DE NOBILI, ROBERTO. - Jesuit, missionary, b. at Montepulciano (Siena) in September 1577; d. at Mallapur (Madras) on 16 January 1656. Having reached India in 1605, he went at once to Madura, where he carried on his characteristic apostolate for forty years.
In order to reach and convert the Brahmin caste, which shunned missionaries who were in contact with the lower castes, he decided to become a "sannyasi," that is, to embrace their life, usages and customs in everything that did not clash with Christianity. From that moment the conversions began; not many in number, but the prejudice that Christianity was a religion only of the Pariahs was dispelled. And just as De Nobili adapted himself to the castes, so he sought to raise up other missionaries (called Pandāraswami) dedicated exclusively to the lower castes, whom he had been able to approach only in secret. This method gave rise to controversies and hostility on the part of other religious, Jesuits included, who did not spare him the accusation of heresy and of fetishism (v. RITI MALABARICI); he even received a condemnation from Rome. After more exact information, however, Cardinal R. Bellarmine recognized the orthodoxy of the method and obtained from Gregory XV the apostolic constitution Romanae Sedis antistes, of 31 January 1623, which permitted De Nobili to continue in his manner of acting.
Most expert in Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu, he composed in these languages 20 works on subjects of philosophy and theology; some also in verse.
Bibliography6 worksSommervogel, II, coll. 1779-80; P. Dahmen, R. D. N., S. T., Münster in West. 1924; id., Un jésuite brahme, Louvain 1924; id., R. D. N. Premi
BIBL.: Sommervogel, II, coll. 1779-80; P. Dahmen, R. D. N., S. T., Münster in West. 1924; id., Un jésuite brahme, Louvain 1924; id., R. D. N. Première apologie 1610, Paris 1931; Pastor, XII, pp. 261-64; XIII, p. 114 ff.
Testore, Celestino. “De Nobili, roberto.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, col. 1433. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/de-nobili-roberto.
MLA
Testore, Celestino. “De Nobili, roberto.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, col. 1433. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/de-nobili-roberto.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec4_de_nobili_roberto,
author = {Testore, Celestino},
title = {De Nobili, roberto},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IV},
pages = {1433},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/de-nobili-roberto}
}
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