The Persuasive Eloquence Of St. Francis Xavier,

THE JESUITS AND THE EDUCATED CLASSES AMONG THE HINDUS.

A correspondent from India writes us an account of the work done by the Jesuit Fathers in behalf of the educated classes among the Hindus. The Rev. F. Bartoli, S.J., professor at the College of St. Aloysius in Mangalore, recently gave a series of lectures on the evidences of natural religion.

The syllabus before us is quite elaborate, and contains among other special topics the following: The Primitive Religion of Mankind—God a Personal Being—Origin of the Universe —The Nature of Man—Man's Final Destiny—Divine Providence. The philosophical manner in which these subjects are treated gives evidence of the high intellectual capacity of the people to whom they are addressed.

To the ordinary inquirer it may appear singular that the almost uninterrupted missionary labors of about three hundred years should not have produced any better results than are shown by the religious census of the country. Of 277,290,736 inhabitants only 1,925,992 are Catholics; that is to say a proportion of one to one hundred and forty-five. This compares rather unfavorably with the wondrous strides made by the Church in the early days of Christian Europe and America.

But there is a reason for this difference which may be found in the local conditions of India. Here the vagaries of Mahometanism have enthralled the imaginative minds of the people; untrammeled speculative philosophy, pantheism, such doctrines as the transmigration of souls have completely charmed and, in a manner, benumbed the Hindu mind, so that it is difficult to gain access for the light of the Gospel.

Father Bartoli has met this difficulty in a practical way. After having studied the favorite theories of the Hindus he has invited the better educated amongst them to hear the other side. This has given him an opportunity of setting before them the contradictions and fallacies of their pagan philosophy, and of placing before them in the proper light the teachings of right reason under the guidance of revelation. These lectures cannot fail to advance the gradual awakening to religious enthusiasm in India, and to give it a right direction. 

It is to be hoped that the example of the learned Jesuit may find able followers, whose intelligent efforts may happily recall the times when the persuasive eloquence of St. Francis Xavier, of the Blessed Aquaviva and of the saintly Robert De Nobili led numerous souls into the one fold of the True Shepherd.

At present there are 2,395 priests, of whom 1,599 are natives, administering to the spiritual needs of Catholics in India and Ceylon. One-third of this number, however, are working in the Archdiocese of Goa, where there is one priest to about 400 Catholics. The ecclesiastical seminaries number 32 with 926 students. The religious communities, especially of women, are rapidly growing, and with them the number of schools. The outlook is especially cheering in Ceylon, where the proportion of Catholics to the general population is one to seventeen (in India it is one to one hundred and forty-five). The Catholic schools in Ceylon are attended by 28,000 children. In the Archdiocese of Colombo the proportion of Catholics is still greater, that is, one to six, with a corresponding strength in Catholic activity.
Link (here) to read the original at The American Ecclesiastical Review