By Dr Mario VazMary Glowrey and The Vision Of A Catholic Medical College In India
The Call to serve in India
Mary Glowrey had graduated from medical school in Australia and had then gone to work for a year in New Zealand, becoming in the process, the very first woman doctor registered there! After returning to Melbourne she set up her ENT practice on Collins Street; traditionally regarded as Melbourne’s main street with fashionable Victorian houses. While Mary Glowrey had a very religious upbringing, her life was shaken by a singular event on October 24th, 1915. She had attended mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the day being celebrated as ‘Hospital Sunday’ and was witness to the sermon preached by a Jesuit, the Very Rev. WJ Lockington – the eulogies that were heaped on the medical profession only served to humble Mary Glowrey who returned to her Collins Street rooms in that frame of mind. Waiting for her in her post was a pamphlet ‘Dr. Agnes McLaren’ by Mary Ryan. Later at night she sat down to read the pamphlet – she finished it on her knees! Agnes McLaren had sounded a call –
“In the opinion of all the Bishops in India that I have seen, considerations of economy, assiduity, and continuity requires the services of nuns …. The only way to reach many women in India is to send them medical women.” [1]
Dr Glowrey was convinced that God wanted her in India.
But, with the first World War raging and her inability to translate this conviction into action immediately, Mary Glowrey had to wait. She did so, while honing her skills for a task in India, that to her was inevitable. She undertook additional training in Obstetrics and Surgery since these would presumably be the most needed skills when she finally reached the shores of India. Her spiritual advisor, Fr. Lockington, had earlier advised her to go as a lay doctor to India – but, Mary Glowrey was adamant, she would not work for any payment. When she received word that Archbishop Aelen of Madras-Mylapore diocese was looking for women doctors to work in India, she approached her spiritual advisor once again. Fr Lockington wrote to Archbishop Aelen, who replied in a telegram “Come”! [2] Mary Glowrey had written to the Holy Father, asking for permission to continue to work as a doctor while she took up her vocation as a religious nun.
With this permission granted, she set sail for India on the ship ‘Orsova’ on 21st January, 1920 and arrived in Madras twenty days later on 11th February, 1920. On arrival in Madras, she spent a single day with Archbishop Aelen, who then dispatched her to Guntur, in present day Andhra Pradesh, to join the Dutch congregation of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The haste with she left for Guntur can only us lead to surmise the urgency of the situation and the dire need for women doctors. The very same Archbishop John Aelen had already sent a young Thomas Pothacamury to the seminary in Kandy, Ceylon. He would play a vital role in the thrust to start St. John’s Medical College.
When Mary Glowrey arrived at the convent in Guntur her first visit was to the chapel where she prayed before the Sacred Heart. Inscribed above this statue were the words: Magister adest et vocat te (The Master is here and calls for you). She would later be known as Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart. Even while she continued her religious studies, her work as the first nun-doctor missionary had to continue. She started work at the small clinic in Guntur, which had been built earlier in 1904 by the first seven Dutch pioneer nuns of the order. She was soon inundated with huge numbers of patients. Work at the original clinic was difficult and the conditions, rudimentary.
The clinic consisted of a small room which was the examination room and a verandah where patients waited. The medications available to her were minimal; In Mary Glowrey’s own words there:
‘was a table with three bottles containing a few drugs, namely, Sodium Bicarbonate, Potassium Zibrate and Epsom Salts. There was a tiny cupboard made of boxes which contained a few instruments, all that the sisters possessed.’ [3]
In the seventh year of its operation, she treated 44,000 outpatients in a single year [4] . She initiated in 1924, the transition of the clinic to the St. Joseph’s Hospital, now a 250 bed facility.
The Vision of a Catholic Medical College
Opening day – 8th July, 1963: the first batch of medical students being welcomed by Archbishop Thomas Pothacamury of Bangalore at the temporary premises of St. Mary’s Orphanage.At the time that Mary Glowrey arrived in India, health care for women had begun to improve as more and more women began to become doctors. Lady Dufferin’s lead to start the Dufferin Fund that would facilitate the training of women doctors in India, was reflected in the optimism of Major-General Sir Patrick Hehir, who would write in 1923:
“There is a progressively increasing tendency for the women of India to take up medicine as a profession. The work of training women doctors grew very slowly until ten years ago, when it seemed to make a forward leap.”[5]
However, the “forward leap” was only a very small beginning, and the need for women doctors was very great. Even though the medical women of India had formally created an Association of their own in 1907-9, working conditions and terms of service for women were still very poor. Kate Platt, a former Principal of the Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital for Women in Delhi would also write in 1923, some would argue with not inconsiderable bias:
“It should be remembered that, though there are some very clever Indian doctors, only those who have who have had an appointment in a good midwifery hospital conducted on European lines are likely to be expert in midwifery. Indian women do not allow themselves to be examined or personally treated by Indian men, so the ordinary medical man does not get much practical experience in obstetric medicine.” [6]
It was clear to Mary Glowrey from the time that she arrived in India that the problem that she faced was not one which could be tackled by a single person or even a small group of committed individuals. A much greater effort was needed which would bring together people from across India to a unifying cause. In her own words:
“It was while making the Stations of the Cross in the novitiate one day in 1921, that I received the inspiration that what was really needed in India to train future medical personnel was a Catholic Medical College.” [7]
Translating the Vision into Reality
In 1943, twenty three years after her arrival in India, on the 29th July, Sr. Dr. Mary Glowrey, JMJ, in association with 16 religious sisters founded The Catholic Hospital Association. It aimed to improve the standard of health education and the promotion of Catholic values and options for the poor. At this first meeting the resolutions were –
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“To establish a catholic hospital and a collegiate course in nursing.
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To publish a pamphlet or magazine and
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To appoint a Board of Examiners in Nursing and Midwifery”. [8]
The initial focus on Nursing was understandable. The late entry of the Catholic medical missions in India meant that few of the hospitals or religious orders had sufficient trained nurses to carry out this task. In some situations, nuns, although untrained, took on the task of nursing in the public hospitals. Thus, the Order of St Joseph’s of Tarbes first supervised the nursing at The Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bangalore, although by their own admission they were not specifically trained for the task[9]:
“This does not mean that the Sisters were equipped to work in a hospital. By no means. They had not the least training or qualification in this field. They had practically no idea or experience of nursing. They did not know English or any Indian language. These were serious handicaps. Their flaming charity and a spirit of self-sacrifice alone filled them with Hope.” [10]
Less than a year later, on April 21st, 1944, in Bangalore, the Catholic Hospital Association passed a resolution –
“The Association aims at the establishment of a Catholic Medical College”.
In putting forward this resolution, the first steps towards the establishment of St. John’s were taken. But it was very clear to Sr. Mary Glowrey, that the proposed medical college could not be just another medical college or even a good medical college. She envisaged a college that would be held accountable to the highest standards of ethics. She was clear the medical college would uphold and espouse the sanctity and dignity of human life from its very conception. The stark contrast between abortion and the ‘childless mother’ was very close to her, in practical terms. In 1929 she would write:
“Patients of all kinds come, but there is one class which is coming in ever greater numbers, the childless mother. At present we have among our patients women who have lost 3,6, 8 and even 13 babies…..”Save my baby” is the cry from many an aching heart.”
Mary Glowrey did not see herself as a visionary or a person who was pivotal in the scheme of things. In 1932 she would say:
“In the course of my lifetime I have been called by many names – ‘good-for-nothing’, ‘slow coach’ and ‘dreamer’ – all names that are easily understood and perfectly applicable.” [11]
The fruition of a Vision
When Mary Glowrey arrived in Guntur to take up her mission, and shortly thereafter, when she began to envision the creation of a Catholic medical college, she found an ardent supporter in a young Bishop, Thomas Pothacamury of Guntur[12]. It is easy to imagine how a young nun’s views on so large a project could be dismissed as fanciful thinking. To Bishop Thomas Pothacamury, then, must go the credit of recognizing the worth of Mary Glowrey’s vision and sustaining it to the point where others could continue to take it forward. Archbishop Pothacamury would write in 1960:
“The late Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, M.D., of Melbourne, and a religious of the congregation of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in Guntur started the Catholic Hospital Association. At her request the then Bishop of Guntur addressed the members of the Hierarchy in 1942 and obtained their approval for the proposal. Its three main objectives were:
- To increase the quantity and quality of the medical service available to the people of India;
- To increase the strength of the nursing staffs in our hospitals
- To work to the establishment of a Catholic Medical College.”
Following the first convention of the Catholic Hospital Association in Hyderabad in 1944, Bishop Pothacamury was again nominated to obtain the support of the Hierarchy for the project[13].
In 1944, the Metropolitan Bishops of India met in Madras and set up the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI). It was to this body that Archbishop Thomas Pothacamury communicated the vision of Dr. Sr. Mary Glowrey. Archbishop Mathias[14], a Frenchman, chaired this meeting. He had come to India armed with his motto “Dare and Hope”. As a Salesian missionary to the North-East, he started his pastoral role and was appointed the Bishop of Shillong. When the Archbishop of Madras-Myalapore, another Salesian, died suddenly on tour in North Arcot in 1934, he was asked to travel south to take on this new responsibility.
When presented with Dr. Sr. Mary Glowrey’s vision of a Catholic Medical College in India, Archbishop Mathias welcomed the idea with enthusiasm, but felt that all in the Catholic Hierarchy needed to share the responsibility to see the project through. Nevertheless, he agreed to study the issue from all angles and prepare for the CBCI, a full report.
Even as the CBCI, set about coming to grips with the new initiative and all its financial and other hurdles, the eagerness and impatience with which the medical college was awaited is palpable in the writings of the time. Thus in 1947, Sr Laetitia of the Catholic Hospital Association writes:
“When is our Medical College going to come into being? Are we straining every nerve and sinew to bring it about soon?” [15]
However, the dismal status of the lack of funds for the proposed medical college continued. At the Catholic Medical College Committee meeting at Rosary Convent, Hyderabad on the morning of November 30, 1951, it was clear that no major headway was being made in the acquisition of funds for the medical college. In an attempt to remedy this situation, it was suggested:
“That His Excellency, Bishop Thomas (Pothacamury) should be appointed to go abroad to seek financial help.”[16]
To this suggestion was an additional proposal made by Mother Modesta, FMM and seconded by Dr Sr Mary Glowrey:
“that we should write to the Holy Father through the Internuncio, telling him of the urgent need of a Catholic Medical College in India, and soliciting his help.”[17]
The new college building: Robert Koch Bhavan built out of funds from MISERIOR, Germany was inaugurated in 1968On July 8th 1963, the College finally opened its doors to the first batch of medical students. The fruition of this event owes much to the work and perseverance of Valerian Cardinal Gracias. The site of the college was temporary – The St. Mary’s Orphanage and Industrial Institute at Cooke Town in Bangalore. Archbishop Thomas Pothacamury of Bangalore was present to welcome the students. The early beginnings of St. John’s were humble.
The Catholic Medical College was named the St. John’s Medical College after the patron saint of Pope John XXIII.
Mary Glowrey did not see her vision to fruition. She died at 4 a.m. on May 5th, 1957, – Good Shepherd Sunday[18], in Bangalore after a protracted struggle with cancer [19]. For one who had given so much and who had been instrumental in the idea of a Catholic Medical College, she remained a picture of humility till the end.
“I have not done enough. I could have done more.”[20]
The first batch of students to St. John’s was admitted in 1963, six years after Mary Glowrey passed away. Among the students of that batch was Sr. Lillian, also of the Congregation of JMJ, who would later return to St. John’s.
Sister Mary’s Cause for canonisation opened in 2010. Declared a Servant of God, her positio is now before the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. Her legacy lives on through the work of CHAI and the JMJ Sisters in India, and Saint John’s Medical College, Bangalore.
The newly constructed Medical College Block
Dr Mario Vaz is an alumnus of St. John’s Medical College. He is a Professor of Physiology with an interest in the history of Medicine. He is the convener of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India’s Bioethics Forum. His extensive academic publications span a range of topics including experimental human physiology, epidemiology and public health, bioethics, and the history of medicine.
References
[1] Sister M Adelaide Orem, Out of Nothing. The genesis of a great initiative. The Catholic Hospital Association of India, New Delhi, 1968. p 20
[2] ibid p 21
[3] Fr Dan Strickland, Missionaries of God’s Love (MGL), and Robyn Fahy. MAGISTER ADEST ET VOCAT TE. The Master is Here and Calls for You. Annals Australasia April-May 2010
[4] Anna Krohn. AUSTRALIA: SAINTLY SR. MARY GLOWREY- ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE REPORT. Kairos Catholic Journal Volume 22, Issue 16. http://www.cam.org.au/general/our-father-in-heaven-and-on-earth.html
[5] Sir Patrick Hehir. The Medical Profession in India. Oxford Medical Publications. London, 1923.
[6] Platt K. The Home and Health in India and the Tropical Countries. Balliere, Tindall & Cox, London, 1923.
[7] Orem, p 36
[8] Catholic Hospital Association of India website, http://chai-india.org/?page_id=45
[10] The History Of The Sisters Of St Joseph Of Tarbes In India. http://sjtbangalore.org/SJT_Indian_History.pdf accessed on 21st August, 2012
[11] The Horizon, 1 January 1932
[12] For more details on Bishop Thomas Pothacamury: http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpath.html
[13] The Most Rev Dr Thomas Pothacamury. A Review of the Past History of the Proposed Catholic Medical College. In: The Catholics of India Meet the Challenge. St. John’s Medical College and Hospital. Bangalore-Mysore State. Submitted by: The Planning Commission appointed by His Eminence Valerian Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and President of CBCI. 1960. This early history clearly indicates the collective role of Dr Sr Mary Glowrey, the Catholic Hospital Association of India and the Catholic Bishops Conference of India in seeing through the creation of a Catholic Medical College in India.
[14] http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bmathi.html
[15] Orem, p 42
[16] ibid, p 45. This, along with a request that the CBCI take measures to decide the location of the Catholic Medical College was proposed by Mother Anna Dengel who had been invited to attend the meeting.
[17] ibid, p 45
[18] Ursula Clinton, Australian Medical Nun in India. The Advocate Press, Melbourne.
[19] Dr. Sr. Mary Glowrey of the Sacred Heart, JMJ, was buried at the St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetry on Hosur Road, Bangalore. On 28th Nov 2016, her mortal remains were exhumed and shifted to Guntur where she had spent most of her life in India.
[20] Orem, p 33
Reclaiming Sr Dr Mary Glowrey and her role in St. John’s Medical College