1869–1885: The beginnings
The origin of the Chotanagpur mission dates back to
July 1869 when Fr. Stockman came to Chaibasa from Calcutta where ten years earlier in 1859 the
first two Belgian and one English Jesuit missionaries had begun the Bengal Mission. In 1875, he
moved into the Chotanagpur plateau especially at Burudi–Kochang, the very first mission station.
More missionaries came and later four mission stations (the “quadrilateral”) were established in
the area inhabited mainly by the Munda tribals (Adivasis). It was a period of hard labour of
direct evangelisation with however little success in terms of response from the people. The
situation of the tribal population at that time of history was pathetic. Many tribals lost their
ancestral land and were oppressed by both landlords and tax-collectors. It was a crisis like
situation - a time of transition. It was a time in which messianic expectations, hope for a
Liberator, were high. Some tribals took to armed struggle which was brutally suppressed and
others took to religious revival movements; while many migrated to the tea gardens in Assam. The
English colonisers did not understand the tribal culture and customs and their harmonious
community system. Outsiders, thus, exploited them limitlessly.
1885–1893: The Emergence of Fr. Constant Lievens: A Breakthrough
Fr Constant Lievens appeared on the scene in 1985. He studied the plight of the tribals and
realised the unprecedented land alienation and the helplessness of their religion to give the
right answers. He promised a two-fold liberation: freedom from without by getting their land
back, and the freedom from within by the removal of superstitious beliefs. Inspired by a deep
love for the poor and total commitment to their welfare, he found new ways of bringing the
Gospel and freedom to the tribals. It was a real spirit of creativity and love that led him to
discover the right approach to work among the Adivasis then. Fr. Lievens told the people, “I
have come here, among you, for your eternal happiness. But in this life too, I can make you
happy. Confide your difficulties to me. I shall help you as much as the law allows.”
This new method – legal help, solidarity with the afflicted, offering inner freedom – generated
deep trust among the tribals and they poured in like a flood. They got their land restored and
their fear of evil spirits, landlords and the police was removed. It was all due to Fr. Lievens
and his generous Jesuit companions. Christianity in Chotanagpur emerged as a mass movement.
Village after village got converted. People themselves came to the Jesuits before the Jesuits
could set foot in the villages. Fr. Sylvain Grosjean, the Mission Superior, backed Lievens to
the full against the external and internal detractors. Fr. Lievens is rightly called “The
Apostle of Chotanagpur” and, as the title of a recent biography written by Fr. Agapit Tirkey SJ
is aptly called, “Lievens, the Liberator of a People”. His poor health forced him to return to
Belgium in 1892, a year before his death in 1893.
1892–1914: Father Jan-Baptist Hoffmann: Giving Structure and Legal Form
After the departure of Lievens there was, for a short while, a setback from within: human fear
got the better of faith and trust in God. But soon the work for justice continued and it got
further consolidated. Some strong pillars and a firm structure were built. Fr. Hoffmann won the
confidence of the British officials and made them understand and respect the tribal way of life.
He truly incarnated the Gospel message into the tribal culture. He gave legal form to Fr
Lievens’ charismatic approach. He was the pioneer who established the Catholic Cooperative
Credit Society which helped the people to get out of the clutches of the moneylenders. He wrote
almost single-handedly the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 [CNT] by which tribal land cannot be
sold legally to non-tribals. These two pillars stand upright till today and continue to be a
tremendous boon for the tribals. The beginnings were marked by creativity, option for the poor
and concern for the spiritual need. These went hand in hand.
1914–1927: Silent Heroes and Expansion
‘Fire must burn’ had been the inspiration of Father Lievens and indeed it continued to burn.
Some great workers, builders, evangelisers, missionaries, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, Catechists
and other lay collaborators were hugely responsible for bringing about a consolidation of the
beginning and for a steady expansion. Cardon, De Grijse, Van Robays, Van der Linden, and many
others spread out into Barway, Biru, Gangpur and Udaipur, laying the foundations of future
flourishing mission territories and local churches. They instilled new confidence and
self-respect among the tribal people who found a new way and a new meaning within their
traditional, social and cultural set up. Silent heroes indeed!
1927–1944: Interiorization through Education
During this period, a massive expansion of Primary and Middle School Education, spearheaded by
the future Bishops Van Hoeck and Oscar Sevrin, brought about a deepening and interiorisation.
This turned a limited Christian group into a progressive Tribal Community. Predominantly
Belgian/Flemish Jesuit missionaries hand in hand with their Indian Jesuit tribal companions were
instrumental for the rise of a whole people to a different level. One result of this process was
a flood of priestly and religious vocations. A symbolic crowning point of this intense period
was the start of St Xavier’s University College in Ranchi in 1944, another act of trust and
courage which has borne immense fruit since then.
1944–1975: Opening up, Re-defining Boundaries
This too was a challenging time: connecting within the Christian Community the old traditional
tribal system with the evolving Indian reality and that again in the context of an emerging
globalising world. It needed a Camil Bulcke who redefined boundaries and reached out beyond the
tribal set-up. Proost, Van Troy, the future bishops Pius Kerketta and Philip Ekka and Frs.
Samuel Barla, Victor Tucker, and many other schoolmen built on the past and laid the foundation
of a solid educational network. It needed a set of fervent missionaries in the Madhya Pradesh
part of the Chotanagpur Mission, freed since 1947 of the shackles of the raj-system. It was in
1956 that this Chotanagpur Mission became independent from the Calcutta Mission and became a
Jesuit Province. The process of separation had started in 1935. In due time, new Jesuit
administrative units of Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur and Madhya Pradesh were created. Later, they also
became the Jamshedpur, Rourkela, Kunkuri, Ambikapur, Hazaribagh dioceses.
The martyrdom of Fr. Hermon Rasschaert on 24th March 1964 is considered the symbol of total
commitment. He sacrificed his life in an attempt to save the lives of a group of Muslim families
of Gerda village and became a martyr of Peace and brotherhood. The people of Kutungia, where
Father Rasschaert was their pastor at the time of his death, remembered this event this year
with a beautiful two-day long celebration. To mark the occasion, a public function was arranged
in Ranchi by the India Desk and the Sadbhavna Manch (Inter-religious Forum for Harmony). A group
of prominent personalities expressed their admiration for the Martyr of Peace, Justice and
Harmony. Fr. Louis Francken wrote a short inspiring biography: “Fr. Herman Rasschaert S.J. Man
of God, Man of Humanity.” Herman was a person of total commitment and was ever ready to take
risks in the line of the early pioneers.
1975–2000: Coming Fully into Our Own
This period in the Mission saw the emergence of a well-evolved local church and religious
leadership at all levels. Mere 100 years of toils brought to fruition a fully evolved indigenous
church. It also saw the emergence of highly educated tribals rising in different levels of the
educational and administrative field. It was also a time of a concerted effort to bring together
all tribals on the basis of their common cultural and historical background in the face of
anti-Christian forces who tried to divide the tribal community for their own purposes. It saw a
spate of secondary education and new Jesuit social ventures.
The reaction of many a visitor from abroad in this regard is symptomatic: “We didn’t know what
to expect when coming to visit the Ranchi Mission. We never dared to expect what we really saw:
solid institutions at all levels, a flourishing local church, deep faith, a vibrant community.
The word ‘tribal’ got a new meaning for us. And that too in a relatively short time! How did you
do it?” An apt answer to this may be the two following sentences:”If it is God’s work, it will
be realised (Fr. Lievens),” and “We did not fail, it was God’s work (Fr. Hoffmann).” God’s work
and human endeavour going hand in hand! From 1859 to 1969, 597 young men from Belgium/Holland
joined the Bengal Mission: an average of more than 5 young men a year! Presently there are 369
Jesuits in the Ranchi Province of which 98% are tribals. Small wonder then, that the Christian
tribals of Chotanagpur remain deeply grateful. When recently one tribal Father Walter stood in
Moorslede (Belgium), the birthplace of Father Lievens, he spontaneously said: “Here I was born.”
The rebirth of a people from oppression to a new freedom: externally and internally!
2000 till 2015: Reaching Out, Own Missions
A Mission has not reached its full maturity till it has its own missions. Besides continuing the
process of coming into its own as described above, it was during this period that tribal Jesuit
missionaries from the Chotanagpur Mission went as missionaries into other territories: to the
Assam mission in India itself. They went to take care, on the priority basis, of the neglected
Adivasis working in the tea gardens. Besides being in a similar mission in the Andamans; they
also went to help in Cambodia, Egypt and British Guyana. Missionaries from Chotanagpur teach and
help in the Common Formation houses of the Society in India and in Rome. There is much scope for
work in this new challenge. It is hoped that among the good number of new vocations with whom
the Lord has presently blessed this Mission with, there will be many who would generously
volunteer to be a missionary reaching out beyond the local confines of Chotanagpur.
2015: Now the Open Moment, the Challenges ahead
The present time of rapid changes, a time of discontinuity, brought about by the digital
technology and the impact of the media has changed the very way in which we live and learn. This
is felt in every sphere of life. It has affected our way of thinking and interaction with one
another. It has left a huge impact in our mission.
Yet, the age old problems are still with us today. The divide between the rural and urban, the
rich and the poor, remains very much the same. While agriculture remains the economic base for
the people in the villages, no steps have been taken to bring about new practices in the
agricultural sector. There is massive unemployment, both in rural and urban areas, leading to
migration of young people, boys and girls, to the cities and turning them to many joining the
Naxalite movements and unwittingly getting caught in trafficking. Land alienation with the
development-induced displacement of people is still rampant especially as the government wants
to promote large scale industrialisation of this mineral-rich region. The exploitative and
nefarious link between politicians, police forces and unscrupulous business men is rooted very
deep. History seems to repeat itself. The very low standard of education in government schools
continues and as a result against all odds the demand on us for opening good schools continues.
These challenges will seemingly remain with us for many more years to come. How we face these
challenges, poses yet a worrying question.
Over the past fifteen decades the Jesuits of the Ranchi Province have successfully discerned,
the content and method of their ministries. We have just celebrated the 200th anniversary of the
Restoration of the Society of Jesus. We need to discern our ministries which will give outer and
inner freedom to our people.