Catholic Church of Yerkalo

The Catholic Church of Yerkalo[1] also Yanjing Catholic Church (Chinese: 盐井天主教堂) is a Christian temple located in Yerkalo (Tibetan: Tsakalo, Wylie: tsha kha lho, meaning "salt pit"), a village between 2650 and 3109 meters above sea level at the southern end of Markham County (Chamdo, Tibet Autonomous Region) in present-day China.

Catholic Church of Yerkalo
盐井天主教堂
LocationYerkalo, Chamdo, Tibet
Country China
DenominationRoman Catholic Church

It was founded in 1865 by Félix Biet and Auguste Desgodins, French missionaries of the Foreign Missions of Paris. Bringing with them thirty-five of their faithful,[2] having been expelled from the main mission of Bonga in Yerkalo, conquered by the Chinese empire, were legally established in some plots of land with the complicity of the population and silence of local leaders . Historically, China and Tibet disputed the possession of the Yerkalo saline wells, which passed from one side or the other of the Sino-Tibetan border. Finally, in 1932, the village was placed under the administration of the Lhasa government.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the establishment of a small Catholic parish in Tibet was not an easy task. Frequent clashes took place between Catholics and nearby groups, culminating in the death of one of Father Biet's successors, Father Maurice Tornay in 1949.

See also

References
  1. "A Catholic church in Tibet - China.org.cn". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
  2. Mission-Thibet. "Yerkalo". mission-thibet.org (in French). Retrieved 2017-01-21.

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