HISTORY : Arrival of the Salesians in India

In 1876, Pope Pius IX offered Don Bosco twelve vicariates in India which were in urgent need of personnel. Don Bosco agreed to take up one of them and requested twenty months to prepare his men. Returning from Rome, he told his sons, "Those of you who wish to go to India have twenty months to get ready." A little later he wrote to Fr. Cagliero in Argentina: "I really feel you must return to Europe in 1877 and take a trip to Ceylon in India. That place needs a Castelnuovo boy..." He wrote to Cagliero again: "We shall accept the vicariate of Mangador (Mangalore) in India, and Fr. Cagliero will be the vicar apostolic."

Despite these plans, it took another 30 years for the sons of Don Bosco to reach India. And when they came in 1906, it was not to Ceylon, or to Mangalore, but to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.

The chief instruments in bringing the Salesians to India were the bishops of the Padroado diocese of Mylapore. Negotiations were started as early as 1896 by Mgr. Antonio de Souza Barroso who had heard that it was Don Bosco’s desire to send the Salesians to India. His successor, the Rt. Rev. Teutonio de Castro, had a personal reason to pursue this cause. As a young seminarian, he was an ardent admirer of Don Bosco and, after his ordination, had travelled twice to Turin to meet the saint. Blessing him and his future works, Don Bosco had told him, "You will do much good".

After protracted negotiations, the first group of Salesian missionaries to India landed in Bombay on January 6, 1906, under the leadership of Fr. George Tomatis. With him were two other priests, one brother, a scholastic and an aspirant. Travelling by train from Bombay they reached Thanjavur on January 14.

At Thanjavur the new missionaries started their work with six orphans at the St. Francis Xavier’s Orphanage. Soon the number rose steadily, till it reached 800 in 1928. The first baptism was administered in June 1906. Vocations too were not slow in coming. The first Indian boy to join was Karunal who was sent to Italy in 1907 as an aspirant. From Italy he proceeded to Portugal for his novitiate. Unfortunately he fell ill and died in Lisbon in 1909. The next to follow Don Bosco were Ignatius Muthu and Arulsamy, both of whom were also sent to Italy in 1908 and later proceeded to Portugal for the novitiate. They professed in 1911. Ignatius Muthu was ordained priest in Mylapore in 1916.

In 1907, Fr. Ernest Vigneron, one of the pioneers, passed away after an operation in 1908 and Fr. Eugene Mederlet, originally destined for China, substituted him. In 1909, Fr. Tomatis left Thanjavur under the care of Fr. Mederlet and went to Mylapore to start the second foundation in India: the San Thome Orphanage.

Meanwhile, the Holy See was pressing the Salesian Congregation to take up the vast mission of Assam. It was accepted on July 21, 1921. Each European province was requested to send volunteers for the Assam Mission. Two priests each from Italy, Spain and France were accepted and Fr. Louis Mathias, a French Salesian, then working in Sicily as Rector of the Salesian House of Catania, was chosen as their leader. Five lay brothers from Italy and Spain were included in the pioneering group at the special request of Fr. Mathias. He had ample opportunity to be briefed at length on the Assam mission in his meeting with Mgr. Christopher Becker, a Salvatorian and the first Prefect Apostolic of Assam, who is considered the real pioneer of the Assam mission. They reached Shillong on January 13. Barely three weeks later, on February 5, they began work in various centres: four going to Raliang, two to Guwahati, and four with Fr. Mathias, who on 15 December 1922 was appointed the Prefect Apostolic of Assam.

From 1906 to 1912 the Salesians in India were part of the province of Portugal. From 1912 to 1923 they came under the care of the Roman province of St. Peter. In 1923 they were formed into a visitatoria with Mgr. Louis Mathias as superior. The new visitatoria, headquartered at Shillong and under the patronage of St. Thomas the apostle, consisted of all the Salesian works in northeast India and those of Tanjavur and Mylapore, in the south.

Despite the lack of personnel and means, the works progressed rapidly. In less than a year, six centres were opened. In 1925 a novitiate was started at Shillong and novices were brought from Europe to be trained along with their Indian counterparts. In 1925 they assumed charge also of the Catholic Orphan Press, and the Cathedral parish of Calcutta, and also started the new mission of Jowai.

On May 18, 1926, the visitatoria of India was made into the province of India, with Fr. Mathias as Provincial. The province, with headquarters at Shillong, extended from the northeast of India to Thanjavur, a distance of some 4000 kms.

In the 1920’s, while missionary works progressed rapidly in the northeast, those in the south were passing through a stage of uncertainty and indecision. As early as 1920, Fr. Albera, the then Rector Major, decided to withdraw the Salesians from Thanjavur and Mylapore, in deference to the insistence of Rome to take over the vast mission of Assam. This decision was reversed following protestations and pleas from the confreres in the south as well as the bishop of Mylapore.

Again in 1922, Turin decided to recall the Salesians from Mylapore. This decision too was reversed due to urgent entreaties from Mylapore. The relation between the Salesians and the diocese began to deteriorate. There was great anxiety and uncertainty regarding the continuance of their works. At both places, Salesians were merely administrators of diocesan property and the attitude of the Vicar General, Mgr. Texeira was in no way favouring expansion or development.

In 1927 Fr. Peter Ricaldone visited Thanjavur and Mylapore to apprise himself of the situation. He presented the Vicar General, Mgr. Texeira, a report outlining the conditions under which the Salesians would continue to work in the diocese. As the diocese was in no mood to accept his proposal, it was decided to withdraw the Salesians from the diocese of Mylapore with effect from 1 May 1928.

Leaving Mylapore and Thanjavur was painful, but it paved the way to further expansion of Salesian works in the south. After handing over the San Thome orphanage to the diocese, Frs. Hauber and Dehlert went to Bombay to open a new house there. Fr. Mederlet and four others went to Vellore in May 1928 to start a new mission in North Arcot. This district was offered to the Salesians by the Archbishop of Pondicherry during the visit of Fr. Ricaldone in 1927.

In compensation for what the Salesians left behind at Thanjavur and Mylapore, the diocese gave them the ancient sanctuary of Our Lady of Happy Voyage at Bandel in West Bengal. The Salesians took charge of it on September 1, 1928.

In the reorganization of the dioceses, following of double jurisdiction in the missions, by the Bull Ad Maius Religionis Incrementum of July 3, 1928, North Arcot was joined to the archdiocese of Madras, which was entrusted to the Salesians, and Fr. Mederlet was nominated its archbishop.

In 1934, the Salesian Province of India was divided into two provinces: the Province of North India, with Fr. Scuderi as provincial and with headquarters at Shillong (later shifted to Calcutta) and the province of South India, with Fr. Cinato as provincial and with headquarters at Vellore (later shifted to Madras). The province of North India was placed under the patronage of St. John Bosco, while the patron of the South was St. Thomas the Apostle.

Mgr. Mathias was appointed bishop of Shillong in 1934 while Mgr. Stephen Ferrando took over as bishop of Krishnagar. On December 21, the same year, Archbishop Mederlet of Madras passed away while hearing confessions at Pallikonda. Mgr. Mathias was then transferred to the See of Madras which he governed, faithful to his motto "Dare and Hope", from 1935 to 1965.

The phenomenal growth of Salesian works in northeast India in the fifties led to the division of the province of Calcutta in 1959, giving rise to the province of Guwahati, with Fr. Anthony Alessi as provincial. The Guwahati province was further divided in 1982 forming the Dimapur province, with Fr. Mathew Pulingathil as provincial.

In 1969, the houses of Bombay-Goa region were detached from the Madras province, to form the visitatoria of Bombay under Fr. Dennis Duarte. Bombay was officially erected as a province on January 31, 1972.

The Madras province was further divided in 1979 to form the province of Bangalore, consisting of the houses of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

In 1997 Bangalore province was divided forming the Hyderabad provinces, with Fr. Benjamin Puthota as provincial.

Madras province was further divided in 1999 to form the Tiruchy province with Fr. James Theophilus as provincial.

In 2004 the Delegations of the three provinces of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras were detached to form three new vice provinces – Konkan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Today, the South Asian Region has 9 Provinces: Bombay, Calcutta, Dimapur, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madras, New Delhi and Tiruchy and 3 Vice provinces: Konkan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. There are more than 300 Salesian works looked after by more than 2,200 Salesians. Several missionaries from India have gone out to various parts of the world to spread the Gospel and to plant the Salesian charism. India has been an extraordinary example of missionary growth and expansion.