The history proper of the Archdiocese of Delhi actually begins
on June 4, 1959. However, Christian presence in the territory of Delhi and the
surrounding areas can be traced back to around 1626. The entire period from that
year to the present can be broadly divided into three stages: (a) The early
missionary efforts, leading to the founding of the Vicariate Apostolic of the
Great Mughals; b) the founding of the Delhi-Simla Archdiocese, and c) the
founding of the Delhi Archdiocese.
a) Early Missionary
Efforts
During his military campaigns in North India, Akbar and made Lahore his
headquarters between 1584 and 1598. During this period he developed certain
principles of liberalism and religious tolerance for which he was well known.
His court became the rendezvous for scholars of various religious traditions who
were invited for religious debates. It was in this environment of religious
tolerance that some Jesuit missionaries, at the express request of Akbar
himself, proceeded form Goa to the Emperor's Court at Lahore, in November1579.
This was the first station established by the Jesuits for their missionary work
in North India.
A little later, the Jesuits founded their mission station in Agra, which had by
then become the new headquarters of the Mughals. Although, in the chronological
order, this was the second mission base founded by the Jesuits, the city of Agra
was destined to play a very important role in the history of the Church in North
India under the Mughals and thereafter. From the time of Akbar, a fairly good
number of Christian families of different nationalities lived in that city.
Since it became the headquarters of the Mughal empire, their number began to
increase and they were able to find employment in the imperial city. The Jesuits
ministered to them.
In 1648, Shah Jahan shifted his headquarters from Agra to Delhi, which was then
known as Shahjahanabad. As Delhi became more prominent the number of Catholics
began to increase. Accordingly, the Jesuits established a mission there. Thus,
Delhi was the third mission station of the Jesuits in North India. In fact, as
early as 1626 some Jesuit missionaries began to come here. At first it was a
transit station and a suffragan dependant on Agra. They were minding the
spiritual needs of the Christians who had come to the place for employment. At
first they had a small chapel attached to the residence of the priest. As the
number of Catholics increased, a church was built in another place, in the
suburban area, for the Catholics who had been dispersed around the city.
According to Sir Edward Maclagan, the congregation of Delhi Catholics in 1650
was 120. By 1686 the number of Catholics increased to 300. By this time there
were two priests in two churches with two separate residences. There is also
evidence of the existence of a Catholic cemetery in Delhi dating from 1656.
From that time till the first quarter of the 18th century, there is hardly any
information about the growth of the church in this area. Apparently, it was a
lean period, since Fr. Lppolyto Desideri, who returned from Tibet and was posted
at Delhi from 1722 to 1725, found the city churches in ruins. It was a clear
sign that these had not been maintained and kept up for years. Moreover, the
only priest, who as at the mission centre at that time, was suffering form
indifferent health. His pastoral activity was restricted to the most essential
duties. Fr. Desideri set about to rebuild a church on the same spot but on a
larger scale. The new church was dedicated to Our Lady and was blessed on All
Souls' Day in 1723.
In the year 1739, Nadir Shah of Persia invaded India and during the great
massacre of March 20, 1739, the two Catholic churches in Delhi were destroyed.
The Jesuits in Delhi escaped slaughter by hiding in a ruined and dilapidated
house. According to Fr. Andrew Strobel, one church was rebuilt and blessed in
1746 on the eve of Christmas. The other church too was rebuilt some time later
and the Jesuits erected a new residence in the proximity of the town at the
place where the heavy artillery was kept and where the Christians had their
cemetery. Fr. Teiffentaller must have visited Delhi in 1747.
In 1773 the Jesuit Order was suppressed and the northern part of the Mughal
Mission was entrusted to the Carmelities. Two Carmelities Fr. Agnelo di San
Giuseppe and Fr. Gregoriodella Presentation took charge of the Mission from the
Jesuits. Agnelo stayed for some time in Agra and then in Delhi and worked under
the Capuchins until his heath on September 29, 1807.
The two churches and the residences witnessed the lean years of Delhi and shared
its misfortunes. The Carmelites found the northern part of the mission too
extensive for them and so they requested the Holy see to transfer a part of it
to the neighbouring mission. Hence, the Capuchins, who had received change of
the prefecture of Hindustan-Tibet mission in 1760, with is headquarters at Patna,
moved into the Agra mission in 1780. However, by 1781 nothing was left standing.
From then on, for over fifty years, there was no resident priest at Delhi. The
priest posted at Sardhana visited the station. Divine services were held in the
palace of Begum Samru, who also gave hospitality to the visiting chaplain, while
he resided in Delhi. Later, this place housed the Delhi London bank and now it
housed the State Bank of India. It was at this juncture that, by the de Decree
of the Sacred Congregation of faith, dated may 17, 1784, the Vicariate Apostolic
of the Great Mughals was constituted.
Fr. Zachery of Tretti, an Italian Capuchin of Venice Province, established a
mission in Delhi in 1857. After establishing the mission he discovered that a
community of Armenian Catholics lived in Sarai Rohilla. But during the Reoltof
1857, this community perished in the first onslaught of the mutineering armymen.
Fr. Zachery himself was murdered in the church that he had built and the church
also was destroyed by the rebels.
In 1865, a new church, St. Mary's Church, Old Delhi, was built by the Agra
diocese thanks to the efforts of Fr. William Keegan. Mr. Charles Corcoran, his
wife Sarah and Mrs. Dominga D'Eremao, the chief benefactors of the new church,
assisted him in this task. Fr. William Keegan was the Parish Priest of St.
Mary's Church, Old Delhi, for 28 years and it is interesting to note, from the
baptismal register, that there is not a single entry signed by anyone other than
Fr. Keegan for 28 years. Children were brought from places like Jaipur and
Saharanpur to be baptized in Delhi. It was through Fr. Keegan's persuasion that
Mrs. Dominga D' Eremao, an influential lady in the court of the Mughal emperor
at the Red Fort, made the bequest of her lands in Okhla to the Church. Later,
when the ground for India's new Capital was being cleared, a group of
Christians, displaced from the Raisina Hills, settled down on the estate
bequeathed to the Church by Mrs. Dominga and a small church, the nucleus of the
Masihgarh community, was built around 1918.
While it is true that the capuchins ministered to the soldiers garrisoned in the
Red Fort, to the post and telegraph employees and to the railway personnel, at
the same time, they went out from St. Mary's to evangelize places as far as
Kanhei and Khera Khurd. All the same, It is surprising that for the first 25
years of the Capuchin mission no child of an Indian Christian adult was baptized
in Delhi. It appears that the ministry was rendered exclusively to foreigners.
The first entry of an Indian is found on December 3, 1891 and the minister was
Fr. Fabino. From that year two baptismal registers were started and the practice
continued till 1938, when they were merged and a singly registered baptism is
found this register.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, thanks to the efforts of Fr. Hilary
and Fr. Colombia, both Italian Capuchins, several on Catholics in and around
Delhi were converted to Christianity. They also made several converts in Khera
Khurd and built a church there St. Mary's church, Old Delhi, bears testimony to
the conversions that took place from around 1891 to 1935. Once 500 people were
baptized on a single day at st. Mary's when a Visitor from the Superior General
in Rome came to Delhi. Similar conversions took place in Khera Khurd, Najafgarh,
Msigarh (Okhla), Turkman Gate, Paharganj, Mori Gate, Shahdara, Kanhei and
Pomperiabad (Rosary Chruch). For these converts small rectangular chapels were
erected in Shahdara, Pomperiabad, Masihgarh etc. The one at Rosary Church in
still preserved. At Paharganj the people used to meet at the chapel of the
sisters in the early thirties. But desertions stated soon and these accelerated
after independence.
Among the capuchin missionaries of this period, there were Italians as well as
Indians. Besides those mentioned an above, the other Italian priests were
fathers Raphael, Peter Mary and several others. Several Indian capuchins also
worked in this Mission. Fr. Jerome of Konhuvenal worked for several years in
Khera Khurd, Isaz and Simla, particularly among the lower strata of society, and
earned the nickname Choodagi or Sweeper. Fr. Sylvester Mary of Nadora worked in
Simla, Kasauli and Milsington. Fr. Anselm Ferreira worked for several for five
years in Delhi-Simla Archdiocese. Fr. Leonard Fernandes worked for five years in
Delhi and Fr. Benedict of Taliwala was in the Delhi Mission form 1951 till his
death in 1970. He was the patron of the poor and spent himself for their welfare
and growth.
It is interesting to note that it took 70 years after the erection of St. Mary's
church to build a second church, i.e., the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Those
responsible for this magnificent Cathedral were Archbishop E. Vanni of Agra and
Fr. Luke Vanucci. In 1919, the Archbishop sent Fr. Luke to Delhi with the
specific mission to build a Cathedral for him. The task was very difficult.
However, with determination and strenuous efforts, Fr. Luke made progress in his
mission. First of all, he was instrumental in renovating St. Mary's Church,
which was in a dilapidated condition. Along with that he concentrated on the
main task of constructing the Cathedral. The land for the Cathedral was bought
in 1920 and the foundation stone was laid by Most. Trev. E. Vanni, the
Archbishop of Agra, in 1929 and the work started in 1930. After five long years
the construction of the Cathedral was completed. It was blessed on December 8,
1945, by the Papal Inter-Nuncio, His Excellency, Msgr.Leo Kierkels, in the
presence of six bishops, several priests and religious and a large congregation
of the faithful.
b) The Emergence of Delhi-Simla Archdiocese
In the mid-19th century, Simla was a small town in Himachal Pradesh, about 7,400
feet above sea level, with an agreeable midsummer temperature. When the British
came to India, they realized its utility and so developed in into a summer
resort. Bishop Joseph Anthony Borghi also realized Simla's utility and, in 1844,
he built two churches, one at Kasauli and another at Subbathu, both in Simla
District. His successor, Bishop Cajetan Carli, built a church in Simla proper in
1851.
The Capuchins invited the Religious of Jesus and Mary, the Loreto sisters and
the Presentation Sisters to open educational institutions. The Capuchins also
started St. Bede's college in Simla and handed it over to the Religious of Jesus
and Mary to run it. The college soon became a well-known institution of
excellence.
In 1910, by a Decree of the Sacred congregation of Faith, Simla Archdiocese was
erected. Along with that the districts of Ambala, Hissar, Karnal, Patiala, Nabha,
Jind Lahoru, Malerkotla and the station at Kalka, Dagashai, Solan, Hotogh and
Simla were detached from Agra and passed over to this newly erected Archdiocese.
The Holy See entrusted this Archdiocese to the English capuchins and chose Fr.
Anselm Kenealy, a member of the English capuchin Province, to be the first
Archbishop. He was consecrated on December 21, 1910. Archbishop Sylvester
Patrick Mulligan succeeded him in 1937 and in that year, the city of Delhi and
those portion of the Punjab which were under the Archdiocese of Agra, were added
to the Archdiocese of Simla. It was during Archbishop renamed as Archdiocese of
Delhi-Simla. It was during Archbishop Mulligan's time that construction of St.
Anthony's Church at Paharganj was started in 1947 and completed in 1949.
Archbishop Sylvester Patrick Mulligan passed away in 1950. In the following
year, Rt. Rev. Joseph Fernandes, the then Auxiliary bishop of Calcutta, toll
over as the first Indian Archbishop of Delhi. Son after, the English capuchins
moved to the apostolic Prefecture of Jullundar, which was erected on January 17,
1952, detaching the districts which were part of Lahore diocese but became apart
of India after the portion and which was entrusted to the British province of
the capuchins. As a result, when Archbishop Joseph Fernandes took over, he had
hardly any priests,. Msgr. John Burke was a chaplain to the Royal Air force and
continued to stay in Delhi. A priest from Ajmer and another from Chittagong were
the parish priests of two Important churches. The latter, however, had to leave
India because of his pro-Portuguese leanings. Fr. Favrin, whom the Archbishop
knew in West Bengal, worked in the diocese till 1964 when he met with a fatal
accident at the crossing of Rajpath and Jan path. Thee were also a few other
Indian capuchins. The most venerated was Fr. Benedict. He had the bearing of an
Old Testament prophet. Even dishonest people sought him for assistance and lay
people and priests went to him for confessions. Fr. Jorge D'Souza and Theodore
Menezes came to Delhi around 1952. In the Diaspora there were a few priests,
like Fr. Jerome Prabhu who was posted at Kassauli.
Then there was Fr. Stanley Mascarenhas, who was responsible for upgrading
St. Michael's School in Gurgaon. He also looked after St. Michael's Church,
established in 1953, and visited the Catholics I Kanhei Mission, some 10
kilometers away. The Kanhei Mission has an interesting history. It was started
in 1930 'by accident' by an English capuchin residing at St,. Mary's Church, Old
Delhi. The resident English Officer at Gurgaon was his friend and during one of
his visits to him he saw some poor villagers brought there by the police. He was
told that they were criminals. The priest visited the village at the request of
the people. They embraced Christianity as a proof of their turning way form
their criminal ways and the officer dropped the cases against them. The
Cathedral Parish later adopted the mission.
c) The Birth of Delhi Archdiocese
In spite of the shortage of priests, the Archdiocese of Delhi-Simla made
sufficient progress and on June 4, 1959, the Archdiocese was bifurcated into two
separate ecclesiastical units, viz. diocese of Simla -Chandigarh and Archdiocese
of Delhi and both were handed over to the diocesan clergy. While Archbishop
Joseph Fernandes was renamed the Archbishop of Delhi, Msgr. John Burke, the then
vicar General of Delhi Archdiocese, was consecrated on November 1, 1959, as the
first bishop of the newly carved out diocese of Simla-Chandigarh. On the same
day, Rev. Fr. Angelo Fernandes, the then administrator of Holy Name Cathedral,
Bombay, was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Delhi.
At the time of the bifurcation in 1959, the Archdiocese of Delhi had only 10
churches. In spite of these limitations, a planned growth for the Archdiocese
was envisaged by the then Archbishop Joseph Fernandes and his coadjutor
Archbishop Angelo Fernandes who succeeded him in 1967.
At present the Archdiocese of Delhi comprises the State of the Capital Territory
of Delhi and the seven civil districts of Haryana, namely, Gurgaon, Rohtak,
Mahendergarh, Sonepat, Faridabad, Rewari and Jhajjar. Though most of the
activities of the Archdiocese were confined to the city, efforts were also made
to extend the Church to Haryana. Only Gurgaon had a mission, St. Michael's
Church, since 1952. the Sonepat mission was started around 1963. A certain Mr.
Sylvester persuaded the Archbishop to start a school. The Sisters of charity of
Ss. Bartholomea Capitanio & Vincenza Geroiza, popularly known as bambino
Sisters, opted to go there. They opened the Holy Child School in 1964 in a
rented place and later moved to the land purchased for the school, alsong with
the land for a church. Though the priests' residence was built in the late
sixties, along with the school for over 20 years. This mission station was
entrusted to the Indian Missionary Society in 1986. The same Society runs the
Ganaur M9ission in Sonepat district, which was stated in 1995.
The Church in Jahangirpuri has a history behind. Twice the attempt of the people
to build a structure was resisted by the local people. When ultimately the
building was coming up in 1991-92, non of the priests was allowed to go near the
construction site. Only at the time of the inauguration the people of the
locality came to know that it was a church. At present, the Parish of St.
Vincnet de Paul at Jehangirpuri is run by the Jesuits.
The Mission in Rohtak, started in 1978, was a unique experiment. Two diocesan
priests form Bombay and two form Delhi, living in a rented place, constituted
one community and one sister each form the congregation of Canossian Daughters
of Charity, the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary and the Union of
the sisters of Presentation of the Blessed virgin Mary, living in another rented
place constituted another community. Each community chose a leader and the seven
worked as a team. The idea was not a to build institutional structures but to be
in touch with people, reacting to situations and offering services wherever
needed. The members began with imparting value education in the existing
government and private schools and got involved in imparting non-formal
education in the slums. There was one Christian family, and a couple of single
Christians working in factories, banks etc. The majority of the small Christian
population were foreign students, mostly form African countries, studying in the
medical, engineering and other colleges in Rohtak. After 5 years a regular
Mission station was established.
In Faridabad the first station, St. Joseph's Church, was established in 1962. In
1985, the mission was bifurcated with another church Sector 9 and, in 1994, a
third church came up in Sector 28. There are also 7 religious communities and 8
Catholic schools.
In Rewari a Catholic Mission, with resident priest, was established in 1985
through a dilapidated church existed long before. There are also 2 religious
communities. In Narnaul of Mahendragarh District the Pilar fathers established a
Mission station in 1990. In addition, the Franciscan sisters of Our lady of
Graces set up a convent as part of the Mission.
The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, visited the Archdiocese of Delhi in January
1986 and rededicated it to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and commended to the Lord
all the 19.5 million people entrusted to the care of the Archdiocese.
Most. Rev. Angelo Fernandes retired as Archbishop of Delhi in 1990 and Most Rev.
Alan Basil de Lastic took over as the new Archbishop on January 27, 1991. To
assist the new Archbishop, Rt. Rev. Vincent M Concessao was consecrated as the
Auxiliary Bishop on April 1, 1995.
On the 26th of November 1998, the Holy See announced the appointment of Rt. Rev.
Vincent M. Concessao, Auxiliary Bishop of Delhi, as the new Archbishop of Agra.
The installation ceremony took place on the 21st of January 1999 at the
Cathedral of the Immaculate conception, Agra. With the transfer of the Auxiliary
bishop of Delhi to succeed the Most Rev. Cecil D'Sa, Archbishop Emeritus of
Agra, some significant changes took place in the Archdiocesan Curia of Delhi.
Given the enormity of Episcopal responsibilities of Archbishop Alan de Lstic,
some of which were hitherto shared by his Auxiliary, it was found necessary to
appoint two Episcopal Vicars with whom, together with the Vicar General and the
Judicial Vicar, the Archbishop would share his Episcopal responsibilities in the
Archdiocese of Delhi. Accordingly, the Archbishop appointed Rev. Fr. Susai
Sebastian, Parish Priest of the church of Our lady of Health, Masihgarh-Okhla,
and Rev. Fr. Anil J.T. Couto, Recctor of the Archdiocesan Minor Seminary, "Vinay
Gurukul" as Episcopal Vicars to serve on the Archdiocesan Curia for a tenure of
three years.
On 20th June 2000, Archbishop Alan de Lastic expired at Poland in a car
accident. Then Rev. Fr. Victor D' Souza elected as the archdiocesan
administrator. Archbishop, Rt. Rev. Vincent M. Concessao transferred from Agra
to Delhi. Installation ceremony took place on the 19th November 2000 at St.
Columbas school ground as the new Archbishop of Delhi. To assist the new
Archbishop, Rt. Rev. Anil J.T. Couto, Recctor of the Archdiocesan Minor
Seminary, "Vinay Gurukul" was consecrated as the Auxiliary Bishop on 11th March
2001. Archbishop Vincent M. Concessao appointed Bishop Anil Couto as the Vicar
General of the Archdiocese.
At present there are 80 diocesan priests and the Archdiocese has 60 parishes,
most of them situated in the capital city itself. The Archdiocese also has a
large number of religious communities and religious congregations. At present,
the number of religious congregations within the territory of the Archdiocese at
present is 19,500,000 of which the Catholic population is 10,5000. these consist
of the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Catholics.
The people of the Union Territory of Delhi comprise a large number of migrants
from different states of the country, particularly for the nearer ones, like
Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. It also has a large number of refuges who came to
Delhi in 1947 soon after the Partition on India. As the city developed and the
employment opportunities increased, the number of migrants also grew and the
population now has raised to almost our time in comparison to the figure of
nearly five decades ago. Today, as we near the end of the millennium, it stands
at more than nineteen million people. Along with the increase in the migration
of the general population, the migration of Christians too increased.
To solve the problem of congestion, more attention I begin paid now to develop
satellite town and a new Planning Body has set up for which is called the
National capital Region which takes into consideration all the towns within a
radius of about 80 Kms. In terms of economics, Delhi has a mixture of both the
very rich and the very poor with a growing middle class mostly engaged in
various services. On the nine million people, over tow million live in slums.
Various industries that had developed over the past two or three decades are now
being shifted to the satellite town of the neighboring states. By and large,
people of different faith, states, languages and cultures live together in
peace, though occasionally there are communal riots and clashes which rarely go
out of control.
