Catholic Church of Lhasa

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]

Catholic Church of Lhasa
Lhasa bell in Pennabilli, Italy, redesign of the original bell of the Catholic mission in Lhasa
LocationLhasa,  Tibet
Country China
DenominationRoman Catholic Church

History

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 forcefully left 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]

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See also

References
  1. Roland Barraux, Histoire des Dalaï-Lamas - Quatorze reflets sur le Lac des Visions, Albin Michel, 1993; réédité en 2002, Albin Michel (ISBN 2-226-13317-8), p. 68-69, p. 191-192
  2. Li, Qing (2017). The Evolution and Preservation of the Old City of Lhasa. Springer. pp. 153–154. ISBN 978-981-10-6735-8.
  3. Gilles van Grasdorff, À la découverte de l’Asie avec les Missions étrangères, Omnibus, juin 2008 (ISBN 978-2-258-07693-8), p. 666
  4. Xi Zang Zong Jiao. 五洲传播出版社. 2003. ISBN 978-7-5085-0232-8.

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