Clemens Joseph Colaco Leitao
Clemens Joseph Colaco Leitao (born December 17, 1704 in Cernache do Bonjardim , Portugal; † January 31, 1771 in Quilon (now Kollam ), Kerala , India ) was a Catholic priest , Jesuit and bishop of the diocese of Cochin in southern India.
Live and act
Clemens Joseph Colaco Leitao was born in the central Portuguese village of Cernache do Bonjardim, which, as the birthplace of the saint and national hero Nuno Álvares Pereira, was already a place of pilgrimage back then. Leitao joined the Jesuit order and was sent to the India Mission.
On March 8, 1745 he was appointed bishop of Cochin , which bishopric at that time the entire south-west of India was under. In 1663 the Dutch drove the Portuguese colonial rulers out of Cochin and established a rule there themselves under the leadership of the Dutch East India Company . The Dutch did not tolerate any Portuguese or Portuguese-dependent bishops on their territory, which is why Bishop Leitao resided in Anjengo, in the south of his diocese, between Quilon and Trivandrum . He later moved his residence to Quilon (Kollam) St. Peter. In both places he was on the territory of the Kingdom of Travancore (now Kerala ) and the Raja tolerated his stay.
Clemens Joseph Colaco Leitao was a zealous and conscientious shepherd who particularly endeavored to venerate the local martyr Devasahayam Pillai (1712–1752). He was executed on January 14, 1752 because of his conversion from Hinduism to Catholicism after long imprisonment, combined with physical and psychological torture. On the occasion of his martyrdom, Bishop Leitao issued a pastoral letter to his diocesans and ordered the chanting of a solemn Te Deum for a specific day. He also wrote a detailed report on the case, dated November 15, 1756, and sent it to Rome, to Pope Benedict XIV. Leitao's report has been preserved in the original and was the main source for the 2012 beatification of the Indian martyr.
Bishop Leitao spoke and wrote the national language Malayalam with great perfection, u. a. he himself corresponded with the Raja of Travancore. He died in his last residence, Quilon, and was buried there in St. Peter's Church, Moothakara. His grave is preserved to the present day and is cared for.
Bishop Clemens Joseph Colaco Leitao has also received a courageous letter of defense in favor of his brother Gabriel Malagrida (1689–1761), who was accused of heresy , in which he sharply attacked the politically motivated inquisition proceedings against him and denounced formal procedural errors. Father Malagrida, a lawyer for the Brazilian Indians, was the victim of a politico-religious intrigue by the Royal Prime Minister Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello (known as Marquis de Pombal) because he stood in the way of his colonial interests. He was strangled as a heretic after a show trial and then cremated.
Bishop Leitao himself came into the political line of fire for his letter. In India, however, he could hardly be reached by the Portuguese authorities and he also died in 1771. The Lisbon censorship court issued an edict on April 28, 1774 against his writing, in which it finally states:
“ ... that considering all these important points, the objections of a bishop infected by the maxims of the Jesuits are bold and reprehensible. Therefore the letter of the same is to be torn up and burned in public by the hangman's hand on the Commercienplatz. Those who have this letter are supposed to deliver it within 30 days within my European states to the censorship court and outside Europe to their governor etc., under the punishment threatened by the law against those who offend the majesty and those who disturb the peace. "
On the defense letter from Bishop Leitao and the reactions triggered by it, a complete book appeared anonymously in 1774 in Portuguese, which was later published several times. It is entitled: Resposta e reflexões á carta que D. Clemente José Collaço Leitão, bispo de Cochim
literature
- A. Duarte de Almeida: Enciclopédia histórica de Portugal , Volume 7, 1938, page 266; Excerpt from the source
- Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo: India Orientalis Christiana , 1794, p. 124; Short biography as a scan
- EP Antony: The Latin Catholics of Kerala , Pellissery Publications, Kottayam, 1993, p. 374
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ On the settlement in Quilon St. Peter
- ↑ The report of Bishop Leitaos on the martyrdom of Devasahayam Pillai ( Memento of the original of November 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Source on the stay of Bishop Leitao in the south of his diocese and on the place of death
- ↑ To the bishop's grave in Alt-St. Peter Quilon-Moothakara ( Memento from March 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ On the defense for Father Gabriel Malagrida
- ^ To Father Gabriel Malagrida
- ↑ On the royal edict against Bishop Leitao
- ↑ Complete scan of the book Resposta e reflexões á carta que D. Clemente José Collaço Leitão, bispo de Cochim
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Leitao, Clemens Joseph Colaco |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Clemente José Colaço Leitão |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Portuguese Jesuit, diocesan bishop in India |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 17, 1704 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cernache do Bonjardim , Portugal |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 31, 1771 |
| Place of death | Kollam , Kerala , India |