1.5.1. THE ORIGINS
The order was born around 1525, when the observant Franciscan friar Matteo da Bascio – ordained a priest in the Marche region, Italy – became convinced that the lifestyle led by the Franciscans of his time was not what St. Francis had imagined. He wished to return to the original lifestyle in solitude and penance as practiced by the founder of his order.
His superiors tried to suppress these innovations, and between Matthew and his first companions were forced into hiding from the authorities of the Church, who wanted to arrest them for abandoning their religious obligations. These were, moreover, the years of the Lutheran Reformation and, therefore, any attempt at renewal was frowned upon by the superiors of religious orders. Matteo and his friends found refuge with the Camaldolese monks; as a sign of gratitude they later adopted the hood worn by that order, which was the mark of the hermit in the Marches, and the custom of wearing a beard. The popular name of their movement originates from this characteristic of their clothes.
In 1528, Matteo obtained, with the mediation of Caterina Cybo, Duchess of Camerino, the approval of Pope Clement VII with the bull Religionis zelus and was given permission to live as a hermit and to go everywhere preaching to the poor. These permissions were not only for him, but for all who would join him in an attempt to restore the most literal observance of the rule of St. Francis possible. Matthew and the original group were soon joined by others and were initially called Friars Minor of the eremitical life and due to the opposition of the Observants, they became a congregation, the Friars Minor Hermits, a branch of the Conventual Franciscans, but with their own Vicar .
A difficult moment was in 1542 when the Vicar General of the Order Bernardino Ochino joined the Protestant Reformation.
Pope Gregory XIII, in 1574, allowed the Order to settle in “France and in all other parts of the world and to erect houses, places, Custodies and Provinces”, authorizing, in fact, its diffusion outside Italy. In the sixteenth century the Capuchins could count on about 14,000 friars and almost 1,000 convents. The numbers of the order will increase further between 1600 and the mid-eighteenth century. The friars, in fact, will reach 34,000 and the convents to 1700. These were, moreover, also the years in which the Order modified, or rather, perfected some of its initial characteristics. While maintaining faith in the vow of radical poverty, the Capuchins had shown themselves to be excellent preachers and this, also given the initial relations with the conventual branch, led to a “conventualization”. This process was also supported by the Holy See, which in those years pushed religious orders to suppress minor or too small convents, convinced that by giving life to larger realities these could be better controlled. The initial small shelves of books became veritable libraries, necessary to ensure a good formation for preachers. To understand the role of order in this century and a half, just think that Alessandro Manzoni will choose a Capuchin, Fra Cristoforo, to oppose Don Rodrigo, in his Promessi Sposi. necessary to ensure a good formation for preachers. To understand the role of order in this century and a half, just think that Alessandro Manzoni will choose a Capuchin, Fra Cristoforo, to oppose Don Rodrigo, in his Promessi Sposi. necessary to ensure a good formation for preachers. To understand the role of order in this century and a half, just think that Alessandro Manzoni will choose a Capuchin, Fra Cristoforo, to oppose Don Rodrigo, in his Promessi Sposi.
The Capuchins were also very active in the missions: for example, as Pellegrino da Forlì reports, the Indian archdiocese of Agra was entrusted to the brothers of his order since 1703.
FROM THE SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TO TODAY
From the second half of the eighteenth century to the end of the 1800s, the Order experienced a moment of crisis. Suffice it to think that between 1787 and 1847 the general chapter of the Order, the general assembly of all the leaders of the provinces into which the latter was divided, was not held. These difficulties were due more to political-social than religious reasons. The French Revolution and similar experiences in other European states lead to the suppression of convents and even of entire provinces. The same can be said for Italy at the end of the nineteenth century, where the law of guarantees deprived the religious orders of many goods and even of the convents. This, however, was accompanied by a more conscious missionary work, especially in the Americas, where the Order grew very rapidly.
Despite the difficulties at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Capuchins numbered about 9,500 and housed in over 600 houses. The general chapter of 1884 had decided to buy back many of the convents that had been lost during the previous century and the new Constitutions were approved. The previous ones were from 1643. The twentieth century was, for all religious orders, the century of the return to the origins and of the opening to the novelties of the contemporary world. Just think of the Second Vatican Council and the invitation addressed to all religious communities to rediscover the original reasons for their own charism. The Capuchins were not exempt from the vocation crisis which hit the Catholic Church in Europe and North America in the 1960s and 1980s.
1.5.2. CAPUCHINS IN INDIA
The arrival of the Capuchins in India dates back to the year 1632 when a band of foreign Capuchin Missionaries landed in Pondicherry as Chaplains to the French Trading Company. The friars left India when the company closed its branch in India in 1634. Re-establishment of the capuchin presence in India was in 1639 with the arrival of Father Zeno of Beauge and two companions in Goa. Their intention was to extend their missionary thrust to Tibet and Nepal; however, it turned out that they continued their missionary ventures in the Vicariate of Agra and Patna. 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 house was opened in Mussoorie. Just ten years later, however this novitiate was closed due to the lack of vocations. The appointment of Fr. John Baptist Trannanzi of Florence of the Province of Tuscany, as the first Commissary General paved the way to open a Novitiate House at Sardhana in 1922. This could be the cradle of Capuchin Order in India for many years. This first Indian unit of the Order was entrusted to the four Superior Regular of the North Indian Mission, namely, Agra, Ajmir, Allahabad and Lahore. The Indian Branch of the Order became Custody (Commissariat) of the Province of Paris on 21st February 1927. The early Capuchins were then sent to Europe to pursue their further studies with the French friars. The first batch of 12 clerics had left India on 22 June 1927, under the leadership of Fr. Marie Egide Uhlennuth of Ajmer.
The absence of a strong, vibrant and populous Christian community in the North and the unfavourable climatic conditions of the place called for a transfer of the novitiate from North to a more favourable location in South India. The Province of Paris was entrusted with this venture. The Capuchins were offered a little hill at Farangipet, called Monte Mariano, in the diocese of Mangalore and hence the decision to shift the novitiate was carried out on 1st May 1930. This resulted in a rapid growth of the Capuchins in South India, in 1932 a study house was set up in Quilon, Kerala, and most of the students who had not yet finished their studies abroad were brought back to continue their studies in Quilon.
Naming of Br. Guido Le Plontrieux of Province of Paris, as the General Commissary in 1933 marked the next phase of the growth of the Order in India. The influx of candidates was unabated and the Order grew from strength to strength. From 1948 to 1954, Fr. Richard Brunner from Calvary Province of USA was put in charge of the Indian Capuchin Mission. He was made Commissary Provincial in 1951. By 1954, the hands at the helms were changed and Fr. Cyril Andrade became the first Indian Commissary Provincial. In 1956, the Agra Archdiocese was entrusted to the Order and Fr. Dominic Athaide was consecrated as the first Indian Capuchin Bishop of Agra. In 1957, Fr. Cassian Timmins, a Canadian Missionary from Gorakhpur was appointed to guide the destiny of the Commissariat and he guided it during the next 6 years. The number of Capuchins by now had grown from 41 in 1933 to almost two hundred in 1960.
Formation of an Autonomous Indian Province.
Fr. Clement of Milwaukee, the General Minister, who had known the growth of the Capuchin jurisdiction in India already at the time of his first visit. He paid a second visit in 1962, especially for constituting the Indian unit into a full-pledged Capuchin Province. Fr. John Berchmans Puthuparambil was appointed as the first Provincial Minister of the Province of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, India. Moreover, in the first elective chapter in 1966, Fr. John Berchmans was elected as Provincial Minister. During the second elective chapter held in 1969, Fr. Jacob Acharuparambil was elected as the Provincial Minister.
1.5.3. CAPUCHINS IN GHANA
The Capuchin Province of St. Francis of Assis, Kerala, India started its Ghana Mission in the year 2005. It began as House of Presence. In October 2016, the Capuchin Mission in Ghana was officially declared as Provincial Delegation during the 10th Year Anniversary Celebration of our presence in Kongo. The declaration was made by the then Vicar Provincial, acting as the Provincial, Br. John Baptist, during his visit to Ghana. Bro. Varghese Alphonse was then appointed as the Mission Delegate and Brothers Isaac Anthony and Martin V. George were appointed as the 1st and 2ndCouncillors respectively. After a three-year term, bro. Varghese Alphonse was re-appointed as the Mission Delegate by the then Vicar Provincial, acting as the Provincial, Br. Joseph P.S., during his visit to Ghana in January 2020. This time Brothers Martin V. George and Joseph T. Felix were appointed as the 1st and 2nd Councillors respectively. Brother Lipson V. Paul served as the Secretary and Financial Administrator of the Mission during these six years.In the year 2022our provincial bro. Prasad Cyprian paid his fraternal visit and the new team were elected to lead the delegation. Bro. Robinson Melkis as delegate and bros Henry Jacob, Joseph T Felix were appointed as the first and second councillors respectively.