at Goa, others founded the stations of Surat,L @ondichéry and Madras.2 &ere, the Capuchins composed sev5 eral reliable wor s on $ndian languages and literature!8 The @ondichéry Mission4 had been established in Madras when the French inhabitants of @ondichéry invited the French Capuchins to administer the religious service for them. There was a new mission building, and soon the monks erected a small church! The mission began in 1L2B and was officially established on 1D Aanuary 1L22!13 $n 1L43 it was e(tended to seven small neighbouring towns.11 8urat and @ondichéry were the locations of François Marie de Tours/ activity from 1L83 on5 ward! When considering the conOicts with the Aesuits at the beginning of the 18th century, it should be mentioned that the latter Grst arrived in @ondichéry in 1L84!16 "n 13 Aune 1L44, pastoral care was placed into the hands of the Aesuits, with Fr &enri <olu becoming the parish priest of the Tamil con5 gregation, while only the wor with the ;uropeans and *;uropeani+ed $ndians, was leH to the Ca5 puchins. This development caused strong disappointment among the Capuchins, who at that time had three @ondichéry churches in their charge! "ne reason for the bishop/s decision was the Ca5 puchins’ %alleged or actual' lac of nowledge of Tamil!17 For a more general appreciation of the later activities of the Capuchin Mission to $ndia, see -adak ekara, *$ndienmission”, passim. # For a detailed FustiGcation of this Capuchin habit in eleven paragraphs compare *>ndici dimostra+ioni della vera forma dell/abito istituita dal @! 8! Francesco,, inJ .overio, Annali, L1DC271! $ ?hasa 1 <ecember, 1232K cf. ?uciano @etechJ I Missionari Italiani nel Tibet e nel Nepal! @arte $5$-, $ Cappuccini Marchigiani! :oma 14D6514D7K hereJ vol! $, le0er C?! 4! % @eregrinus P?a+iosusQJ Annali dell’ rdine dei !ratri Minori Cappuccini scri"i e illustrati! -ol! 1! Milano 1886! & @eter C! ;lampasseryJ #arly Capuchin Missions to India! 8ahibabad 1486, passim! Clemente da Ter+orioJ Manuale %istoricum Missionum rdinis Capuccinorum! $sola del ?iri 146L, 1B651D3! Clemente da Ter+orioJ Le Missioni dei Minori Cappuccini! 8unto storico! -ol! -$$$! Indie orientali! @arte $J 8urate C Madras C @ondichery C Tibet! :oma 1476, passimK ;! :! &ambyeJ %istor$ o& Christianit$ in India' -ol! $$$! #ighteenth Centur$! Bangalore 1442, 1BD51D3, 74B f. "n the missions in 8urat and Madras, see :occo da Cesinale( )toria delle missioni dei Cappuccini' Tomo $$$! :oma 1827, 62BC768! ' Cf. the detailed listing in &ambye, %istor$, B62CB64! ( There were short periods of French Capuchin activity in @ondichMry before, 1L76C1L7B and in 1LB6! 9t François Marie/s time, the city had about D3,333 inhabitants! 1) Cf. Ter+orio, Manuale, 1B8! This was the very starting point of that prosperous Catholic mission station! 11 "p! cit!, 1B4! $n this connection Fr! 8piritus de Tours %even named *Malabaricorum 9postolus,, loc! cit!' is oHen mentioned, who should not be confused with François Marie de Tours! 1 Julia ?ederleJ Mission und *+onomie der ,esuiten in Indien! $ntermediRres &andeln am Beispiel der Malabar5@rov5 in+ im 18! Jahrhundert! )iesbaden 6334, 1B3! 1! &ambiye, %istor$, 121! "n the other hand, mention should be made of the many reliable proliGc writings of the Capuchin missionaries on the ethnography and literary heritage of $ndia %and Tibet'J @into, *Cultural contribu5 tion,, 1B7 f.K @eregrinus, *@rima missione,, Annali, 7B6! ORIENTALIA SUECANA 2020. Vol. 69. "0 R. K,?;@5A?K= 0@5 R-:5 -B BR,CD-'? 1,R'5 95 0-2R? François Marie de Tours* Thesaurus #evertheless, in connection with the merits of the Capuchins in the cultural and linguistic Gelds François Marie/s Thesaurus Linguae Indianae, which was composed during his stay in 8urat, deserves Grst mention. The manuscript was handed over to the ?ibrary of the Sacred Congregation @ropa5 ganda Fide %:ome) in 123B, as stated in a note added to the end of the manuscript1B by C! 9! Fabroni, Secretary of the Congregation. Two copies of the Thesaurus are preserved in the .ibliothSTue #a5 tionale de @aris in the <epartment of "riental Manuscripts #os 874 and 8B3 %-NF indien .// & ./1'!1D $n a letter dated as early as L March 1237 François Marie had announced his wor to the Sacred Congregation: *$l p! Francisco Maria Turuense Cappuccino, suppliche si stampino dua di++iari e una grammatica da un compositi in lingua indiana,, which is contained in the Acta )acrae Congregationis, vol! 27, pp! L7CLL! $n that letter, he elaborately praises the benefit to be e(pected from a printing of his books by the Congregation: This language, which is so important and which at first sight seems so difficult, will be made easier than s to what $ am going to present you, if you would edit my wor ! $t is a grammar, arranged com5 pletely according to the ?atin grammar with declensions, conFugations and certain rules.