The Bethany Movement and its Apostle

Archbishop Mar Ivanios Interviewed

A great figure at the Dublin Eucharistic Congress was that of His Grace, the Archbishop of the converted Jacobites of Malabar. Stopping in Rome on his way to the Eucharistic Congress at Dublin, Mar Ivanios received the Archbishop’s Pallium from the hands of the Holy Father himself, on May 2, 1932. An interesting feature of the ceremony was the fact that His Grace read the profession of faith in English: the language of his own liturgy is Syrian, and he is unacquainted with Latin. The Holy Father spoke to him in English, calling him ‘Good son.’

Interviewed by a member of the ‘Fides’ staff, His Grace told something of the Bethany movement.

“The Christians of the Malabar Coast are an ancient community evangelised in the early days of the Church and called the St. Thomas Christians,” he said. “Socially they are equal to the highest caste of Hindus and are recognised as such by the Hindus themselves. They are just as Indian as any other people of India, and they are highly respected by their countrymen. They are geographically isolated, and this has kept them from having any extensive contact with the other peoples of India up to now.

“In the 17th century, the Monophysite heresy found its way into this community, and a great number fell into schism, the separating part becoming the Jacobites of Malabar, and the faithful being known as the Syro Malabar Catholics. About half a century ago a number of these Jacobite heretics, educated in Protestant schools, imbibed much of the Protestant spirit. They wished to impose their ideas on the whole Jacobite sect, but the leaders of the latter would not stand for it. They seceded, therefore, from the Jacobites and became a schism within a schism. They are called the Mar Thomites. Both the Jacobites and the Mar Thomites have Bishops and Archbishops. The two sects together have orders of the Mar Thomites. The Jacobites today number 354,000; the Mar Thomites 128,000.

“Both of these heretical sects have their own associations for the propagation of the faith or ‘Evangelical Association’ as the Mar Thomites call it. These latter are the more active and carry on missionary propaganda in and out of Malabar. Their methods are more those of the Protestants. They have a great number of schools, and also a few hospitals and dispensaries.

“I was born in the Jacobite sect. I was educated at the University of Madras and later went to the University of Calcutta as a professor in political economy. While at Calcutta continuing my study of the history of Christianity and reading the lives of the saints I was led to question the position of the Jacobite Church, but I continued to practise my religion sincerely. After a time I gave up my position as professor and with a small group of students retired into the forest to start a monastery. There had been solitaries in the Jacobite Church before, but this was the first time that a monastic order had been attempted. At the same time, I became the spiritual adviser for a group of young ladies studying at the University of Calcutta who wished to form a sisterhood. Both congregations later moved to Travancore. Some time afterwards I was asked to accept a Bishopric in Travancore. My conscience would not allow me to make the profession of faith demanded in the consecration whereby I should have to anathematise St. Leo. This part is introduced into the profession of faith made by Jacobite Bishops because of St. Leo’s connection with the Council of Chalcedon, which the Jacobites repudiated. I was told that since this was not considered an article of faith I might omit it if I wished. I was therefore consecrated Jacobite Bishop of Bethany.

“It was only after I had become Bishop that I was convinced of the unsoundness of the Jacobite position. Attempting to convert pagans, spiritualise the Jacobites and organise and build up my Archdiocese was like trying to build on sand, for to me it appeared to be apart from any Church authority. I also felt that Protestantism was individualistic and minimised the bearing of religion on the corporate life of humanity. The schismatical eastern churches were organised originally on linguistic bases, and later on nationalistic and political bases, and failed to comprehend the humanity-wide implications of the True Religion. My life as a religious brought to me the conviction of the absolute necessity of obedience for the well-being of the Church. I also became convinced of the absolute necessity of the principle of an infallible head for the infallible Church. The Catholic Church alone satisfied my soul’s craving for religion which would help to perfect the individual in divine grace and serve for all mankind as a divinely outlined means of salvation. This is the conviction that led me to make my submission to the Holy See.

“I took steps immediately to inform the Holy See of the thirst of my soul to be received into the unity of the Catholic Church. The Holy Father received me with open arms and extended to me through Archbishop Edward Mooney, the then Apostolic Delegate in the East Indies, a ‘Welcome, a Big Welcome!’

“The 20th of September, 1930, is a memorable day in my life because it was on that day that I had the happiness of making my submission to the Vicar of Christ. On that day only five people made their profession of the Catholic Faith — myself, my suffragan Bishop Mar Theophilos, one priest, one deacon and one layman. On Christmas, 1931, I was able to send to the Holy Father as a Christmas gift the names of 5199 souls from Jacobitism and from paganism received into the Church since my submission. Today this number is about 8000 from Jacobitism and about 800 from paganism.

The Present Status

“The two religious communities with which I was connected before my conversion came into the Church with me. Of the 24 Brothers, 19 became Catholics, and of the 13 Sisters, all became Catholics. Today the Jacobite converts are divided into two ecclesiastical territories: one under Mar Theophilos, who has his headquarters at Tiruvella, and the other under myself, with the centre at Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore. The statistics for these two territories, which we gave to the Indian Catholic Directory when it was being compiled a few months ago, were: — Archbishop 1, Bishop 7, Religious Priests 8, Secular Priests 8, Deacons 5, Catechists 6, Religious Women 14, Chapels with Resident Priests 5, Mission Houses 9, Mission Stations 57, Seminary 1, Seminarians 38, Orphanages 1, Catechists for pagans 5.

“The continual development since then has resulted in a great increase in these figures. As yet I have no seminary in my territory. I send my ecclesiastical students to the seminary of Mar Theophilos at Tiruvella. We are planning, however, a seminary for convert priests where priests converted from Jacobitism and Anglicanism may receive a scientific course in theology. It is expected that after a time this seminary will no longer be needed for this purpose, and then it can be converted into a seminary for young boys aspiring to the priesthood.

Difficulties

“The chief difficulty may be said to be the extreme conservatism of the people. They have a great prejudice against things foreign and are loth to make any drastic changes. Ignorance and bigotry are also grave obstacles. It is hoped to overcome the former by a crusade of enlightening propaganda by means of the press and through personal contact. The latter can be overcome by prayer and good example.

“The Jacobites have organised or have tried to organise opposition against the movement. Social ostracism and boycotting as well as anti-Catholic propaganda are their chief weapons. At first, the Jacobites refused to believe that the Holy See had recognised our Rite; and when they realised that it was really recognised and that the converted prelates were kept in their former jurisdiction, they became very apprehensive about the future of their church and began to use all kinds of means to prevent conversions. On several occasions, I have been hooted by mobs, and have seen a black flag hoisted to herald my coming to a village. Once fanatics stopped the car in which I was. riding and offered the driver 500 rupees to take me across a precipice; they had valued my life at 500 rupees. The converts have all had to suffer a hundred and one little persecutions and inconveniences.

“The possibilities in this field are great. The Catholics of Malabar have a real vocation to convert India. As already mentioned, they are respected by the Indians, considered just as much Indian as the rest of them and not denationalised. They are considered equal socially to the highest Hindu caste, and thus they are in a position to exert a strong influence over their countrymen. To the present, due to their geographical isolation they have not made their influence felt to any considerable extent outside of Malabar, but now they are realising their opportunities and getting ready to make the best of them.”

Copyright: The Catholic Journal – Freeman’s Journal, 30th June, 1932