Anastasius Hartmann

In September 1845, Pope Gregory XVI established the Apostolic Vicariate of Patna, detached from the Hindustan-Tibet mission, and appointed Anastasius Hartmann as the first Vicar Apostolic of Patna and titular Bishop of Derbe. His episcopal ordination was celebrated on March 15, 1846, in the church of Akbar in Agra by Mgr Giuseppe Antonio Giacomo Borghi. Upon his arrival in Patna, Mgr Hartmann faced a situation of great desolation: the immense vicariate had only four priests for a population of 20 to 30 million inhabitants, and only 2,700 Catholics. He immediately dedicated himself to the reorganization of the mission and the construction of churches and schools. In 1849, he founded an orphanage for girls in Bankipur (Patna), entrusting its management in 1852 to the Sisters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (today the Congregation of Jesus). In August 1849, he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Vicariate of Bombay, taking effective control in March 1850, before becoming its Vicar Apostolic in 1854. In Bombay, he had to face serious tensions linked to the Padroado schism (a jurisdictional conflict with the Goan clergy). In 1853, during the crisis of St. Michael's Church in Mahim, Mgr Hartmann firmly opposed the supporters of the Padroado, locking himself in the church with his faithful for fifteen days to prevent its handover, declaring that he would prefer to die a martyr rather than surrender the building. To instruct and unite the Catholic community, he founded the newspaper Bombay Catholic Examiner in 1850 (today The Examiner, the oldest Catholic weekly in India). He also reorganized the seminary of Bombay, which was then in chaos. In 1858, he resigned from his position in Bombay and returned to Rome, where he served as an advisor for India to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and as the Roman director of the Capuchin missions. During this period, he also contributed to the establishment of the first Capuchin foundation in the United States in 1857. In January 1860, he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Patna once again. There, he continued his pastoral work, building new churches and orphanages. A scholar and polyglot, he translated the New Testament into Hindustani (published in 1864) and wrote a catechism in the same language (1853). In 1865, he obtained an exemption from the British colonial government for Catholics regarding certain provisions of the Christian Marriage Act. He died of cholera on April 24, 1866, at the St. Joseph orphanage in Kurji, near Patna.

Bishop Anastasius Hartmann died with a reputation for holiness. His mortal remains, initially buried in the old cathedral of Patna, were transferred in 1920 to the cathedral of Allahabad. The cause for beatification was initiated at the beginning of the 20th century. The diocesan informative processes were opened in 1906 in the diocese of Allahabad (India) and in 1907 in the diocese of Basel (Switzerland). The inquiry in India was closed in 1908, and the one in Switzerland in 1920. After the examination of the documents by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the decree on the validity of the diocesan processes was signed on February 15, 1991. The Positio on his heroic virtues was published the same year.

On December 21, 1998, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Anastasius Hartmann, thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable. The cause is currently awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession to pave the way for his beatification.

Bishop Anastasius Hartmann is considered one of the great pioneers and restorers of Catholic missions in North India. His spirituality, deeply marked by the Franciscan ideal of poverty and simplicity, was translated into a life entirely given to the most destitute, earning him the nickname of the "bishop without pomp." Convinced that the social and spiritual elevation of Indian Catholics required instruction, he made education and the rigorous training of the local clergy the pillars of his missionary action. His legacy endures today through the numerous educational institutions, orphanages, and the newspaper The Examiner that he founded, as well as through the active presence of the religious congregations he introduced or supported in the region.