Articles
A Brief History of Roman Catholic Church in Mizoram
Opinion | Articles | Luke Sangkima | 16-Sep-2020
In the history of Christianity in North East India, Mizoram is one state where the faith entered very late on its soil as compared to other neighboring states. In this region, the advent of Christianity followed the British flag, except in the Ao area of Nagaland where Christianity came in eighteen years ahead of establishment of the British rule. Following subsequent events of raids into the British territories by the Mizos and as a part of fulfillment of their forward policy, the British India annexed Mizoram, the erstwhile Lushai Hills in 1890. Four years later Christianity was brought to the people by the missionaries sponsored by Arthington’s Pioneer Mission of London in 1894. The history of Catholic Church is yet another story, because it came in much later - more than half a century after the Pioneer Mission did. Effectively, the Catholic Church firmed up in Mizoram only after the Independence of India. Here are some the reasons attributed to this late arrival.
The Catholic faith had its first contact with the people of Mizoram in 1922. A certain gentleman by the named Aichhunga was undergoing training on Agriculture at Upper Shillong. Once he brought home some pamphlets on Catholic faith. The books were given to him by the Farm Manager Leo Herrick Singh, an Inspector of Agriculture. He was a Khasi gentleman whom Peter Thangphunga referred him as “the shower (sower) of Catholic faith in this hill”. He gave the books to Liancheuva and Thangphunga, who read them with great interest. Consequently, they contacted Bishop of Shillong asking him to send a priest to Mizoram. In reply, the Bishop informed them to contact Bishop of Dacca as Mizoram was then under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Diocese of Dacca.
No sooner the Mizos received communication from the Bishop, they wrote a letter to the Bishop of Dacca, requesting him to send a priest to Mizoram to sow the seed of Catholic faith. In the meantime, the desire to establish a Catholic Church was looming large among the aspirants. Hence, Liancheuva, Thangphunga, Lenga, Chalchhuana and Lalbana, all from Tlangnuam, Aizawl, founded the Catholic Church on February 1, 1925. Thus, the Church was born in Mizoram. Those who formed the Church were 22 in numbers. Soon after the Church was established, the news spread like wild fire in Mizoram. The Welsh Mission panicked and consequently expelled the new converts from their fold on August 21, 1925.
Following the foundation of the Church, the Catholics were informed that the Bishop of Dacca would be sending a priest to Mizoram as soon as permission was granted by the government since the entry of Catholic priests to Mizoram in those days was strictly prohibited. Though the excellent works done by Roman Catholic Mission in many parts of India was duly acknowledged, the Chief Secretary of Assam informed the Bishop of Chittagong that the Roman Catholic Mission was not allowed to work in Lushai Hills for reasons best known to the government. Further, an order to this effect was passed in 1927 and the Bishop was also duly informed. In spite of all these hurdles, the Bishop ultimately managed to get the permission and sent Rev. Fr. Phileas Boulay who arrived at Aizawl on November 28, 1925- the first Catholic priest to set foot on the soil of Mizoram. During his stay at Aizawl, the priest baptized two infants namely Laldailova, son of Thangphunga, who was christened as Joseph Francis and Lalbiakthangi, daughter of Lenga, who was christened as Mary Teresa. As the priest was given permission to stay only for a few days in Mizoram, Fr. Boulay then left Aizawl on December 7, not even completing one month with the faithful.
In the beginning of 1926, there were about 200 Catholics, and encouraged by the trend, the leaders felt the need to have fulltime Catechists or evangelists and they requested the Bishop and Fr. Boulay to consider recruiting few from within the community. Rev. Fr. Phileas Boulay who fully understood the situation, invited some Mizo leaders to Chittagong with the approval of the Bishop of Dacca. He also conveyed that they should meet him in his Chittagong centre. Accordingly, the leaders convened a meeting on May 10, 1926, and decided to send Thangphunga, Bula, Laltura and Chawnga to Chittagong. During that visit itself the above mentioned Mizo leaders were appointed as Catechists on a monthly salary of Rs.15. Lianchheuva who was not with them was also appointed Catechist. Among them, Thangphunga was the only government servant and he was appointed as Secretary on and his monthly salary was fixed at Rs.10. The appointments were given effect from July 1, 1926. Subsequently, Saitulera, Chief of Kawnpui, was also appointed as Catechist on October 1, 1926. In addition to these Catechists, the faithful had also sponsored 5 volunteer to work as Catechists.
The year 1927 was very significant in the history of the Catholic Church in Mizoram. A small Church building was constructed at the present location of Christ the King Cathedral Church. This was followed by a-three day (October 23-25) Inkhawmpui (Conference) at Kulikawn, Aizawl. It was during this conference that a resolution was taken to recruit some local workers and Thansanga of Hmuntha, Hrangnghilha of Thingdawl (N) and Rualchhingi of Tualte were selected for the job. They were paid Rs.5 per month from the local fund. The first ever village Chapel was put up at Hmunpui, followed by another Chapel at Muthi village. By 1927 the Catholic Church was spread to over 40 villages. Despite this encouraging development, the absence of priest was very strongly felt by the faithful because by the time a second permission was granted for Catholic priests to enter Mizoram, it was already ten years since the last visit. The permission was conveyed to Church Authorities on August 24, and two priests, namely Rev. Fr. Leo Goggins and Rev. Bro. Godfrey Danis were deputed to visit Mizoram. They arrived in Aizawl, on November 11, 1935, walking on foot for 6 days from Dwarbond, the last point till journey by vehicle was possible. But unfortunately, not only were the priests allowed to stay only for a short period, but they were also barred from visiting villages. Having no other alternative, they left Aizawl on November 15th.
Another history was created by the Catholics of Mizoram in 1946, when on the September 3, the faithful submitted a fresh memorandum signed by the leaders to the Governor of Assam, and highlighted the hardships they faced for the last 20 years due to non-availability of Catholic Minister to administer their spiritual needs. Fortunately, the Governor Sir Andrew Courlay Clow was replaced by Sir Henry Foley Knight for just four months (September 4 – December 23), whose Secretary happened to be R.W. Godfrey, a devout Catholic. R.W. Godfrey played an important role in getting the petition through since he was also a friend of Rev. Fr. Marius Bianchi, the Chancellor-Secretary to the Bishop of Shillong, Msgr. Stephen Ferrando SDB. The combination of these two persons was found very effective in getting permission. As a matter of fact, it was through the influence and perseverance of Rev. Fr. Marius Bianchi that the cherished hopes and desires of the Catholics became a reality. To the surprise and intense joy of the faithful, the Governor thus sanctioned order to allow resident priests in Mizoram with immediate through the order issued on December 18, 1946. In his letter to Rev. Fr. Bianchi, the Secretary wrote, “I am directed to inform you that His Excellency the Governor has passed order to the effect that there is no bar on the Catholic Missionaries residing in Lushai Hills and ministering to the people of their faith”.
As soon as the prohibition was lifted, the Bishop of Chittagong Most Rev. Alfred LePailleur, CSC, assigned Rev. Fr. Alphonse DeMontigny and Rev. Fr. Robert Lavoic to proceed to Aizawl for surveying the place. They started from Badarpur on January 13, 1947, and reached Aizawl the next day where they were warmly received by the faithful. From the remarks of Fr. DeMontigny, the road conditions appeared to be very bad in those days. He commented, “Only the real love for souls kept our courage up”. When they reached Aizawl, it was already dark and they were directly taken to the Superintendent’s residence where they saw two Welsh Missionaries waiting for them. They were at the table till late night discussing how the priests managed to visit Mizoram. Though the details of the discussions were not known, it appeared that the discussions were not only a lengthy one, but heated as well. On their return to Chittagong, Fr. DeMontigny, in his report to Fr. Bianchi, wrote that,
“I better not mention what we said, but I could surely assure you that our coming was most undesirable in their opinion, but we did try our best to convince them as politely as possible that owing to that great principle of freedom of conscience, no one could stop us from staying among our flock and moreover, owing to the kind permission of His Excellency, the Governor, we had been allowed not only to come but even to reside in the Lushai Hills”.
Hardly three months after the two priests had returned to Chittagong, the Bishop again appointed Rev. Fr. George Breen and Rev. Bro. Gilbert Boucher to start a permanent residence in Mizoram. The two missionaries arrived at Aizawl on April 15, 1947 and this date is considered as the official date for the foundation of the Catholic Church in Mizoram. The Church which was founded at Kulikawn was called Christ the King Church and the first parish in Mizoram was named after Christ the King as Christ the King Parish. Since 1996 Christ the King Church became Christ the King Cathedral and the parish known by that name.
In 1947, the Indian sub-continent was divided into two independent States as India and Pakistan. This political ramification affected Tripura, the Lushai Hills, Cachar and North Cachar Hills which earlier belonged to the diocese of Chittagong. As a result, a new Prefecture of Apostolic of Haflong was created in 1952. Again, the Prefecture was upgraded as a Diocese and called Diocese of Silchar, with Silchar as its see in 1969. Later in the see was transferred to Aizawl in 1996 and became the the Diocese which Aizawl. The present Bishop, Most. Rev. Stephen Rotluanga CSC, DD, was ordained as Bishop of Aizawl on February 2, 2002.
The Diocese is divided into two regions - Mizoram and Barak Valley regions. In the Mizoram region, there are 24 Parishes while the Barak Valley region has 6. The diocese of Mizoram region has about 25000 adherents, which is about 2% of the total population of Mizoram. In Mizoram region, 8 different religious orders are working. They are:
(1) The Congregation a Sancta Cruce (CSC) popularly known as Holy Cross Congregation
(2) The Diocesan Priests
(3) The Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
(4) The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB)
(5) The Order of Friars Minor (OFM)
(6) The Congregation of the Missions (CM)
(7) The Missionaries of St. Francis De Sales (MSFS)
(8) Order of the Discalced Carmelites (ODC)
In the religious institute of Brothers, only 2 Congregations are found in Mizoram. They are:
(1) The Holy Cross Brothers (CSC)
(2) Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel (SG).
In the religious institute of Sisters, 13 different Congregations are now working. They are:
(1) The Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany (BS)
(2) Missionaries of Charity (MC)
(3) Ursuline Franciscan Congregation (UFC)
(4) Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christian (MSMHC)
(5) Sisters of Charity of St. Bartholomew Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa
(6) Daughter of Mary Help of Christian (FM)
(7) Sisters of St. Charles Boromeo
(8) Apostolic Carmel Sisters
(9) Franciscan Clarist Congregation
(10) Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul
(11) Salesian Missionaries of Mary Immaculate (SMMI)
(12) Helpers of Mount Rosary (HMR)
(13) Missionary Sisters, Servant of the Holy Spirit (SSPS).
Under the Mizoram Catholic Church, there is one College, five Higher Secondary Schools, seventeen High Schools and thirty three Middle Schools up to class VIII. Every Middle School has lower classes starting from KG-I. Each institution is managed by different Congregation. It is remarkable to note that St. Paul’s Higher Secondary School, which sent its first batch of class X students to the State Board examinations in 1958, is by far the best school in Mizoram since its inception.
In conclusion it has to be said that for the Catholic Church to have a foothold in Mizoram was not an easy task. The Catholic missionaries came after overcoming many hardships and difficulties created by various agencies. Besides, the government indifference, the missionaries had to also overcome many hurdles created by other Christian denominations who were already rooted in Mizoram, therefore did not want others to come in. Sadly, even the British religious policy towards Mizoram was for one mission in one area. This was considered as an exceptional measure to deal with the intractable tribes of Mizo. Taking this as a guiding principle, the Government adopted a religious policy of not allowing two missions to work in one area on the ground that there would be religious quarrels though such policy was in contravention to the British religious policy, which clearly states that the Government must not adopt a particular measure against any particular religion. The British religious policy was vividly revealed by Her Majesty Queen Victoria in her Proclamation in 1858. The Proclamation declares thus: “we do strictly charge and enjoin all those who may be in authority under us that they abstain from all interference with the religious belief or worship of any of our subjects, on pain of our highest displeasure”. Based on this Proclamation, the restriction placed on entry of Catholic Priests to Mizoram certainly was violating this proclamation itself.
Apart from the government agencies, another agency which fiercely attacked the Catholic Church was the Welsh Mission. In opposing and attacking the Catholic Church the Welsh Mission was hand in glove with the Government. Their attack was channeled through their monthly called Christian Herald (Kristian Tlangau). They also joined hands with the Assam Baptist Mission to destabilize the Catholic movement in the North East. The combined efforts of the Government and the Welsh Mission against the Catholic Church in Mizoram were largely responsible slow progress in the growth of Catholic Church in Mizoram. The question frequently asked is, why the Catholic Church cannot make progress in Mizoram? The answer is, apart from the tardy history the Catholic Church encountered in early day, we lacked behind in adopting a pro-active steps. We have to learn lessons from Catholics in Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. A serious debate therefore is warranted in order to fast track our evangelization in this state. Otherwise growth of Catholic Church may continue to be in snail pace even after 73 years of its existence in Mizoram. We need to also reflect why Catholic population is still stagnated despite increase in number of priests, parishes, schools and institutions. In other words, there is need for holistic approach to strengthen the Catholic Church in Mizoram.
(The Author is a retired Professor of History. Views expressed are personal)
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