Giacomo Fenicio

Rev. Fr. Giacomo Fenicio (1558 - 1632), also known as Arthunkal Veluthachan, Jacomo Fenicio or Jacob Fenicio was an Italian Jesuit priest, scholar, theologian, and missionary in India.

He lived in South India as a priest and missionary from 1584 to 1632. ^[1] He was one of the first Europeans who researched and authored scholastic literature about Hinduism. ^[2] He was popular known among Christians of Kerala and known as Arthunkal Veluthachan or fair skinned father of Arthunkal. ^{[3] [4]}

Fenicio had significant interest in and knowledge of Hindu culture, ^[5] and he studied the South Indian martial art of Kalaripayattu. ^[6] Manu S. Pillai writes that Fenicio represented Portuguese colonial interests at the Hindu court in Calicut, where he converted the nephew of the rajah as part of an espionage plot. ^[5]

Personal life

St. Andrew's Basilica, Arthunkal, Kerala

Fenicio was born in Capua, Italy in 1558. He arrived in India in 1582 and spent the next 48 years in South India. ^[7] He became the second vicar of St. Andrew's Basilica, Arthunkal in Kerala after the death of the first vicar, Fr. Gasper Pius, who built the church. Fenicio was well-known for his tolerance towards other religions. One of the great things is the establishment of the confraternity-visionary community in the church in 1585.^{[ citation needed ]} Fenicio died in Cochin in 1632. ^[8]

See also

• St. Andrew's Basilica, Arthunkal

References

1. Pariyaram Mathew Chacko (17 February 2005). Tribal Communities and Social Change. SAGE Publications. p. 164. ISBN   978-0-7619-3330-4.
2. Journal of the Oriental Institute. Vol. 52. Vadodara, India: Oriental Institute. 2002. p. 56.
3. "Forgotten tale of religious harmony". Deccan Chronicle . 6 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
4. "Church Portals Open for Ayyappa Devotees". Outlook . 13 January 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2018.^{[ dead link ]}
5. From Manu S Pillai's new book: How the Portuguese responded to the complexities of Hinduism. 16 December 2024. ISBN   9780241456941.
6. PTI (9 December 2018). "When a Hindu deity's Muslim-Christian 'friendships' set a pilgrim tradition in Kerala". The New Indian Express . Retrieved 7 January 2021.
7. Stephen Neill (29 January 2004). A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707. Cambridge University Press. pp. 247–. ISBN   978-0-521-54885-4.
8. Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (1978). Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. p. 526.