#memory
#history
Bishop Benziger.
17 August is the death anniversary of Bishop Aloysius Maria Benziger (1864-1942),
who left an indelible mark in the history of Travancore.
He served as the co-adjudator Bishop of Quilon from 1900 to 1905 and as the Bishop of Quilon from 1905 to 1931.
Benziger was born a Swiss citizen in Belgium in a very rich and aristocratic family. His father sent him for higher studies abroad with the intention that he would look after the family business. However Benziger was determined to become a priest and a missionary and much against the wishes of his father, joined the Carmelite congregation in Switzerland in 1888.
His wish to serve as a missionary in India was accepted and he arrived in Kerala after a month’s travel. He was appointed the Professor of Theology at the Puthenpally seminary.
Later he was appointed as the co-adjudator Bishop of Quilon.
His tenure as a Bishop saw the all-round development of education and health among the poor in the northern parts of Travancore.
An early notable contribution was the founding of the St Joseph’s School in Trivandrum in 1905.
Modern nursing care was unknown in Travancore. At the behest of the king of Travancore, he invited the congregation of the Holy Cross from Switzerland to serve in India. The ten missionary sisters were the pioneers of modern nursing in Travancore beginning with the Govt hospitals Thiruvananthapuram and Quilon. Later they established the Holy Cross Hospital and College of Nursing at Kottiyam, Kollam.
Bishop Benziger will also be remembered as the one who paved the way for the establishment of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church. When the Syrian Catholic Bishops were reluctant to admit Mar Ivanios and his followers into the catholic fold, the Pope allowed them to profess the faith before Bishop Benziger.
Bishop Benziger retired in 1931 and lived a life of prayer at the Carmelite monastery Thiruvananthapuram till his end in 1942.
The Benziger Hospital in Kollam is a fitting tribute to this great man.
– Joy Kallivayalil.
p.s.
It’s a matter of personal pride that the late Dr Sr Paulina Kochikunnel, aunt of my wife Sasikala Joseph , was one of the first Indians to join the congregation of the Holy Cross after obtaining her MBBS from the Vellore Medical College.
