INTRODUCTION
Together with Portuguese political-commercial expansion eastward in the sixteenth century, the Church was also expanding by sending missionaries and this consisted of two elements: the actual evangelization aimed at supporting and attracting the so-called pagan population to the Supreme Truth, and the establishment of a more pragmatic ideological ideology by finding "friendly" native groups which would make settling easier for the newly arrived.
Two years after the Portuguese arrived in India (in 1498), there was no representative Christian community. Following the military settlement came the Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominicans who then spread through Malabar, Coromandel and the Gulf of Bengal as far as Malacca.
In the mid-sixteenth century, these Western explorers were already trying to settle along the Chinese coast, roaming through Lingpo, Zhanzhou, Liampação and Shanchoan, prior to Macau and after St. Francis Xavier. It is reported that in 1556 the missionary Father Gaspar da Cruz entered China to evangelise and later more and more Portuguese and foreign priests followed suit. However, these priests were not under any European control and therefore in view of the need to structure and control this missionary work, in 1558 King Joao III succeeded in influencing Pope Paul IV to endorse the Portuguese Ecclesiastical Patronage in the East which operated as a religious department directly under the king's orders as part of the Portuguese overseas policy, even though it depended upon the Pope, in spiritual terms - and this was unquestionable. Thus exclusive right to preach anywhere and using whatever means was granted to Portugal.
Joaquim de Sousa Saraiva, Bishop of Peking.
Although the Ecclesiastic Patronage is not relevant, it should be worth mentioning that in a short period of time it originated two events: on one the hand, a certain degree of influence over the court of the Son of Heaven was possible thanks to both the pious feelings of priests and most of all due to the Jesuits' scientific knowledge, despite the ups and downs caused by interdictions and other obstacles raised; on the other hand, becoming aware of this influence, the other European powers, keen to establish commercial ties with China, tried to send their missionaries to Peking, ignoring the Ecclesiastical Patronage.
Soon, several missions were established there and conflicts broke out, the most serious and longest lasting of which was the famous Chinese Rites affair with damaging effects on the image and future peaceful settlement of Christianity. This lasted from the mid-seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century and opposed the pragmatism (used as an adaptation strategy) adopted by Portuguese Jesuits and Franciscans to Dominican orthodox practices, French Lazarists and Italian propagandists who accused the former of permissiveness and relaxation by allowing Chinese traditions to interfere in the liturgical act.
THE PEKING AND MACAU DIOCESE
The Portuguese diocese in Peking was established in 1690; however, nearly one hundred years after that it was very weak as a result of the various quarrels between the Catholic Missions as well as the sudden departure of the Jesuits. Because of this the influence on the Imperial Court through scientific means had been weakened. In addition, the Middle Kingdom enforced periodic purges against foreigners as a result of an isolationist policy. In fact the Portuguese chaired the important Mathematics Court1 but their influence decreased due to the continuing campaign run by foreign missions, stating that the Portuguese Ecclesiastical Patronage was in ruins and discredited. Since the Peking prelacy voiced the interests of Macau, the conditions in that city were not satisfactory either.
The eighteenth century represented a regression for the Portuguese side in terms of political administrative autonomy with Macau, subject to the direct interference of Chinese law while the city itself dismissed its ouvidor.2 This came as a result of the conflict of interests with Macanese traders, business divergences with Canton traders and neighbouring Mandarins3 together with the collapse of its military forces.
In the light of the prevailing conditions and as part of the overall reform of the Portuguese overseas policy undertaken by Queen Maria I, in 1783, her Secretary of State Martinho de Melo e Castro issued a series of provisions aimed at the Portuguese State of India, covering Macau, the Ecclesiastical Patronage and consequently the Peking diocese.
The general concept was basically political. The Portuguese presence on the southern coast of China needed to be reinforced through a "careful and balanced" policy toward the Celestial Kingdom and the European powers roaming the region, who were much stronger in military terms. To that end, a new governor, who had the task to gradually weaken the Senate, which in the Portuguese crown eyes acted too independently, and a new ouvidor4 were appointed. At the same time a new Bishop to Peking was appointed, D. Alexandre Gouveia.
The appointment of this Franciscan implied strict instructions on his performance as ambassador of the Portuguese interests in Peking's Imperial Court. At the same time, he should reinstate the episcopacy and the of Ecclesiastical Patronage authority in view of the foreign demands, while preserving an appeasing approach in spiritual terms. 5 On the other hand, given the small number of priests available to perform missionary work in such vast regions as those of the three Portuguese dioceses in China (Macau, Peking and Nanquim), the problems worsened whenever (except for short periods of/ tolerance) they were prevented from proceeding with catechisation. With it they faced persecution and suffering except for Macau and those priests accepted by the Peking court due to their knowledge of painting, astronomy, surgery and watch-making. 6 Therefore the new Bishop thought that replacing Jesuits with men of the same level of scientific knowledge should proceed.
In fact, the S. Vicente de Paulo Congregation replaced the Society of Jesus in the capital of the Chinese empire. Renowned not only for their preaching and help to the poor but also for their knowledge of Mathematics, this recently established congregation was eager to grow and was therefore in a better position to take over from the Jesuit priests who were often honoured with Mandarin titles by the Emperor, acknowledging their vast knowledge and preparation of highly precise calendars. Actually, at one point in time, the Portuguese Lazarists were seen as the hope to maintain the Portuguese influence in Peking through the Ecclesiastical Patronage, at the turn of the eighteenth century.
While political arguments were decreasing progressively, unlike the other powers who used those arguments in order to gradually isolate the Portuguese, D. Alexandre was faced with successive missionary quarrels which added to the weakening of the Portuguese influence over the Son of Heaven.
In the light of the conditions stated above, in 1803 D. Alexandre sent an emissary to Portugal to bring a priest of the Mission Congregation who would help him in the ever difficult tasks of the Peking diocese, as well as helping to organise the newly established Korean Mission.7 A young priest, thirty-nine year old Joaquim de Sousa Saraiva, was chosen. This priest was most carefully chosen and highly respected in view of his excellent past record of good work. Therefore he was honoured with the Tipassa title as well as the post in Peking, which would assure him to succeed D. Alexandre. 8
THE IMPEACHMENT OF THE NEW PEKING BISHOP
The initial prospects of a short stay in Macau before proceeding to Peking ended in an annoying final delay. In 1801 new tensions between the various Catholic Missions in the Far East were predicted. Added to this, more and more requests for more Portuguese priests or Bishops are made immediately after Alexandre Gouveia took office, 9 with those priests based in Tonqin protesting against the ascendance of the Spanish missions when a Bishop was appointed by Rome without the agreement of the Portuguese Ecclesiastical Patronage. 10
In the light of all this, sooner or later a serious confrontation was bound to erupt and indeed, this resulted in a "dreadful persecution" of all Christian missions in China. 11
According to father João Gomes, who witnessed the whole process that prevented D. Joaquim from taking office, the persecution was due to the mistrust among the various foreign missions in Peking and the breach of trust by a "propagandist", Father Adeodato, who took advantage of a Macau messenger and sent a map of the religious provinces which would be "given" to the Portuguese Ecclesiastical Patronage even though the Propagation of Faith continued to claim that they belonged to them. 12While Catholic priests were accepted, nevertheless, all letters sent abroad were scrutinised and the circulation of maps was strictly prohibited. In fact, the Imperial Court always assumed that behind the missionary work there were political interests and this explains why the missionary work was so restricted. 13
While returning, this Macau messenger was stopped and as Father Deodato refused to expose himself, which would have freed the others from guilt, this resulted in retaliations. In addition to torture, death, abjuration and seizing of ecclesiastical property, Father João Gomes' account states that book printing and distribution became illegal and the first Imperial decrees expelled Adeodato and confined the fathers' work to the churches in Peking. Chinese believers were released in May 1805. Spreading Catholic ideas in China was prevented again and the violation of this would result in very serious penalties and the structure of the "Propaganda Fide" was dismantled. Only Islam, Lamaism and Buddhism were allowed.
Naturally, the facts reported by father João Pinto Gomes gave grounds to the prohibition and a pretext to prevent D. Joaquim de Sousa Saraiva from entering Peking. However, there were other more serious reasons.
Internally, Emperor Kia-Kim (1796-1820) had difficulty in keeping a vast empire that never gave up its regional claims as opposed to the central government of the Manchu and this resulted in serious political problems in the wealthy southern provinces, in Tibet and Mongolia. Externally, its relations with the neighbouring tribute states which very often were not peaceful, worsened in the light of the threat posed by the foreign economic powers which dated from old ambitions by the Dutch Society of East Indies-V. O. C. 14 and were extended to new French, British, American and Russian interests, as they all aimed at having the edge of the sea trade and deciding on the tea and seed-pearl monopoly, not to mention the Opium War.
The palace conspiracy network, run by eunuch courtiers and several mandarins, took advantage of the aforesaid sinocentrism and Chinese xenophobia and this resulted in hostilities against the foreign intruder, who most of the time was arrogant both in terms of political ambitions and day-to-day social relations. The division between politics, economics and religion was very fragile and as seen above, the missions based in Peking were considered as bodies whose purpose was to exert political pressure and the instructions given to D. Alexandre Gouveia were a good example of this. 15
Hence, D. Joaquim stayed in Macau waiting for the right time to take office while the Bishop tried to comfort him, as can be seen in a letter dated November 1805: "You may have heard of the persecution and the inconvenience of your trip but you should not be disheartened. Let us hope that the situation in Peking returns to normal".16 The Bishop referred also to the protection by "some kinglets of the royal family" and gave assurances that as soon as the emperor returned to Peking the whole affair would be resolved.
In August of the following year, the Bishop wrote him another letter telling him "to be patient because your time will come soon, I believe. In the meantime, try to learn some Chinese words, Peking style".17 This wait was too long and lasted even after D. Alexandre's death. In Macau, D. Joaquim lived at S. José Seminary which at that time was in the hands of the Mission Congregation, and was an outstanding teacher of Philosophy and Mathematics.
D. Joaquim did not participate actively in politics and deliberately never backed the diplomatic connotations which had been assigned to his predecessor. D. Joaquim stayed in Macau, waiting patiently to take office in Peking and between 1808 and 1810 he thought his time to go had come, but failed again. These were two years of great trouble and uncertainty.
During that period, it is known that D. Joaquim was called upon several times to participate in the Macau Senate meetings which could be a political strategy to convince the Chinese authorities to let him enter China. 18However, D. Joaquim chose to act discreetly, believing that his neutrality would make the Chinese see him differently.
THE PEKING DIOCESE MANAGED FROM MACAU
In September 1808, D. Joaquim learned of D. Alexandre Gouveia's death which had occurred on the 6th of July. This fact made him the Bishop in charge of Peking. 19 Between 1808 and 1810, the web of conspiracy involving the governor of Macau, Lucas de Alvarenga, the undercover ruling of the Senate by "ouvidor" Arriaga, the meetings between the Portuguese court and Kia-Kim's representative in Guangdong on the arrest of a rebel called Kam-Pau-Sai, mistakenly convinced the Bishop and the Portuguese prince that the retaking of the Peking diocese was being discussed officially and that such retaking was to occur soon. 20
In Fact, D. Joaquim attempted to manage the diocese from outside, through his attorney Nunes Ribeiro who settled in Peking during his predecessor's office. In May 1809, Nunes Ribeiro wrote to inform him that the Peking court intended to put Europeans aside for good, claiming that missionaries could not have children and the goods that they acquired would be transferred to their own countries, which would make China suffer heavy losses. 21 This was yet another blow to the restoration of plans for the diocese jurisdiction, even when there was evidence that such plans were fading very rapidly. 22
Fearing for the loss of one of the most important dioceses of his Ecclesiastical Patronage, the prince regent of Portugal, who at the time was based in Rio de Janeiro, wrote many times to ask for news of the situation but he only got evasive answers from the Senate who would state that discussions were progressing at a good pace even though a clear answer from the Imperial representatives, confirming the refusal to accept D. Joaquim Saraiva in the Chinese capital was given to the Macau City Council in 1811. The Chinese argued that since missionary work was forbidden and settling there allowed only for scientific consultancy purposes, he was not needed there because the court no longer needed foreign Mathematicians. However, in Macau many thought that this position was the result of the influence exerted by Italian propagandist priests who had become very close to the emperor23 and thus the end of the Portuguese diocese in Peking was very close.
To worsen matters, D. Joaquim and his attorney Nunes Ribeiro had different views on how to better support those catechumen Christians who had infiltrated Korea since 1800 due to the work of D. Alexandre Gouveia. 24 It was a very serious dispute, but both had their hands tied in respect of the support that could be given. In view of the foregoing, the Bishop wrote a second letter to his superior asking for his resignation and suggesting that another Bishop enter China secretly, because he was well known and no diocese with a remote government would have effective missionary work and its missionaries would become undisciplined. 25 There is no evidence of any reply ever being given to this letter but the Bishop never resigned even though he had clearly given up his diocese.
The Peking mitre was very much like a ship without a skipper while priests in Macau suffered more and more restrictions and frustrations. They did not even take notice of the letters written in October 1817 which were received in Macau in March 1818, announcing that persecution had ended in exchange for four or five thousand taels, paid by the Church. Those letters further reported that decrees had been released by the new mandarin, Kam-Pau-Sai26 seeking European Mathematicians for the Imperial Court. Curiously enough, those decrees were taken to Arriaga. The news arrived too late because D. Joaquim, the Bishop of Peking, "died alone of apoplexy on the 18th of February, 1818 at 4.30 a. m.".27
He was buried in the main altar of the S. José Church in Macau. After his death and until 1814 other Bishops were appointed but none was confirmed. Veríssimo Monteiro Serra had already entered China, but asked the emperor for permission to go to Europe when he was appointed to succeed D. Joaquim in 1818. He was authorised to leave on one condition; that he should never return. As new conflicts with the "Propaganda Fide" erupted again, he sold some property belonging to the Peking diocese. The proceeds of the sale, 6,000 taels, were to be used in the management of the diocese which was based in Macau. 28
The Peking mitre was nearing its end, following the decline of the Portuguese Ecclesiastical Patronage, as it was unable to exert superiority over the other foreign missions in the East. Finally, on the 25th of November 1841, D. João da França de Castro e Moura went to Peking but later refused to stay there because the Papal Court confirmed him as a vicar only and not as a Bishop.29 This was the last Portuguese act in that episcopate.
NOTES
1 Ouvidor = judge holding an academic degree. In Macau this post was suspended for nearly 60 years until 1785.
2 Commercial quarrels together with the Portuguese military weakness and the new Manchu policy resulted in a renewed Chinese presence in Macau in the eighteenth century.
3 This "ouvidor" was Lázaro da Silva Ferreira who had new instructions to share power with the governor in order to control the Senate. However, the initial purposes were not successful.
4 Manuel Murias in Instrução para o bispo de Pequim, Lisbon, Ag. Gr. Colónias, 1943.
5 Several documents give evidence of the interest the Peking court had in astronomers, mathematicians, surgeons and painters. Despite the differences between the Western and Chinese calendars the court was very enthusiastic about their preparation, the way eclipses were forecast and how clocks were made. As an example it is worth mentioning the "plate" sent by mandarin Heong Shan, on the 5th of November, 1800, asking Macau to send 3 astronomers to Peking thus facilitating the departure of Caetano Pires, José Nunes Ribeiro and Veríssimo Monteiro Serra. Please see National Archives/Torre do Tombo (AN/TT), Chapas Sínicas, no. 372, or the request made by the Bishop of Peking on the 28th of April, 1785, existing at AN/TT, Arquivos das Congregações, no. 502.
6 D. Alexandre Gouveia opened the Korea Mission as a "personal commission" in 1800.
7 AN/TT, Bulas, batch 58, no. 3.
8 Request by D. Alexandre as aforementioned, in AN/TT, Arq. das Congreg., no. 502.
9 In 1801, Father Filipe do Rosário and others asked the Apostolic Nuncio to appoint a Portuguese Bishop to Tonqin. Please see AN/TT, Arq. das Congreg., no. 1139.
10 Father João Pinto Gomes in Breve Relação de huma terrível perseguição contra a Santa Religião Cathólica e seus operários sucedida no império da China na Corte de Pekim em 1805 composta por uma testemunha ocular..., Porto, 1838, pp. 9-10. The author gives an account of his view on why Catholicism was prohibited in 1805 and praises D. Alexandre Gouveia for trying to expand Christianity on the Korean peninsula as early as 1800.
11 Ditto - ibidem.
12 Ditto - ibidem.
13 V. O. C. = Verenigde Oostindinsche Compagnie.
14 Manuel Murias - work quoted.
15 Father Manuel Teixeira in Arquivos da diocese de Macau, vol. I, Macau, Miss. Padr., 1970, letter from D. Alexandre Gouveia to D. Joaquim de Sousa Saraiva, pp. 69-70.
16 Ditto - ibidem, pp. 71-72.
17 Arquivos de Macau, 3a Série, vol IV, Macau, Imp. Mac., 1965 pp. 373-381.
18 Father Manuel Teixeira in Arquivos da diocese de Macau, p.73.
19 1783 royal provisions released by Queen Maria I and signed by her minister Martinho de Melo e Castro reformed the Portuguese overseas territories as opposed to the previous reforms by Marquês de Pombal. For various reasons, they had a negative impact in Macau and were backed by the disgraced Governor Lucas José de Alvarenga who published them in Memória sobre a expedição do governo de Macau em 1809 e 1819 em socorro do Império da China, Rio de Janeiro, 1824, p. 44 and following.
20 Monsignor Manuel Teixeira in Arquivos da diocese de Macau, p. 121. The argument was just an excuse to avoid the presence of missionary agents, i. e., of a new ideology which according to the Chinese authorities was hard to control.
21 There are not too many documents on this issue but Monsignor Manuel Teixeira told us that he had seen documents which provided evidence but which have since disappeared.
22 Arquivos de Macau, vol. I, no. 5, Macau, out. 1929, pp. 283-284.
23 Monsignor Manuel Teixeira in Macau e a sua diocese: a Missão na Coreia, vo. XVI, Macau, Miss. Padr., 1979, pp. 150-153.
24 Ditto - ibidem. D. Joaquim Saraiva regretted that the clergy in China was undisciplined because the Bishop was not in Peking.
25 Ditto - Arquivos da diocese de Macau, pp. 138-139. It is an account in Diário Noticioso by Father Leite confirming the information by the unsuspected José Inácio de Andrade - Memória dos feitos macaenses contra os piratas da China e entrada violenta dos ingleses na cidade de Macau, Lisboa, 1835, p. 26. He reports the favours given to Kam-Pau-Sai after his arrest which supports those who argue that Kam-Pau-Sai was not just a pirate but rather a political deserter who finally accepted the Manchu regime.
26 Diário Noticioso of Father Joaquim José Leite was published in Arquivos da diocese de Macau, pp. 113-273, but Monsignor Teixeira says that its original has disappeared.
27 Ditto-ibidem, p. 141.
28 Ditto - Macau e a sua diocese, vol. III, pp. 692 - 693.
29 Joao Feliciano Marques Pereira - Ta-Ssi-Yang-Kuo, I Series, vol. I and II, Lisbon, J. Bastos, 1889-1890, p. 8.
* Attending a post-graduate course on Portuguese-Asiatic Studies at Macau University.
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