Édouard René Hambye (3 July 1916 – 7 September 1990), was a Belgian

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missionary priest in the Indian subcontinent, and a leading scholar on the history of Indian churches. Hambye is the author of ''Christianity in India'', and a contributor to ''The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India''. He was often published under the name E. R. Hambye, and in India was anglicized as "Edward".

Biography

Hambye was born in

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

and attended that city's Jesuit high school. He entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the Society of Jesus on 23 September 1934. The usual spiritual and academic Jesuit training led him to receive sacerdotal ordination on 24 August 1946. After further studies involving Syriac he was appointed Professor of Church History and of

Patristics Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

at the Kurseong Saint-Mary's Jesuit Theologate in West Bengal where he undertook research into the history of eastern church rites (notably in the Syrian Catholic tradition). His primary field of writing was the Syrian Malabar church. Hambye's ''History of Christianity in India'' was well received in the 1970s, but some of his contemporary scholars, such as Stephen Neill, were less impressed. When work on the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India commenced in 1970 by George Menachery he was along with Paul Verghese, later Paulos Mar Gregorios, one of the prominent consultants.The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India title pages He also researched the history of the 'Bengal Jesuit mission' of the Belgian Jesuits and the role of chaplains in the fleet of 17th Century Flanders. In Kerala Hambye was actively involved in

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

between Saint Thomas Christians, Syrian Orthodox and Roman Catholics in India. An active member of the Indian Church Historical Association, Hambye was appointed a member of the commission for dialogue with the Malankara Orthodox Church, Kottayam, 1989. In 1977 he had already been working in Kurseong, Delhi,

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, Vadavathoor- Kottayam for 26 years. In later years he was a professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

Publications

* Hambye, E. R., ''Eastern Christianity in India; a History of the Syro-Malabar Church From the Earliest Time to the Present Day,'' (with Eugène Tisserant) The Newman Press, 1957. * Hambye, E. R., ''Les traces liturgiques de l'usage du bêmâ dans la liturgie de l' Eglise chaldéomalabare,'' 1964. * Hambye, Ed., S. J., ''L'aumônerie de la flotte de Flandre au XVIIè siècle, 1623–1668,'' Nauwelaerts, 1967. * Hambye, E. R., ''Christianity in India: A history in Ecumenical Perspective,'' (with H. C. Permulalil), Alleppey, 1972. * Hambye, E. R., ''Dimensions of Eastern Christianity,'' 1976. * Hambye, E. R., S. J., ''Some Syriac Libraries of Kerala (Malabar), India, Notes and Comments,'' 1977. * Hambye, E. R., Articles in ''The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India,'' vol. 1 1982. * Hambye, E. R. ''History of Christianity in India: Eighteenth Century,'' (with George Menachery) Church History Association of India, 1997. * Hambye, Edouard R., ''1900 Jahre Thomas-Christen in Indien'', (with Johannes Madey) 1983. * Hambye, Édouard R., "Un Irlandais aux origines de la Mission Navale des Jésuites Belges", ''Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu''. Roma 15 (1946), pp. 144–154. * Hambye, E. R., ''Bibliography on Christianity in India'' (1976).

References

External links

H. C. Perumalil & E. R. Hambye ''History of Christianity in India'' Book Review and cover
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hambye, Edouard 1916 births 1990 deaths Belgian Roman Catholic missionaries 20th-century Belgian Jesuits Roman Catholic missionaries in India Academic staff of the Pontifical Oriental Institute Saint Thomas Christians Jesuit missionaries in India