Who are MangaloreanCatholics

Mangalorean Catholics are Roman Catholics from Mangalore and now spread all over the globe. They are Konkani people and speak the Konkani language. Portuguese shipping arrived in Mangalore in 1526, and Catholic missionary activities began around 1534, when Canara was placed under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Bishop of Goa.

Most of the ancestors of Mangalorean Catholics were Goan Catholics, who had migrated to South Canara from Goa, a state north of Canara, between 1560 and 1763 during the Goa Inquisition and the Portuguese-Maratha wars. Gradually they learned the languages of South Canara but retained Konkani as their mother tongue.

In time, they referred to themselves as Mangalorean Catholics to distinguish themselves from their ancestors from Goa. The most disconsolate memory in the community's history was a 15-year captivity imposed by Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of Mysore, from 24 February 1784 to 4 May 1799 at Seringapatam. After the defeat of Tipu Sultan, the community resettled in South Canara, and gradually prospered under the British.

The culture of Mangalorean Catholics is a blend of Mangalorean and Goan cultures. After migration, they adopted the local Mangalorean culture but retained many of their Goan customs and traditions. The Mangalorean Catholic diaspora is scattered across the globe, with emigrant communities in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and the Anglosphere.

The main vertue of the ancestors of Mangalorean Catholics are they are strong supporters of their Konkani language, their Konkani Culture and their Roman Catholic Christian religion. They fought for their Konkani Language and their Konkani culture during the inquisition imposed upon them in Goa. This made them to leave every thing, migrate to Canara and start their life again.

They also fought for their Roman Catholic Christian religion during the rule of Tippu Sultan. Tippu took 80,000 of them (95% of the population) into captivity on 24-Feb 1784. Thousands of people were martyred during this time for the sake of religion. Few of them got converted to Islam to save themseves from the tortures. Only 15,000 of them returned when Tippu died in a battle in 1789 and the captivity ended. 

They are prime contributors and supporters for Konkani Literature. They love to read literature in their own mother tongue Konkani. They use Kannada script for Konkani. They have ventured in all fields of Literature. There are handful of literary giants in their community who have published more than 50 novels individually. 

Prominent among them are V J P Saldanha popularly known as Khodap. Mr. VJP is a historical novelist. He has written a series of Historical Novels on the history of Mangalorean Catholics migrating from Goa to Mangalore. Every volume runs into thousand of pages. The individual volumes of this novel are 1. Saiba Bhogos, 2.Purvoz Pradeshant 3. Vanjelache Vater 4. Ya tori Mangalapuri 5. Jivo Va Mello. His volumes of novels on the Tippus Captivity of Mangalorean Catholics are 1. Devache Kurpen 2. Sardarachi Sinol 3. Belthangadicho Balthazar (Note: List incomplete). 

Another important novelist is Jochim Santan Alvaris who started the revelution on Konkani Novels in Kannada script through his first Novel "Anjel" in the year 1950. He is also know for his detective novels in which he builds up a character called John Lobo who later on trains inspctor delima. There are more than 60 Konkani novels to his credit. Jerry Kulshekar is another Novelist who has written more than 50 novels. He is known for writing on village life of the people of Ghat section. Other popular novelists are A. T. Lobo, Gabbu Urva, Victor Ridrigues, Edwin J. F. DSouza and others. The list of Mangalorean Konkani novelist may also cross 100 numbers. Popular Konkani Poet is Cha Fra Decosta.

There are very popular Konkani Weeklies published in Kannada script of Konkani. These weeklies have vast number of readers. Some popular weeklies published today are Raknno Konkani Weekly, Kutam Konkani Weekly, Mithr Konkani Weekly, Divo Konkani Weekly and Dirvem Konkani Weekly. There are few fortnightlies too. There are about 20 periodical published as on Monthly basis. Bimonthlies, Quaterlies, Half yearly reserch magazines too exist in Kannada script of Konkani published by Mangaloean Catholics. There are about 100 regional periodicals published at parish level by Mangalorean Catholics. All of them are in Kannada script of Konkani. They periodicals are found in news stalls of Dakshina Kannada, Udipi, Karwar, Chickmagalur, Shimogga and Kasargod Districts. They are also found in the news stalls of Major cities like Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi etc. They are also awailable in in the news stalls of Gulf and other countries.

They are great Organisers. They have formed associations all over the globe. Every one of them celebrate their Konkani Cultural feast called Monti Fest that makes them united.

The have significant contribution towards liteature(Konkani Language), religion, education, health, social service, theatre and music. There are more than 25 bishops placed in India and abroad from this community. There are very large number of priests and nuns from Mangalorean Catholics.