By Fr. Mariadas Sesetti msfs –
15th Feb 1846 is a red-letter day in the history of Catholic Church in India. The day raised a curtain to the saga of great missionary enterprise in central India. The pioneering batch of six members of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS) made a historical landing on the soil of Visakhapatnam in the present day state of Andhra Pradesh. The Visakhapatnam Vicariate entrusted to them by the Propaganda Fide had its humble beginnings then. The rest is history!
This year is the Dodransbicentennial (175 Years) Jubilee of that arrival and the presence! MSFS, all over the world, and to taking stock of this historical event to revive its missionary spirit and legacy, to be the effective channels of spreading the Gospel and planting the Church. The MSFS missionaries from all over the world were, in fact, expected to arrive in Visakhapatnam to celebrate this event in the month of October, 2020. However, God’s plans are different! The celebrations has been postponed to a convenient time.
Nevertheless, the MSFS from Visakhapatnam Urban Apostolic Community after a five-day retreat went on a pilgrimage to Yanam, the parish where the first missionaries landed and served. They landed in Corangi in the civil mandal of Thallarevu and hence a thanksgiving mass was offered along with the Catholic community of Thallarevu, the closest geographically to Corangi on 24th October. Altogether, 35 MSFS priests including senior priests like Rev. Fr. Thomas Manalil, Fr. K.T. Thomas and two senior brothers participated in the pilgrimage led by Rev. Fr. P. Chinnappa Reddy, the provincial superior of the province. The cordiality and the generosity shown by Rev. Fr. Mariadas Polamarasetty, the parish priest and Fr. Ajay, the assistant PP, who made the Liturgy, sumptuous fellowship meal and other arrangements memorable, all at their expense! Later the pilgrims reached Yanam Church and recited their family Marian devotion, The Rosary of Seven Dollars, in memory of all the batches of MSFS missionaries arrived in India from 1846 to 1960.
Now the story behind these celebrations may interest some. On March 16, 1845, for the evangelization, the ecclesiastical authorities had decided to erect Visakhapatnam Vicariate from the existing Madras Vicariate and entrust it to a non-English Prelate. On 2nd May 1845 Fr. Peter Mermier, the superior general of Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales, received an official communication entrusting Visakhapatanm Vicariate to MSFS, asking him to send six missionaries of his choice. The communication was the response to the request made earlier by Fr. Mermier who placed his little congregation at the service of the Church. The news was received with great joy!
The mission territory entrusted to the MSFS was huge, with 4, 35000 sq.km, being the land between the Bay of Bengal on the east and Narmada on the west, Maha nadhi on the north to the Godavari on the south. Prior to the arrival of the MSFS, only four priests served around 6000 Catholics scattered in the area. They were stationed one each at Jalnah and Visakhapatnam and two at Kamptee, near Nagpur in present day Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Without exception, all of them were settlements of the soldiers working in the British Army.
Fr. Mermier chose six Confreres: Fr. Jacques Martin who was the founder’s long-time companion and the mission superior, Fr. Joseph Lavorel, Fr. Jean Marie Tissot, Fr. Jean Thevenet, Brother Pierre Carton, Brother Sulpice Fontanel. Each of them were accorded a touching farewell in a community prayer, with a feet–kissing by the founder. They embarked on a ship to India with the financial support from MEP Fathers as arranged by the Vatican officials on 5th June, 1845. After a long journey of 89 days, they reached Pondicherry on the east coast of India on 7th September and had to remain there until 16th January 1846. They were later joined by Fr. Henry Gailhot, who was appointed as the pro-vicar, and MSFS was ready to begin. After a short halt at Madras (now Chennai) in Tamil Nadu, they arrived at Jagannayakapuram, near Kakinada, on 15th Feb, 1846. They paid a visit to the St. Anne’s church there, celebrated the Eucharist and proceeded by another hired boat to Corangi. From there they waded through the marshy fields and darkness to Yanam, with their luggage on their heads and reached Yanam, at 9.00pm. Fr. Jacques Martin was appointed in Yanam as the Parish Priest on 17th February, 1846 and they journeyed further to Visakhapatnam by a boat. The event of the celebration is the landing at Corangi. It is the landmark event in the history of evangelization in India.
All of them laid down their lives in the service of the church. Fr. Martin (1846) in Yanam, Fr. Lavorel (1849) in Kamptee, Fr. Tissot (1890) (later the second Bishop of the Diocese) near Surada, Fr. Thevenet (1888) in Kamptee, Brother Sulphice (1861) in Samarlakota and Brother Pierre Carton (1850) in Visakhapatnam. They had no reserves, no retreats and no regrets! From their sacrifices, and from the untiring efforts of the later missionaries who laid down their lives for the Christ and his Church, the then Vicariate of Visakhapatnam went on to flourish into 19 dioceses by 2020. It is with the arrival of MSFS the native Catholics, Telugus of north coastal Andhra, Odiyas of Dakshin Odissa, Maratees of Maharastra, in addition to many hill tribes received the faith. Praise the Lord, for using MSFS to make this great contribution to the Catholic Church in Central India!