Arrival
The arrival of the Capuchins in India dates back to the
year 1632 when a group of foreign Capuchins landed in Pondichery. After
slogging as missionaries for about two and half centuries, the idea of
implanting the Order in India was considered as a possibility. Hence, in
1880, a novitiate was opened in Mussoorie. Just after 10 years later,
however, this novitiate was closed down for want of vocations.
A second attempt at beginning the Order in India was made
on 26 February 1922 at Sardhana in Uttar Pradesh, which could be said as the
cradle of the Capuchin Order in India for many years to come.
The absence of a strong, vibrant and populous Christian
community in North India, even as the extreme weather conditions of the
place, called for a transfer of the novitiate from North to South to a
little hill at Farangipet called Monte Mariano in the Diocese of Mangalore
in May 1930.
Br. Clement of
Milwaukiee, the General Minister, known for the growth of the Capuchin
jurisdiction in India, during his visit, expressed for the purpose of
constitution the Indian unit into a full-fledged Capuchin province. Hence,
on 14 April 1963, an autonomous
Indian Capuchin Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
was established.
The single Indian Capuchin Province was divided into Four
Jurisdictions on 17 May 1972 at St. Joseph’s friary in Kotagiri, Tamilnadu.
The 4 jurisdictions are:
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St. Joseph Province,
Kerala
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Amala Annai Province,
Tamilnadu
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Holy Trinity Province of Karnataka-Goa-Maharashtra
-
St. Francis Province,
Kerala
Today in India
9 Provinces
2 Vice Provinces
2 Custodies
3 Provincial Delegates
Provinces
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Marymatha Province in Andhra Pradesh
and Orissa (Collaboration with the Province in Switzerland and with Vice
province of Arabia)
-
St. Joseph Province in Kerala (Missions –
Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Bavarian Province, Germany)
-
St. Thomas province in Kerala
-
St. Francis Province
in Kerala
-
Holy Trinity Province in Karnataka
(Delegation of Nagaland –Manipur, Delegation of Mizoram, Delegation of Sri
Lanka)
-
St. Bonaventure Province in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh (Collaboration with the
Irish Province)
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Krist Jyoti Province in Delhi, Rajasthan,
Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu-Kashmir.
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St. Fidelis Province in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jarkhand, Bihar, Orissa,
Bengal, Chattisgarh and Middle Andaman (Collaboration with the Irish Province in
New Zealand, Uganda and Custody in Japan)
-
Amala Annai Province in Tamilnadu (Padre Pio Custody, Zimbabwe, House of
Presence in Burkina Faso, France, Canada, Gulf Mission)
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St. Antony’s Vice Province in Goa
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Pavanatma Vice Province
in Kerala
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Prem-Jyoti Custody in Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh
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Nirmala Custody in Assam-Meghalaya
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