The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-02-05
Catholic Progress in India.
CBy Rev. W. S. Kress.l

HlariOn Gil, in the January number
of the able Spanish review, Razon Fe,
gives some interesting statistics on
! Catholic missions in India and CeylOn.
Out of the 3OO,OOOO0O inhabitants that
these countries lay claim to, 100000
are Buddhists and 62,000,000 MOhamme-
dams The fanatical Mohammedanh are
the hardest of all unbelievers to con-
vert Next to them come the Buddhists,
because of their barriers of caste.
| Ceylon has 100000 inhabitants: in
| 1885 a little over 100000 were Catholics;
| there are now more than 300,0 900. There
were fewer than 10000 children in Cath
olic schools in 1885; today there are up
ward of $4,000. There were tWenty-siX
priests in 1890; there are more than 200
at present The seminary established
by Leo XIII at Randy in 1894 compares
| favorably with the best of Europe.
French Jesuits have been laboring in
the mission of Madura since 1886. To-
day that diocese counts 100000 Catholics
and is served by forty-five native
priests, besides seventy-nine French
Jesuits. More than 10000 pagan adults
and children were baptized last year,
besides 149 conversions from heresies.
The College of st. Joseph at Trichinopo-
" had 1.755 students last year; fifteen
Protestants, lightweight MOhamme-
dams. 662 Catholics and 900 Pagans.
In the four diocese north of Madura
the faithful increased by upward of 49,
600 from 1873 to 1886. There are at
present 313,S9S Catholics, served by 273
priests, fifty-nine of the latter native
born. In the neighborhood of Goa the
number of Catholics is not far under a
million. There is an abundance of
priests. mostly natives, and the Catho-
! I ,.,11n wal tn
The most satisfactory mission is that
of Calcutta, which was placed under the
charge of Belgium Jesuits in 1862 They
began with 1000 faithful and have at
the present time 101, O0S Catholics, 49,
549 Catechumens under instruction, and
they employ more than $40 catechists.
The College of st. Francis Xavier at
Calcutta counts 900 students. Besides
thousands of Pagans, 1,500 PrOtestants
were converted in this diocese last year.
The Jesuit college at Bombay can
boast LOO students. In all of India
there has been a steady progress during
the past century. In 1900 there were
less than 100000 Catholics; by 1900 the
number had grown to 1900 900. There
are now 1900 native priests laboring
faithfully and in complete harmony
with their 1000 European brethren.
Half of the 5000 Sisters are also ma
tives
In the western half of Indo-China the
catholic population is small, 100000 out
of 10000 600 Fifty years ago there
were hardly more than 10000. The east
ern half of Indo-China is under French
influence and the Chinese race predom-
mates. This part of Asia might well be
named the Church of the Martyrs.
There was a fierce persecution under
Emperor Minh-Menh (1S20-184D. There
was another in 1S4S; another from 1856
to 1862. During this last persecution
twenty Eight Dominicans and 100 Chi
nese priests were martyred; 100 Chris
tan villages were destroyed; 10000
Christians were imprisoned, half of
whom were put to death; some behead-
ed, others hanged, others starved, others
gorad by elephants, and still others
buried alive. Forty thousand more per-
ished in consequence of being driven
from their homes. There were persecu-
tions in 1874, in 1883 and 1884. and again
in 1885. Were the prosecutors able to
tear out the noXious plant of Chris
tianity by the roots as they declared
they would? On the contrary, the
church prospered all the more. Before
the prosecutions there were 100000
Catholics in this district; today there
are 100000, and of 1,026 priests 603 are
natives.