Christian Missions in East Bengal

The Life and Times of Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC (1920–1977)

Ahmed

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781498240185
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

As the first Bengalee Archbishop of South Asia, Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC, made a remarkable contribution in the expansion of Christian missionary activity in Bengal through all the three political regimes that Bangladesh went through. In the four hundred years of the history of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh, his appointment as the archbishop not only highlights his role in serving the Catholic Church, but also the importance of Catholic missionary activities in Bangladesh.To explore the history of Protestant missionary activities during the last century, research was carried out and books were published. These scholarly activities left a noticeable gap in the area of the history of the Catholic Church in Bangladesh. This book is a bold attempt to fill in that gap, which led to serious research culminating in the publication of this book.What makes this book remarkable and outstanding is the use of unused sources to reconstruct the life and times of Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly in the sociopolitical background of Bangladesh, especially his role in the liberation war of 1971. His heroic role in the liberation war indelibly earned him a place in the mainstream history of Bangladesh.

1

Introduction

As a Bengali Archbishop with a life spanning over three political regimes that Bangladesh went through, leading to socio-economic changes, the life and times of Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC constitutes a significant chapter in the history of East Bengal.1 My object of this research is not to describe his biography, but, rather to raise question why he is important from the context of history of East Bengal, and not simply because he was the first Bengalee Archbishop of this soil in the history of Catholic Church in the last four hundred years. To have a better understanding of his life and times, one should know the history of the missionaries’ activities in this region. Hence, my question on the life and times of T. A. Ganguly is co-related with the progress of the missionaries’ activities in East Bengal. No scholar has raised any question in this regard so far. Beyond a few PhD theses, some books were published at different times, mostly in the last century; but most of them dealt with the history of Protestant missionary activities. So, this would be the first attempt to fill in this gap and to address a long-felt need for the Catholic history of East Bengal. The literary review is divided into two parts. Firstly, an effort to investigate the missionary activities and later, examining the biographical books on Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly, CSC.

In 1908, Julius Richter, DD, published (Sydney H. Moore Translated), A History of Missions in India, which thoroughly covered early missionary activities in mid nineteenth century in India. He tried to investigate eight main aspects of the missionary activities in the region, and started his narratives from the landing of the Portuguese in India and spread of Roman Catholic activities here in the second half of the Sixteenth century, and how it declined within a short time. In addition, he described the activities of the Danish mission in India from 1706–1798. Consequently, he also pointed out that the development of Protestant missions’ activities during the nineteenth century in the Indian sub-continent, in contrast, examined the religious problems of Indian missions within the framework of Indian society. Under such circumstance, how the missionary organizations had mitigated their problems, and continued their activities in such a difficult situation during that time, pointed out by the author. Furthermore, he recounted that the minor social and religious movements had attributed more or less directly to Christian influences observable in almost every part of India during the nineteenth century. Finally, it dealt with the success of the missions in India.2

In 1956, K. Ingham, published, Reformers in India, 1793–1833: An account of the work of Christian missionaries on behalf of social reform, which covered the work of Christian missionaries on behalf of social reform. It, however, hardly sheds any light upon the subject of the success or failure of the missionaries in gaining converts in India, which Ingham believes to be “beyond human assessment.”3

In 1965, Muhammad Mohar Ali, published, The Bengali Reaction to Christian Missionary Activities 1833–1857, examining three main aspects of the reaction:

a. the reaction to evangelizing efforts in general,

b. the reaction to specific conversions to Christianity and

c. the reaction of the landed aristocracy in particular to the spread of Christianity in the mufassal.

He also investigated the three characteristics of the reaction to conversion to Christianity. Those are:

a. challenge to repossess the Christian converts to Hinduism;

b. challenge to put into effect caste disabilities upon converts;

c. violence upon missionaries and converts.4

In 1967, E. D. Potts, published, British Baptist Missionaries in India, 1793–1837, which dealt with “The History of Serampore and its Missions” where Dr. Potts endeavored to elaborately show the achievements of the Serampore Trio, viz. William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward. In his enthusiasm he made some rather wild charges against modern Indian historians, who are alleged to be “blind . . . to the role played by three remarkable men”, and also “are reluctant to cite primary sources for their information.”5

In 1971, Kanti Prasanna Sen Gupta, published, The Christian Missionaries in Bengal, 1793–1833, which dealt with the Protestant missionaries activities in Bengal. Dr. Sen tried to show the missionary attitude towards the people among whom they worked. He also tried to correlate between the missionary objectives and their achievements.6

In 1988, George Kottuppallil, S.D.P., published, History of the Catholic Missions in Central Bengal, 1855–1886. The author dealt with three aspects of the Catholic history of central Bengal. In the first part, he focused on the socio-economic and political conditions of central Bengal and on the condition of the Catholic Church in Bengal. The origin of the Protestant Bengali community was briefly alluded to and the search for a missionary society to look after the districts of central Bengal was described at length. The second part of the study refers to the period when central Bengal was de jure a mere mission territory under the jurisdiction of Calcutta, even though de facto it was autonomous. The third part describes the history of the territory of Central Bengal under the direction of Antonio Marietti (1870–79) and Francesco Pozzi (1879–86) until the establishment of the Diocese of Krisnagar.7

Antonio Marietti and Sir Man Mohan Ghose wrote the Catholics history of Jessore district. Under the title “Jessorer Katholic Mondolir Itihas” (The History of the Catholic Church in Jessore), it was added to the last of the three volumes of Marietti’s, Kristio Sobhar Sadharon Itihas, (Church History), (Calcutta 1898). Even if inexact with regard to certain dates, Ghose’s work has provided several important insights regarding the Bengali’s view of the Church and of the missionary apostolate. He also highlighted the importance of the role of the native catechist.8

Antonio Marietti is believed to have compiled a brief history of the early years of the Bengal mission, but unfortunately, he destroyed it after he resigned from the prefecture in 1879.9

In 1905, Francesco Rocca, one of the PIME missionaries stationed at Krisnagar, wrote a brief sketch of the earlier years of the mission, entitled Cenni sulla Missione del Bengala Centrale. As it was written several decades after the events, it contains certain inaccuracies. Gerardo Brambilla, in his book “II PIME ele sue Missioni-Bengala”, used the work of Rocca in its entirety. Brambilla’s work, however, is in the nature of a popular narrative and poorly documented.

A truly valid contribution rendered to the historiography of central Bengal is that of Giovanni Battista Tragella who compiled a three-volume work, Le Missioni Estere di Milano nel Quadro degli Avvenimenti Contemporanei. Although he devoted only five...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Social Structure of East Bengal 
in Colonial and Post-Colonial Period
• Chapter 3: Background of Missionary Activities in East Bengal
• Chapter 4: Family Background of Theotonius Amal Ganguly
• Chapter 5: Educational Career
• Chapter 6: The Philosophical Thoughts of Father T. A. Ganguly, CSC
• Chapter 7: The Activities of T. A. Ganguly
• Chapter 8: The Role of Archbishop T. A. Ganguly 
in the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the Aftermath
• Chapter 9: The Early Phase of Reformation in Christianity in East Bengal and Archbishop T. A. Ganguly, CSC: 1959–1977
• Chapter 10: Death and Aftermath
• Chapter 11: Conclusion
• Appendix I: Holy Cross Priests in East Bengal, 1853–2003
• Appendix II: Holy Cross Priest Religious Superiors, 1920–1982
• Appendix III: Former Archbishops of Dhaka, 1947–2005 (Archdiocese est. 15 July, 1950)
• Appendix IV: Holy Cross Bishops of East Bengal, 1891–2011
• Appendix V: PIME Missionaries in West Bengal and East Bengal Bangladesh, 1855–2012
• Appendix VI: Former Bishops of Dinajpur Diocese, 1927–2011
• Appendix VII: Xaverian Missionaries in East Bengal, 1952–2010
• Appendix VIII: Former Bishops of Khulna Diocese, 1952–2005
• Appendix IX: Population by Religious Communities in Percentage, 1901–2001
• Appendix X: Archbishop’s Easter Message (March 29, 1964)
• Appendix XI: Archbishop’s Pastoral Letter (July 26, 1964)
• Appendix XII: Archbishop Ganguly’s Address at Reception on Jan. 21, 1968
• Appendix XIII: Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s First Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (August 11, 1947)
• Appendix XIV: Demographic Difference between East and West Pakistan, 1951 and 1961
• Appendix XV: Frequency of Languages Commonly Spoken as Mother Tongue in Pakistan (Percentage of population)
• Appendix XVI: Twenty-One Point Programme, 1954
• Appendix XVII: Six-Point Programme, 1966
• Appendix XVIII: Some Economic Indicators between East Pakistan and West Pakistan
• Appendix XIX: Representation of the Civil Service of Pakistan in East Pakistan and West Pakistan, 1948–1967
• Glossary
• Bibliography