In the early 20th century, Australian government policy was aimed at keeping non-Europeans out. The so-called “White Australia” measures of the time primarily targeted Chinese and Pacific Islanders, but made it nearly impossible for Indians to go and settle in Australia. In 1928, when the International Eucharistic Conference was held in Sydney, an invitation was delivered to Bishop Alexander Chulaparambil, the 51-year-old bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kottayam.
Born in Kumarakom in 1877, Chulaparamvir served as Bishop of Kottayam from 1923 and had traveled the world by the time of the Sydney Conference. Like many other Catholics from Travancore, he studied to become a priest at the Jesuit seminary in Kandy, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) before his ordination in 1906. was doing.
In 1922, Chulaparambil attended the Eucharistic Conference in Rome, where he developed a close friendship with the Archbishop of Brisbane, Reverend Duhihi. The Catholic Weekly wrote in August 1928: “This friendship was an important factor in his decision to accept an invitation to attend the next Sydney Parliament.”
Accompanying Chulaparambil to Australia in 1928 was Father Thomas Talair, a Roman-educated priest and secretary. They boarded the British Indian Steam Navigation Company's SS Comorin from Colombo for Sydney, becoming perhaps the first Malayans to visit Australia.
This Indian pastor received considerable coverage in the local press. “The arrival of Bishop Alexander Chulaparambil from India provoked mixed reactions, with much of the secular press calling the bishop and his chaplain “dark-skinned” and “natives” and the Communist Party of Australia calling it a secular denounced the existence of such people. Sydney-based historian Samantha Frappel said in an article on a website run by the State Library of New South Wales.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on August 24, 1928: “The Bishop was a picturesque figure when he landed from the Comorin yesterday, with his purple face and black episcopal robes.” “As I have already said, he will probably be the only high-ranking official in Parliament from India, and probably the first native Indian bishop to visit Australia.” ”
When a reporter from a prominent Sydney newspaper wanted to speak to Mr. Chulaparambil and hear a rare Indian voice on the domestic political situation, the bishop declined. He told the newspaper that the situation is complicated by caste and dialect differences in the country.
At that time, there were 600,000 Catholics in the royal capital of Travancore, and the church was more or less Indianized. Chulaparambil told the newspaper that Indians are gradually filling high positions in churches across the country.
The Australian religious press was impressed with Chulaparambil. The Catholic Weekly wrote, “Bishop Chulaparambil, a native Indian, speaks excellent English and displays extensive knowledge of Australia in relation to ecclesiastical matters.”
The secular media seemed to be interested in the Malayal bishop's attire. The Melbourne Sun newspaper wrote, “The Right Reverend Alexander Chulaparambil, Bishop of Kottayam in Travancore, India, has put a speck of gay color on the gray that covers Melbourne's face today. Because he was wearing a ceremonial robe with lots of splashes of water.'' Green and red. Usually he appears wearing a red fez with purple piping and a black cassock. ”
Little is known about Chulaparambil's contributions to Parliament or his visits to Brisbane and other places to spend time with his close friend the archbishop. The Queensland Times described him as “eminent in importance”.
The Malayali bishop also wanted to visit Tasmania and New Zealand, but the author has been unable to find anything in the archives about such visits. This visit may never have happened other than by luck or God's will based on what one wants to believe.
In April 1928, as Mass began in Kottayam, lightning struck the cross on the church's altar. The Bombay Chronicle reported on April 12, 1928, “A heavy rain fell, followed by lightning and thunder, as some Roman Catholics were about to offer their prayers.” “The priest and about 30 other people were in severe shock,” the newspaper reported. He added that five people were killed.
Similar reports in the international press also mention the tragedy, but do not say which church in the city was affected by the tragedy. If it had happened in the main church of the Syro-Malabar Church, Bishop Chulaparambil and Father Tharail would have almost escaped. If Bishop Chulaparambil wrote about his stay in Australia, it would make for interesting reading.
(Ajay Kamalakaran is a multilingual writer primarily based in Mumbai)
