CONSTANTIN LIEVENS. - Jesuit, missionary, known as the “Saverio of Chota-Nagpur,” b. at Moorslede (Flanders) 17 Apr. 1856, d. at Louvain 7 Nov. 1893.
Ordained priest at Calcutta (1853), in 1885 he founded the mission of Torpa (West Bengal) among the Munda, extending it in 1888 to the Kharria and Uraon peoples with its centre at Ranchi. Gradually he enriched it not only with religious works but also with cultural and social initiatives. He brought 100,000 pagans to the faith, personally baptizing 25,000 of them. A crisis arose from this rapid growth, but it was overcome by his tenacity and efforts. He devoted himself especially to defending poor Indians from the oppression and extortion of Brahmins, landowners, and moneylenders, in order to secure better legislation on their behalf. Overwhelmed by immense labour, he returned to Belgium to recover his strength, but his illness did not spare him. Since 1927 Ranchi has been a thriving diocese. In 1929 Moorslede erected a monument to Fr Lievens.