CANOVA, ALEXIS. - French Jesuit and missionary, b. at Sellières (Jura), 1 Sept. 1805, d. at Trichinopoly (India), 2 Dec. 1888.
Received into the Society in 1824, he left for the Madura mission in 1839, where he spent 49 years. Superior of the mission from 1844, he was appointed in 1847, through the intervention of Fr. Giuseppe Bertrand (q.v.), first Vicar Apostolic of Madura; he was the first Jesuit to receive episcopal dignity after the restoration of the Order in 1814; he nevertheless retained the office of regular superior until 1875. When Leo XIII introduced the ordinary hierarchy into India, he became the first Bishop of Trichinopoly (1886). From 1859 to 1861, after the resignation of Msgr. Anastasius Hartmann, he served as Apostolic Administrator of Bombay.
Msgr. Canova’s episcopate was much troubled by the struggles of the Goan schism and by the initial difficulties arising from the Concordat of 1857 and the dual jurisdiction. He displayed great fortitude and notable organizational ability, combating Protestant propaganda, promoting schools, colleges and seminaries, and fostering the formation of the indigenous clergy.