Catholic Church of Lhasa

Church in Tibet, China

Catholic Church of Lhasa

Lhasa bell in Pennabilli, Italy, redesign of the original bell of the Catholic mission in Lhasa

Location| Lhasa, Tibet
Country| China
Denomination| Roman Catholic

The Catholic Church of Lhasa[1] Also called the Lhasa Chapel, was the first Catholic church in Tibet in China. It was founded in 1726 and disappeared in 1745.[2]

## History

[edit]

Three Capuchin missionaries arrived Lhasa in 1708 and were later joined by another two missionaries the next year. The missionaries spent the next few years studying the Tibetan language and providing medical services to the locals. However, in 1712 they returned back to Europe as they were suffering from illness, a lack of funds and faced hostility from the Gelugpa order.[2]

Italian Capuchin priests Francesco della Penna and Domenico da Fano arrived in Lhasa in 1719 with some Capuchin friars. This was followed by a contest of competition with the Jesuit missionary Ippolito Desideri, the Holy See decided in 1721 in favor of the Capuchins who had already obtained the authorization of the Tibetan authorities to build a chapel.

Kelzang Gyatso, the seventh Dalai Lama, authorized the construction of the church on the heights of the city in 1726.[3]

The superior of the mission, Francesco della Penna, returned to Rome in 1737, when Pope Benedict XIV gave a letter to the seventh Dalai Lama, and he took the road to Tibet.

The mission soon began making converts which was met with hostility from the Gelugpa Lamas. Hundreds of Lamas appealed to the Lhasa government to banish the European missionaries. The appeal was successful and all missionaries were forced to leave Lhasa by 1745. The church was subsequently destroyed.[2]

The mission had little success converting any Tibetans and most converts were foreign Nepalis, Kasmiris and Han Chinese who resided in Lhasa. However, the mission had up to 26 Tibetan converts near the end of its existence.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Catholic Church in Tibet
* History of European exploration in Tibet
* Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Roland Barraux, Histoire des Dalaï-Lamas - Quatorze reflets sur le Lac des Visions, Albin Michel, 1993; réédité en 2002, Albin Michel ([[Especial:FuentesDeLibros/2226133178|ISBN 2-226-13317-8]]), p. 68-69, p. 191-192
2. ^ a b c Li, Qing (2017). The Evolution and Preservation of the Old City of Lhasa. Springer. pp. 153–154\. ISBN 978-981-10-6735-8.153-154&rft.pub=Springer&rft.date=2017&rft.isbn=978-981-10-6735-8&rft.aulast=Li&rft.aufirst=Qing&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZA-DwAAQBAJ&dq;=catholicism+in+lhasa&pg;=PA153&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Catholic+Church+of+Lhasa" class="Z3988">
3. ^ Grasdorff, Gilles van (2008). A la découverte de l'Asie avec les Missions étrangères (in French). Presses de la Cité. p. 666\. ISBN 978-2-258-07693-8.
4. ^ Zangjia, Ga (2003). Tibetan Religions. China Intercontinental Press. p. 161\. ISBN 978-7-5085-0232-8.

* v
* t
* e

Christianity in Tibet

Main article

Catholic
(Main article)

Diocese

* Diocese of Kangding

|

Church
buildings

* Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Kangding (within Sichuan)
* Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kangding (within Sichuan)
* Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Bahang [fr] (within Yunnan)
* Sacred Heart Church, Cizhong [fr] (within Yunnan)
* Catholic Church of Lhasa
* St. Anne's Church, Moxi (within Sichuan)
* Sacred Heart Church, Xiaoweixi [zh] (within Yunnan)
* Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo
* Sacred Heart Church, Zhongding (within Yunnan)

Missionaries

* Paris Foreign Missions Society
* Jesuit missions in Tibet [fr]
* António de Andrade
* Giuseppe Maria Bernini
* Félix Biet
* Augustin Bourry
* Jean-Baptiste Brieux [fr]
* Estêvão Cacella
* Joseph-Marie Chauveau [zh]
* Nuño Coresma [fr]
* Armand David
* Auguste Desgodins
* Ippolito Desideri
* Jules Dubernard [fr]
* Joseph Gabet
* Annet Genestier
* Pierre-Philippe Giraudeau [fr]
* Francis Goré [fr]
* Johann Grueber
* Matthias Hermanns
* Évariste Régis Huc
* Nicolas Krick
* Angelin Lovey [fr]
* Marco della Tomba
* Jean-Théodore Monbeig
* Pascual Nadal Oltra [es]
* Odoric of Pordenone
* Albert d'Orville
* Francesco della Penna
* Ignatius Persico
* Julien Rabin [fr]
* Charles-René Renou [pl]
* Louis Schram [fr]
* Dominik Schröder
* Jean-André Soulié
* Léon Thomine Desmazures [fr]
* Maurice Tornay
* Pierre Valentin [fr]

Related

* Archdiocese of Agra
* Diocese of Darjeeling
* Batang uprising
* Dimaluo Village
* Moxi Town
* Catholic Church in Sichuan
* John Baptist Wang Ruohan [pl]
* Cornelius Wessels
* Luis Antonio Belluga y Moncada

Protestant

Church
buildings

* Gospel Church, Kangding (within Sichuan)

|

Missionaries

* Moravian Church mission
* China Inland Mission
* Tibetan Pioneer Mission
* Seventh-day Adventist Tibetan Mission
* Edvard Amundsen
* John Nevins Andrews
* H. A. Baker
* Geoffrey Bull
* James Cameron
* Robert Cunningham
* Marion Herbert Duncan
* James Huston Edgar
* August Hermann Francke
* Maria Heyde
* Heinrich August Jäschke
* Zenas Sanford Loftis
* Karl Marx
* Roderick McLeod [nl]
* James Clarence Ogden
* George Parker
* George Patterson
* Victor Guy Plymire
* Cecil H. Polhill
* Susanna Carson Rijnhart
* Albert Shelton
* William Wallace Simpson
* Sadhu Sundar Singh
* Theo Sørensen
* Dorothy Spicer
* Annie Royle Taylor

Tibetan Bible

* Bible translations into Tibetan
* Heinrich August Jäschke
* August Hermann Francke
* Yoseb Gergan

Related

* Dorris Shelton Still
* The West China Missionary News
* Journal of the West China Border Research Society
* Protestantism in Sichuan

29°39′00″N 91°06′00″E﻿ / ﻿29.6500°N 91.1000°E﻿ / 29.6500; 91.1000
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template