The Catholic Church in the Maldives part of the worldwide

Catholic Church 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 ...

, under the spiritual leadership of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The annals of the

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

mention that in 1833 after the consecration of

Clément Bonnand Mgr. Clément BONNAND (20 May 1796 – 21 March 1861) was a missionary of Paris Foreign Missions Society and was the Vicar Apostolic of Pondicherry from 3 April 1850 until his death on 21 March 1861. He was born on 20 May 1796 in Saint-Maur ...

as the Vicar Apostolic of

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

, he was authorized by the Holy See to send missionaries to the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

, where the Christian faith had not reached.Annals of the Propagation of the Faith, Volume 1, 1839 - Pg. 146
/ref> There has never, however, been any Catholic territorial jurisdiction in the Maldives; its territory has been the responsibility of the

Archdiocese of Colombo The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Colombo ( la, Archidioecesis Columbensis in Taprobane) is a Latin Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, whose ecclesiastical province covers all Sri Lanka plus the Maldives (which are ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

since 1886. The constitution of the country does not allow citizenship to non-

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

, and those found with non-Islamic religious materials are subject to arrest.

History

The arrival of the Portuguese also saw the appearance of Christianity in the region. In 1558 the Portuguese established a small garrison with a ''Viador'' (''Viyazoru''), or overseer of a

factory (trading post) Factory was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, o ...

in the Maldives, which they administered from their main colony in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. They tried to impose Christianity on the locals and some of the nobility were converted. 15 years later, a local leader named Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-A'uẓam and his two brothers organized a popular revolt and drove the Portuguese out of Maldives and Roman Catholicism as a consequence receded.

References

{{RC-country-stub

History

See also

References