Archbishop Aleixo de Menezes or Alexeu de Jesu de Meneses (25 January 1559 – 3 May 1617) was
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
Archbishop of Goa
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Goa and Daman ( la, Archidioecesis Goanae et Damanensis, gom, Gõy ani Damanv Mha-Dhormprant, pt, Arquidiocese de Goa e Damão) encompasses the Goa state and the Damaon territory in the Konkan r ...
, Archbishop of
Braga
Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, and
Viceroy of Portugal
The Viceroy of Portugal was the political chief of the Kingdom of Portugal and the highest representative of the King of Portugal during the period of the Iberian Union, when a personal union existed between the monarchies of Portugal and Spain ...
during the
Philippine Dynasty
The Philippine dynasty ( pt, dinastia filipina), also known as the House of Habsburg in Portugal, was the third royal house of Portugal. It was named after the three Habsburg Spanish kings, all named Philip (; , ), who ruled Portugal between 1 ...
.
Biographical sketch
Aleixo was born on 25 January 1559. His father was Lord Dom Aloysius De Menezes, famous lord and family member of Kantlhield and mother Louisa de Norohna. After the initial education, he joined in the order of St. Augustine at the age of 15. He studied philosophy, rhetoric, theology and literature from the university Coimbra. Once, he was offered the status of the rector of the Coimbra academy, but he refused out of humility. Alexi’s desire was to work for the pastoral care of souls. Later he was appointed as the chaplain of the Portugal palace. He worked as the prior of the Augustinian monastery in santhralsa and ulsiponi. He was
consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
Archbishop of Goa
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Goa and Daman ( la, Archidioecesis Goanae et Damanensis, gom, Gõy ani Damanv Mha-Dhormprant, pt, Arquidiocese de Goa e Damão) encompasses the Goa state and the Damaon territory in the Konkan r ...
in 1595, when he was only 35.
As Archbishop of Goa, Menezes focused on strengthening
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
ascendancy in Portugal. Part of this mission involved bringing the
Saint Thomas Christians
The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an ethno-religious
An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of ...
, an ancient body formerly part of the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...
, under the authority of the Catholic Church. By 1597 the last
metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.
Originally, the term referred to the b ...
of the Saint Thomas Christians, Abraham, had died, and Menezes was able to secure the submission of
Archdeacon George, the highest remaining representative of the native church hierarchy. That year Menezes convened the
Synod of Diamper
The Synod of Diamper (Udayamperoor Synod) ( mal, ഉദയംപേരൂർ സൂനഹദോസ്, Udayampērūṟ Sūnahadōs), held at Udayamperoor (known as Diamper in non-vernacular sources) in June 1599, was a diocesan synod, or cou ...
, which introduced a number of forcible reforms to the church in order to be bring the Saint Thomas Christians fully into the
Latin Rite
Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...
of the Catholic Church. The traditions of the Saint Thomas Christians, created during centuries of maintaining their Christian way of life in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim environment, were disregarded and overturned, and many of their holy writings were condemned as heretical and consigned to the fire.
Following the Synod, Menezes consecrated
Francis Ros
Dom Francisco Ros, S.J (1559–1624) was the first Latin Archbishop of Archdiocese of Angamaly-Cranganore, the See of Saint Thomas Christians in the early modern Malabar in South India.
Introduction
Ros was a Catalan Jesuit who arrived ...
, S. J. as Archbishop of the
Archdiocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
of
Angamalé for the Saint Thomas Christians.
In 1612 Aleixo de Menezes was appointed Archbishop of Braga, Portugal. He was viceroy of Portugal during the Philippine Dynasty from 1612 to 1615. He died in 1617, his remains are located at the
Populo Church Popolo may refer to :
*Defensio pro Populo Anglicano, a Latin polemic by John Milton.
* Missa Pro Populo, a term used in liturgical texts and rules of the Catholic Church.
* Nossa Senhora do Pópulo, one of the sixteen civil parishes that make up ...
in Braga, Northern Portugal.
Controversy
Aleixo de Menezes, under the authority of the
Goa Inquisition
The Goa Inquisition ( pt, Inquisição de Goa) was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in Portuguese India. Its objective was to enforce Catholic Orthodoxy and allegiance to the Apostolic See of Rome (Pontifex). The inquisition primaril ...
and the
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...
, continued the latinisation of the St. Thomas Christians started by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in the early 16th century.
The result of his Synod of Diamper was unfortunate. The
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
(1913) says:
The only case in which an ancient Eastern rite has been wilfully romanized is that of the Malabar Christians, where it was not Roman authority but the misguided zeal of Alexius de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa, and his Portuguese advisers at the Synod of Diamper (1599) which spoiled the old Malabar Rite.
Nasranis gathered at
Mattancherry
Mattancherry (), is a locality in the city of Kochi, India. It is about 9 km south-west from the city center. It is said that the name Mattancherry comes from "Ancherry Mattom", a ''Namboodiri illam'' which the foreign traders then pronounc ...
church on Friday, 3 January 1653 (M.E. 828 Makaram 3), and made an oath that is known as the
Great Oath of Bent Cross
*
The situation is explained by
Stephen Neill
Stephen Charles Neill (1900–1984Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, p. 488.) was a British Anglican bishop, missionary and scholar. He was proficient in a number of languages, including Ancient Greek, Latin and Tamil. He went to Trini ...
(an Anglican Protestant missionary, from Scotland) in his book ''A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707''.
: " January 1653, priests and people assembled in the church of Our Lady at Mattancherry, and standing in front of a cross and lighted candles swore upon the holy Gospel that they would no longer obey Garcia, and that they would have nothing further to do with the Jesuits they would recognize the Archdeacon as the governor of their Church. This is the famous oath of the "Coonan Cross" (the open-air Cross which stands outside the church at
Mattancherry
Mattancherry (), is a locality in the city of Kochi, India. It is about 9 km south-west from the city center. It is said that the name Mattancherry comes from "Ancherry Mattom", a ''Namboodiri illam'' which the foreign traders then pronounc ...
). The Saint Thomas Christians did not at any point suggest that they wished to separate themselves from the Pope. They could no longer tolerate the arrogance of Garcia. And their detestation of the Jesuits, to whose overbearing attitude and lack of sympathy they attributed all their troubles, breathes through all the documents of the time. But let the Pope send them a true bishop not a Jesuit, and they will be pleased to receive and obey him."
Francisco Ros
Dom Francisco Ros, S.J (1559–1624) was the first Latin Archbishop of Archdiocese of Angamaly-Cranganore, the See of Saint Thomas Christians in the early modern Malabar in South India.
Introduction
Ros was a Catalan Jesuit who arrived ...
bishop of Angamaly consecreated by Aleixo de Menesis, just after the Synod of Diamper, has mentioned in his letter to Padroado that Archbishop de Menesis added few additional canons on his own to the Portuguese version of the decrees of Synod, which was submitted to Holy See after it ended. The currently available malayalam version, on which participants signed, lacks 35 of the Canons given in the Portuguese text.
See also
*
Nasrani
*
Syro-Malabar Church
lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ
, native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg
, caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...
*
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Ca ...
Notes and References
References
Dom Aleixo de Menezes, O. S. A.*Paul Pallath, 'The Synod of Diamper: Valid or Invalid', in 'The Synod of Diamper Revisited', Edited by
George Nedungatt, Pontifico Instituto Orientale, Rome, 2001, P. 199
External links
Archbishop Alejo de Meneses (Catholic-Hierarchy)Diamper Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menezes, Aleixo de
Roman Catholic archbishops of Braga
Viceroys of Portugal
1559 births
1617 deaths
Augustinian friars
16th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in India
17th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Portugal
Colonial Goa
Clergy from Lisbon