== First Portuguese Missions ==
Shortly after the discovery of the [[Cape of Good Hope|Cape route]] to India, [[caravel]] ships of Portuguese [[Franciscans]] and [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] set out to evangelize the no longer sealed lands of the East, and traversed their surf-beaten coasts in search of suitable centres for their operations. A legend tells how, when a caravel with some [[Franciscan]] missionaries engaged in such a search was cruising up the [[Coromandel Coast]], one day towards nightfall their attention was attracted by a light on shore and they decided to land there. They did, without knowing for some time that they had landed at the ruins of Betumah. But when they attempted to approach the light, it preceded them inland, across the ruins of the Nestorian town, over an empty stretch of ground, past (new) Mylapur and into a forest, where the light vanished. Here the Franciscans established a mission and built a church (still extant) in honour of in 1516, whence the locality, no longer a forest, but a wealthy residential quarter, is still known as The Luz—after Nossa Senhora da Luz (Portuguese for Our Lady of Light). The Dominicans followed in their wake, and in 1520 Fre. Ambrosio, O.P., was consecrated bishop for the Dominican missions at [[Cranganore]] and Mylapur.
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In the meantime Dom Gaspar had died in 1708. Owing to his advancing years, he had been given a [[coadjutor]] with the right of succession, Dom [[Francisco Laynes]], S.J., of the Madura mission, in the [[Diocese of Cochin]]. Dom Laynes was consecrated at Lisbon on 19 March 1708, as [[Bishop in partibus]] of . He came to India the same year, but did not take possession of his see until 1710. Though Bishop Laynes was Portuguese, the Portuguese Augustinians of [[Bandel]] defied his authority as their diocesan. He therefore placed Bandel under interdict on 14 July 1714; on the submission of the Augustinians the interdict was removed on 8 October 1714. Bishop Laynes died at [[Chandernagore]] in Bengal in 1715, and was succeeded by [[Manuel Sanches Golão]], who was appointed in 1717 and reached India in 1719. Dom Manuel welcomed the Italian [[Barnabites]] as invaluable co-operators in the work of preaching the Gospel in [[Burma]] (now [[Myanmar]]), though he had regularly served mission stations there. These friendly relations with the Italian Barnabites were maintained, as they recognized the authority of the diocesans. Bishop Golão was succeeded by José Pinheiro, S.J., who was consecrated in 1726. He sanctioned the arrangement whereby French [[Jesuits]] were to have spiritual charge of Chandernagore, in Bengal. During his time the Barnabite mission in Burma was created a vicariate Apostolic. Bishop Pinheiro died on 15 March 1744, and was succeeded by [[António da Incarnacao]], O.S.A., who was consecrated at Goa in 1747.
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The first bishop appointed to Saint Thomas of Mylapur on the conclusion of the new concordat was the princely Dom Henrique José Reed da Silva, who was at the time coadjutor to the Archbishop of Goa, and who took possession of his see in 1886. He was the first to sign himself for the sake of brevity, Bishop of Mylapur, a practice which his successors have adopted. Hence the diocese became better known in India as the Diocese of Mylapur. His was the arduous task of putting the broken shreds of the old historic diocese together and rendering it once again the thing of beauty it was. His first care was to reform the diocesan seminary, and in order to have an efficient body of European priests with their heart in their work, he brought out a number of young boys from Portugal and gave them a collegiate course in English, in the college to which he had raised the existing high-school, previous to their entering upon their ecclesiastical course of studies. His successors reaped the benefit of his policy. He opened a convent of European nuns at Saint Thomas, and another of Indian nuns in Mylapur, which have since thrown out branches into various parts of the diocese. He invited English-speaking priests to join his diocese (a call to which the present writer responded) and established the "Catholic Register", a weekly newspaper. His courtly manners and noble bearing made him a favourite in society. Soon the people felt it an honour to point to him as their bishop. He pulled down the old cathedral, the chapel over the grave of St. Thomas and the old Augustinian priory, that had nothing antique to commend them, and built a magnificent cathedral in the centre of which, between the nave and chancel, lies the grave of St. Thomas. Despite the good he was accomplishing, he incurred the ill-will of certain parties connected with the churches situated in other dioceses, and when he found the accusations brought against him accepted without demur in Europe, he resigned and retired to Portugal, as titular Bishop of .
He was succeeded by Dom [[António José de Sousa Barroso]], who within a few months of his arrival at Saint Thomas was promoted to the [[See of Oporto]]. Bishop Barroso was succeeded by bishop Dom [[Teotónio Manuel Ribeiro Vieira de Castro]], who was presented on 12 June 1899, and confirmed by Leo XIII ten days later. He was consecrated at Oporto on 15 August 1899, and reached Saint Thomas on 23 December. The tercentenary of the creation of the diocese occurred in January 1906, in which almost all of the archbishops and bishops of the vast tract that constituted the original Diocese of Saint Thomas of Mylapur took part in person in addition to the [[delegate Apostolic]] and other prelates, numbering fifteen bishops in all. With the single exception of the [[Archdiocese of Madras]], all of the dioceses into which the original Diocese of Saint Thomas of Mylapur is divided were served by non-British clergy, save for the Indian and few Indo-European priests, where there are any. But even in the Archdiocese of Madras, served by the British [[Missionary Society of St. Joseph]], the majority of the priests and the coadjutor bishop were from the Continent. Dacca was served by the Fathers of the Holy Cross from Notre Dame, Indiana, United States of America.
== See Also ==
# [[Historicity_of_St_Thomas]]== References =={{reflist|2}}
{{Portuguese overseas empire}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dioceses Of Saint Thomas Of Mylapore}}
[[Category:Christianity in India]]
[[Category:1606 establishments]]
[[Category:Titular Dioceses]]
