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| St.Peter's church (1829)Royapuram, Chennai indiatimes.com |
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| St.Peter's church (1829)Royapuram, Chennai thepicta.co |
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| Ft. St. George. Madras (Chennai) old painting.britishempire.co.uk |
Unwanted disputes over places of religious worship for serious or petty reasons are bad and such things do happen in all religions, irrespective of countries and regions. Such disputing people over gods' houses do not care either about the sanctity of the place or their own virtues of perseverance to settle the disputes peacefully; instead of approaching the court of law to resolve the issue may cause anxiety.
The historical St. Peter's of Royapuram built by the Indian Christian boatmen community in the 19th century was in a predicament. The reason was the Arch diocese of Mylapore in the religious administration of the church caused resentment among the community. Mired in controversy, the legal dispute dragged on in the court of law for a pretty long time the church built by the boatmen community was closed for more than a decade in the 1930s. with no solution in sight, there were no masses, no daily prayers, etc. presumed to be a prolonged religious dispute before the court in the colonial history of India, the poor Christians in that area were heart-broken
St.Peter's Church that began as a Chapel in 1780 at Royapuram, Chennai, is a famous one and the name Royapuram is derived from the Tamil word Royappar. Built primarily by the hard working Hindu community called Gurukula Vamsha Varnakula Mudaliars,it became popular in the later years. By profession, they were boatmen migrated from a place called Durgapatinam near Pulikat on the Coromandel coast, Tamil Nadu, helping the British mercantile traders there.
In 1710, the boatmen community settled near Fort St. George (founded in 1644) operated by the East india Company to help naval and cargo ships reach the dock and bring in the cargo. In appreciation of their industrious work EIC got a piece of land at Chennapatnam. Over a period of time, they not only did they become prosperous but also Christian coverts. They built a chapel for their religious obligations. The land comprising 720 acres was allotted in 1799 to them by the Marine board secretary for their residential needs as they made the boatmen move out the Chepauk area.
With funds raised by them and support from the Marine Board, the boatmen built a church in i1829 Gothic style called St. Peter's. It was consecrated in the same year by Bishop of Mylapore Dom Manuel de Ave Maria Upon consecration, its keys to the church were delivered to the headmen of the community. Rev.Fr. Anthonis Martin de Silva was appointed as the Vicar.
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| Royapuram, Chennai (madras) Maps-india.com |
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| old map Ft.St.George, black/white towns, Madras - pWordPress.com |
Controversy arose over the decision to appoint a man from Irish mission as Vicar in the place of Rev. Fr. Antonius Martin de Silva and it split the Mudaliar groups. Arch diocese of Mylapore was controlling the religious administration of the church.
Unfortunately, there was consensus among the members following the norms of the Christian tradition; no unity among the Gurukula Vamsha Varnakula Mudaliars and Arch diocese. One group wanted to support the Irish Mission and the other preferred Goan mission. The control of church's money went to the government as there was some dispute over the collection of money on a regular basis from boat owners and boat operators to main the church. The simmering differences continued from 1860s till early 1900s with court cases, appeals, etc. During 1848, the fighting became so bad that the Goan mission supporters built St. Antony's church just right across the St. Peter's Church with proper compound walls.
A place of worship and veneration became a serious unsolved dispute with no compromise between the two disputing groups. This unsolved issue ended in the closure of this church for 14 long years from 1935-49. St. Peters Church was originally under the dominions of the Cathedral and later changed hands to Petite Seminary School Fathers up to 1860.
At last both parties again approached the court for an acceptable legal remedy. It was ruled by the High Court that the income from the shops and schools around the Church were given to the Archbishop for the management of church schools and orphanage, etc.. Then there was a higher appeal in the Supreme Court at Delhi, which affirmed the ruling of the Madras High Court.
It was a tradition in the church to have only French priests, but in modern times, Tamil Christians, trained in Christian Theology, are allowed to conduct payer and masses. The Church is being administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore. (Reposted old post December 16, 2017))
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Church,_Royapuram
http://www.imetechs.com/stpeters/royapuram_tam.pdf
It was a tradition in the church to have only French priests, but in modern times, Tamil Christians, trained in Christian Theology, are allowed to conduct payer and masses. The Church is being administered by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore. (Reposted old post December 16, 2017))
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Church,_Royapuram
http://www.imetechs.com/stpeters/royapuram_tam.pdf