CANOZ, ALEXIS. - French Jesuit and missionary, b. at Sellières (Jura), 8 Sept. 1805, d. at Trichinopoly (India), 2 Dec. 1888.

Received into the Society in 1824, he set out in 1839 for the Madura mission, where he spent 49 years. Superior of the mission from 1844, he was appointed in 1847, through the intervention of Fr. Giuseppe Bertrand (v.), first vicar apostolic of Madura; he was the first Jesuit to receive the 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 in India, he became the first bishop of Trichinopoly (1886). From 1859 to 1861, after the resignation of Msgr. Anast. Hartmann, he had been apostolic administrator of Bombay.

The episcopate of Msgr. C. was much troubled by the struggles of the Goan schism and by the difficulties originating from the concordat of 1857 and from the double jurisdiction. He demonstrated great strength of mind and notable organizational gifts, fighting Protestant propaganda, promoting schools, colleges and seminaries and the formation of the indigenous clergy.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: P. Suau, Monseigneur A. C. premier évêque de Trichinopoly, Paris 1891; A. Jean, Le Maduré, l'ancienne et la nouvelle mission, Lille 1894, pp. 371-78; J. A. Otto, Gründung der neuen Jesuitenmission durch General P. J. Ph. Roothaan, Freiburg im Br. 1939, pp. 289-343.

Edmondo Lamalle

@incollection{ec3_canoz_alexis, author = {Lamalle, Edmondo}, title = {Canoz, alexis}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {615}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/canoz-alexis} }

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Canoz, Alexis

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