Church and Society in Trinidad 1864-1900, Part Iii

By REV. JOHN T. HARRICHARAN M.A.

This Third Volume of the History of the Catholic Church covers the period in Trinidad from 1864-1900. Naturally, the period under study has been influenced, not only by the preceding historical forces operating in Trinidad from 1498 to 1863, but also by the other contemporary religious and secular forces.
Since the landing of Columbus in Trinidad in 1498, the Island remained under Spanish Colonial rule until 1797 when the British conquered the Spanish forces and occupied it. During Spanish rule, there was only one major religion in Trinidad i.e. Christianity and only one Church i.e. the Roman Catholic Church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 4, 2008
• ISBN: 9781467092517

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© 2008 Rev. John T. Harricharan M.A.. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 11/26/2008

ISBN: 978-1-4343-3758-0 (sc)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Dedicated to

Susan, Bobby, Christopher and Amy -

a great family.

CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

QUOTES

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER II SOCIAL MILIEUPOLILICO-RELIGIOUS

CHAPTER III CONGREGRATION OF THE SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF CHUNY

CHAPTER IV THE FRENCH DOMINICAN SISTERS

CHAPTER V THE FRENCH DOMINICAN ORDER PRIESTS AND LAY BROTHERS

CHAPTER VI THE ENCLOSED DOMINICAN NUNS OF VENEZUELA

CHAPTER VII THE HOLY GHOST CONGREGATION

CHAPTER VIII CONSOLIDATING THE CHURCH

CHAPTER IX THE FIRST LOCAL PRIESTS

CHAPTER X THE TRANSFER

CHAPTER XI CONCLUSION

HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH VOL. III

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

This period of history of the Catholic Church from 1864 to 1900 is indeed very fascinating and constitutes Volume Three of the series on the history of the Catholic Church. Following the recommendation of the 1854 Synod, the Administration of the Catholic Church was entrusted after a great deal of deliberation to the French Dominicans with priest Louis Gonin was appointed as the fourth Archbishop of Port of Spain. He strengthened the Church considerably as his ‘Gallic progenitorship fitted him admirably to conciliate the large French element in the community and his legal acumen enabled him to take in hand the administrative consolidation of the resources of the Archdiocese.’ His appointment by Rome coincided with the revival of the Catholic Church in France in the 1850’s, after the Napoleonic destruction, and also set in motion in Trinidad an expansion of the French Church. The growth of the Catholic Church came up against the forces of Angicization, which was getting the upper hand in the society. The ‘provinces’ of Lyons and Paris both supplied a steady flow of priests, who extended to Tobago intermittently from 1870 and in 1890 continued with its base in Toco. Already since 1836, in the field of education the French nuns of the St. Joseph of Cluny known as ‘Ladies of St. Joseph’ were at work in the Island. Their involvement was buttressed subsequently by the introduction of The French Holy Ghost priests who came in 1863 to educate the sons of the wealthy Catholic French Creole families. They were the successors to St. George College. The Catholic Church was also strengthened by the coming of the French Dominican sisters from Etrepany in France in 1868. They carried out heroic, charitable work among the lepers at Cocorite and later at the Belmont Orphanage. At the end of the 19th century they became involved in Secondary education. This group of sisters was soon followed by the Dominican nuns of the Holy Rosary from Venezuela who fled the persecution of the dictator Guzman Blanco. They introduced the contemplative dimension of the Church with their cloistered life-style. Their story is indeed an epic one in the Church in Trinidad. However, the greatest challenge of the Catholic Church was the presence of a large body of East Indians who were predominantly non-Christians and numbered over one hundred thousand at the end of the 19th century. In the North, the Catholic Church became involved among them in the East Dry River, St. James, the Leper Asylum and the Belmont Orphanage. The East Indian presence would increase the religious and cultural complexity of the Island of Trinidad and was the single greatest challenge to the Church in the field of evangelization.

It is to be noted that the Anglicizing forces set in motion by the English Colonial Government in the 1830’s accelerated in 1850’s won out at the end of the century. In order not to remain an anomaly in the society the Catholic Church had to make a major cultural adjustment. She resolved this by transferring the Administration of the Catholic Church from the French Dominicans into the hands of the Irish Dominicans, who spoke English. I am grateful for the help I received from the Archives of Santa Sabina in Rome, the Public Record Office in London, Academia Nacionál De La Historia, Caracas, and the various local depositories in the Island, both ecclesiactical and non-ecclesiastical. This book, as the previous ones, should be useful to Secondary and Tertiary Educational Institutions and in particular to those interested in the ecclesiastical history of Trinidad and Tobago.

Rev. John T. Harricharan M.A.

QUOTES

I. ‘The Emerald Isle of the Carribbean’

II. Cocoa woods with scarlet glory, of the stately Immortelle, Waterfalls and fertile valleys, precipices, fairy dells, rill and rivers, Green Savannahs, fruits and flowers and odors rich. Waving sugarcane plantations and the wondrous lake of pitch.

III. Ye gods annihilate space and bring me to Trinidad.

IV. Where every creed and race find an equal space.

V. The’s estuary isle where the Ganges meet the Nile.

VI. Glory to You, O Trinity.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN TRINIDAD 1864-1900 PART III

Dedicated to my niece Susan who has always been an

inspiration and … in her person and life-style.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This Third Volume of the History of the Catholic Church covers the period in Trinidad from 1864-1900. Naturally, the period under study has been influenced, not only by the preceding historical forces operating in Trinidad from 1498 to 1863, but also by the other contemporary religious and secular forces. I have examined the previous historical and contemporary social forces insofar as they had a bearing on the Roman Catholic Church during the period of the latter half of the 19th century.

Since the landing of Columbus in Trinidad in 1498, the Island remained under Spanish Colonial rule until 1797 when the British conquered the Spanish forces and occupied it. During Spanish rule, there was only one major religion in Trinidad i.e. Christianity and only one Church i.e. the Roman Catholic Church.

About the relationship between Church and State in Spain’s overseas Empire, C. Haring observed that he Church was the right arm of Spanish colonialism in the New World. It is sufficient to point out the Pope, under the ‘Patronage’, in 1508, granted the King of Spain the right to appoint Bishops and priests for the New World. Some of the ecclesiastical dignitaries were even appointed as Viceroys. The Church collected taxes and preached the gospel of obedience to the State. Above all, the missionaries brought the indigenous people into the same religious and cultural fold as their rulers. Thus, Church and State worked in harmony with each other to further Spain’s colonial interest in Latin America. As a result the Church became an essential part of the identity of this region.

However, this monolithic societal frame based upon a single Church, a single language and a single State was slightly modified in 1783 when French immigrants from other West Indian Islands were allowed to bring their slaves and to settle down in the then sparsely populated Trinidad. Before this could bring about any discord between the Spanish rulers and the French settlers, the British arrived on the scene in 1797, bringing the English language and the Anglican Church, thus adding new dimensions of diversity with potentialities for conflict and tensions in the Island.

The period 1797-1863 may be seen as a transitional phase linking the preceding Spanish rule with the process of consolidation of State and society. The British rulers, having already declared their Independence from Rome in 1547 under Henry VIII and having established their own Church with the British Monarch as its Head, could not reconcile to the situation operating in Trinidad. Here the Roman Catholic Church was under direct control of the Pope. However, during the transitional phase, they exhibited tolerance and occasional co-operation towards the Catholic Church as evidenced in the rule of Governor Woodford, 1813-1828, who resumed Vice Patron. But it appears that the British rulers wanted the Catholic Church to be free of Spanish influence so that they might not face problems in the consolidation of their power in Trinidad. Because of this they ensured that English Bishops were appointed as leaders. Between 1797 and 1863 the British Colonial Government acted cautiously. On their request, Rome decided to establish the seat of the West Indian Vicariate in Trinidad in 1820. The British Colonial Government succeeded in getting English-speaking Bishops appointed to Vicariate. To remove the influence of the State from the Catholic Church, Pope Pius IX created an Archbishopric for Trinidad in 1850 with the Archbishop in direct correspondence with him during series of world wide Episcopal refersns, exalting the powers of the Papacy.

The transitional phase is further marked by the fact that the British brought with them the Anglican Church to Trinidad and by the Ecclesiastical Ordinance of 1844 declared it an established Church. Thus, British Colonial government adopted a two-pronged policy for the consolidation of their colonial rule—Anglicization of the society and establishment of their own Anglican Church as the State Church.

The second half of the 19th century unfolds with this backdrop. The processes initiated in the transitional phase came to fruition in this period. The significance of this period lies in the resultant reformation of the Catholic Church and the establishment of a new pattern of relationship between Church and State. The contemporary history of the Catholic Church and its relationship with the State bears ample testimony of influences of the developments of this period when the foundation was laid.

For analyzing the developments in the Roman Catholic Church between 1864 and 1900, I have presented the social setting of Trinidad in the second chapter. It highlights waves of immigrants—French and British planters, Negro slaves, Chinese and East Indian indentured labourers coming to Trinidad and creating a social stratification dominated by the white planters. The coloureds acquired the second rung, while the Negroes and East Indians were relegated to the base of the social ladder. It is interesting to note that, although the British wielded political power and invited British capital to invest in the sugar plantations in Trinidad, they received competition from the French Creole planters who experienced economic prosperity in the expansion of the cocoa estates. This prosperity experienced from roughly 1860-1920, contributed significantly to the expansion of the Catholic Church. This period witnessed not only the introduction of other Christian Churches, which created denominational society and rivalry, but also Hinduism and Islam, which enriched immensely the religious landscape of the Island. This complex situation made Trinidad a unique religious laboratory.

Freed from internal and external conflicts, which beset it in the 1850’s and early 1860’s, the Catholic Church concentrated on strengthening itself in the society. To achieve this, the Church invited Religious Orders from Europe to serve the various needs of the population. The French Domincan Order which experienced a revival in France was finally entrusted with the administration of the Archdiocese, after several proposals for other Religious Orders were put forward. To head the Church at the time, was the capable Dominican Louis Gonin, fitted both by nature and by training as a lawyer to conciliate the large French elements and to harness and accumulate the resources of the Archdiocese. At this moment of history, Gonin drew from the French ‘provinces’ of Lyons and Paris to recruit priests for the expansion of the Church in the Archdiocese. The introduction and activities of the French Dominicans are found in Chapter Five of this study.

With the State leaning toward the Anglican Church and pursuing the policy of Anglicization, the Catholic church had to strengthen itself and did so by inviting the French Holy Ghost Congregation to open a College in the Island to educate mainly the sons of the wealthy Catholic French Creole families. The chief aim of the British Colonial Government was the total elimination of Spanish and French Culture and the substitution of British culture. Chapter seven gives details of the introduction of the Congregation of the French Holy Ghost and the pioneering difficulties it experienced within this struggle of Church and State. Governor Gordon has made several historic decisions for the Island of Trinidad in his short stay as a Colonial Administrator. One of these decisions which had direct bearing on the future of Trinidad, was the exchange of Crown Lands for the return of free passage for the time-expired indentured East Indians. This marked the beginning of the growth of Indian Villages. He also requested the French Dominican Sisters to tend to the lepers at the Government Asylum at Cocorite. His decision led them to engage in charitable activities and later educational ones. The Sisters of St. Joseph had already preceded them in the latter and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny continued involvement in education is found in Chapter Three. The decision of Governor Gordon bore fruit from the presence of the Dominican Sisters. This is found in Chapter Four, which outlined their activities in the Island and their contribution to the church and society.

At times, events occur suddenly in history as a bolt from the blue. Such were circumstances surrounding the coming of the Venezuelan Dominican nuns to Trinidad. Unlike the previous two Religious Orders, this branch was contemplative and cloistered. Venezuela, given to revolutions and military uprisings, was ruled at this time by the dictator, Guzman Blanco, who expelled both Archbishop and nuns. These sought refuge in Trinidad, the nearest Island. The present and the ensuing development of the ‘Rosary’ nuns in the Island is found in Chapter Six. With the distablishment of the Anglican Church in 1870 and the handing down of the Principles of Equality and Concurrent Endowment by the Imperial Government. The Catholic Church was now free to pursue its goals in the Society. It began its programme of building expansion to give a strong Catholic presence, in various parts of the Island.

The cocoa prosperity experienced by the French Creole sector helped considerably in the expansion of Catholic activities during this period. This was accompanied by the construction of primary schools, across the length and width of the Island. This is well documented in M. Feheney’s book on Education by the Catholic Church in the 19th century in Trinidad, however this document is not included in this study. As the Church got ready to hand over the administration to the Irish Domicans, it was now strengthened, renewed and even more unified than in the middle of the 19th century, when it was elevated to the status of an Archdocese