View source for Catholic Church in Tibet

{{Infobox Christian denomination
| icon                = Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg
| icon_width          = 25px
| icon_alt            =
| name                = Catholic Church in Tibet
| image = {{multiple image |direction=vertical |border=infobox |perrow=2 |total_width=270 |image_style=border:1;
 | image1 = Ancienne cathédrale de Tatsienlou.jpg
 | image2 = Tsakalo1.jpg
}}
| caption = Above: former Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at [[Kangding|Dartsedo]] ([[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Sichuanese Tibet]]), seat of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Apostolic Vicariate of Tibet]]. Below: [[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo|Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church at Yerkalo]], the only Catholic church in the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]].
| main_classification = [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]
| orientation = [[Latin Church|Latin]]
| scripture = [[Catholic Bible]]
| theology = [[Catholic theology]]
| polity = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]]
| governance = [[Catholic Patriotic Association|CPA]] and {{ill|Bishops' Conference of Catholic Church in China|lt=BCCCC|zh|中國天主教主教團}} ([[China–Holy See relations|controversial]])
| leader_title = [[Pope]]
| leader_name = {{Incumbent pope}}
| leader_title1 = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Bishop of Kangding]]
| leader_name1 = [[Sede vacante]]
| area = [[Tibet Autonomous Region]]<br />[[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]]<br />[[Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture]]<br />[[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]]<br />[[Gongshan Derung and Nu Autonomous County|Kokang Derung and Nu Autonomous County]]
| language = [[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]], [[Sichuanese dialects|Sichuanese]], {{ill|Yunnanese dialect|lt=Yunnanese|zh|雲南話}}, [[Ecclesiastical Latin|Latin]]
| headquarters = [[Kangding|Dartsedo]], [[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture]], [[Sichuan]]
| founder = [[António de Andrade]]<br />[[Paris Foreign Missions Society]]
| founded_date = [[Ngari Prefecture|Western Tibet]]: {{Start date and age|1624|paren=yes}}<br />[[Kham|Eastern Tibet]]: {{Start date and age|1846|paren=yes}}
| founded_place = [[Guge|Kingdom of Guge]], western Tibet {{small|([[Jesuit missions in Tibet|Jesuit mission]])}}<br />[[Kangding|Dartsedo]], eastern Tibet {{small|([[Paris Foreign Missions Society|Paris Foreign mission]])}}
| primary_schools =
| secondary_schools =
| publications =
}}
The [[Catholic Church]] is a [[Minority religion|minority religious]] organization in [[Tibet]], where [[Tibetan Buddhism]] is the faith of the majority of people. Its origin dates from the 17th century, when [[António de Andrade]], a Portuguese [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] through {{ill|Jesuit missions in Tibet|fr|Mission jésuite au Tibet}}, introduced Catholicism into the [[Guge|Kingdom of Guge]] in [[Ngari Prefecture|western Tibet]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Russell-Wood |first=A. J. R. |author-link=A. J. R. Russell-Wood |date=July 31, 1998 |title=The Portuguese Empire, 1415–1808: A World on the Move |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |page=90 |isbn=9780801859557}}</ref>

The [[Catholic Church of Lhasa]] was the first Catholic church built in Tibet, but was destroyed in 1745. Today, [[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo|Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church at Yerkalo]] in [[Chamdo]] is the only Catholic church in the Chinese communist government-designated [[Tibet Autonomous Region]], in addition to chapels and churches scattered throughout the incorporated Tibetan territories in [[Sichuan]] (Szechwan) and [[Yunnan]].

== History ==
=== 17th and 18th centuries ===
[[File:AntónioAndrade.jpg|thumb|left|130px|António de Andrade, first Catholic missionary in Tibet.]]
The first Catholic missionaries to arrive in Tibet, [[António de Andrade]] and {{ill|Manuel Marques (missionary)|lt=Manuel Marques|nl|Manuel Marques (Guge)}}, reached the [[Guge|Kingdom of Guge]] ([[Ngari Prefecture|western Tibet]]) in 1624. They were welcomed by the royal family and later allowed to build a church.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanderg |first=Graham |date=1973 |title=The Exploration of Tibet: History and Particulars |location=Delhi |publisher=Cosmo Publications |pages=23–26}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Holdich |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Holdich |date=1906 |title=Tibet, the Mysterious |location=London |publisher=Alston Rivers |page=70}}</ref> These two [[Old Goa|Portuguese Goa]]-based Jesuits had the benefit of the [[Din-i Ilahi|syncretic policy]] of [[Akbar]] (1542–1605), maintained by his son [[Jahangir]] (1569–1627), which allowed them to develop freely in an environment under [[Mughal emperors|Muslim authority]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Didier |first=Hugues |date=2002 |title=Les Portugais au Tibet : les premières relations jésuites (1624–1635) |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Éditions Chandeigne |isbn=9782906462311}}</ref>

In 1627, there were about a hundred converts in the kingdom. Catholicism also spread to [[Rudok]], [[Ladakh]] (Indian Tibet) and [[Ü-Tsang]] (Central Tibet), and was welcomed by the ruler of the kingdom of Ü-Tsang, where in 1626 Andrade and his companions established a Jesuit outpost at [[Shigatse]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wu |first=Kunming |date=1992 |title=早期传教士进藏活动史 |trans-title=History of the activities of the first missionaries in Tibet |language=zh-hans |location=Beijing |publisher=China Tibetology Publishing House |page=163 |isbn=7-80057-072-X}}</ref> In 1635, a six-missionary expedition to [[Tsaparang]], capital of Guge, was led by {{ill|Nuño Coresma|es}}, a Spanish Jesuit.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wessels |first=Cornelius |author-link=Cornelius Wessels |date=1924 |title=Early Jesuit Travellers in Central Asia, 1603–1721 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.150266 |location=Delhi |publisher=Low Price Publications |page=82}}</ref>

In 1661, an Austrian [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] missionary [[Johann Grueber]] crossed Tibet from [[Xining|Sining]] to [[Lhasa]], where he spent a month, before heading to [[Nepal]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Markham |editor-first=Clements R. |editor-link=Clements Markham |date=1989 |orig-date=1881 |title=Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet, and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa |location=New Delhi |publisher=Cosmo Publications |pages=295–302}}</ref> During his six-year stay in Tibet (1715–1721), [[Italians|Italian]] Jesuit missionary Fr. [[Ippolito Desideri]] became the first [[Tibetologist]]. 

After some months of intensive study he entered the [[Sera Monastery|Sera Buddhist monastery]], one of the three great [[Gompa|monastic universities]] of the politically ascendant [[Gelukpa]] sect. He was permitted to offer the [[Tridentine Mass]] at a Roman Catholic altar erected inside his rooms. There Fr. Desideri both studied and debated with Tibetan Buddhist monks and scholars, who he found were every bit as curious about Roman Catholicism as Desideri was about Tibetan Buddhism. Desideri befriended many of these scholars and, despite their religious disagreements, recalled them warmly in his memoirs. He learned the [[Classical Tibetan]] [[literary language]] (unknown to Europeans before) and became a voracious student of Tibetan literature, philosophy, and [[Tibetan culture|culture]]. 

Between 1718 and 1721 he composed five works in the Classical Tibetan [[literary language]], in which he sought to refute the philosophical concepts of [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]] (which he referred to as "[[metempsychosis]]") and [[Nihilism]] or 'Emptiness' (Wylie: ''[[stong pa nyid]]''; Sanskrit: ''[[Śūnyatā]]''), which he felt most prevented conversions from [[Tibetan Buddhism]] to the Catholic Church. In his books Fr. Desideri also adopted and utilized multiple philosophical techniques from [[Tibetan literature]] for scholastic argumentation. Fr. Desideri also used multiple quotations from the [[dharma]] and [[vinaya]], and even brought the [[Scholasticism]] of St. [[Thomas Aquinas]] into a debate with the nihilistic [[Madhyamaka]] philosophy of [[Nagarjuna]] to argue his case for "the superiority of Christian theology."<ref> "Mission to Tibet: The Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Account of Father Ippolito Desideri S.J." Trans. by Michael Sweet, Ed. by Leonard Zwilling (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2010), page 45.</ref> Further Jesuit missions to Tibet and the publication of Fr. Desideri's writings were later forbidden by the Vatican's [[Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith]], and his writings remained in unpublished  manuscript form until the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Seitz |first=Jonathan Andrew |date=2011 |title=Jesuit on the Roof of the World: Ippolito Desideri's Mission to Tibet |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA269690668&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=08820945&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E86aff528&aty=open-web-entry |journal=[[Buddhist-Christian Studies]] |volume=31 |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref>

The 18th century also saw the arrival of several [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|Capuchin]] missionaries supported by donations from [[New Spain]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lorenzen |first=David N. |author-link=David Lorenzen |date=2013 |title=La Misión del Tíbet en Nueva España: las limosnas y el cobro del legado de Spinola |url=https://repositorio.colmex.mx/concern/articles/dz010q722 |language=es |journal={{ill|Historia Mexicana|es|Historia Mexicana (revista)}} |volume=63 |issue=2 |pages=591–643 |access-date=September 23, 2023}}</ref> who built the no longer extant [[Catholic Church of Lhasa]] in 1726.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grasdorff |first=Gilles van |date=2008 |title=À la découverte de l'Asie avec les Missions étrangères |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Éditions Omnibus |page=666 |isbn=978-2-258-07693-8}}</ref> In 1736, the Spanish cardinal [[Luis Antonio Belluga y Moncada]] supported the Capuchin missionary [[Francesco della Penna]] when the latter sought help for his evangelization in Tibet.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2021/10/18/the-missionaries-who-introduced-christianity-to-tibet/ |title=The Italian missionaries who introduced Christianity to Tibet |last=Fucili |first=Paolo |date=October 18, 2021 |website=[[The Catholic World Report|catholicworldreport.com]] |access-date=August 10, 2024}}</ref>

Beginning in the 17th century, the growth of Catholicism was encouraged by some Tibetan monarchs, their courts and the [[lama|Buddhist monk]]s of the [[Karmapa]] school to counterbalance the influence of the [[Gelug]] school until 1745, when all missionaries were expelled at the insistence of the Tibetan Buddhist monks.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lin |first=Hsiao-ting |author-link=Hsiao-ting Lin |date=2004 |title=When Christianity and Lamaism Met: The Changing Fortunes of Early Western Missionaries in Tibet |url=http://www.pacificrim.usfca.edu/research/pacrimreport/pacrimreport36.html |journal=Pacific Rim Report |issue=36 |access-date=September 22, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626095547/http://www.pacificrim.usfca.edu/research/pacrimreport/pacrimreport36.html |archive-date=June 26, 2010}}</ref> Tibet was closed to foreigners, although this district came under the authority of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra|Mission ''sui iuris'' of Hindustan]] in 1792, no more missionaries arrived until 1844.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tibet-catholic-church |title=Tibet, The Catholic Church In |editor-last=Hambye |editor-first=E. R. |editor-link=Édouard Hambye |website=[[encyclopedia.com]] |access-date=September 23, 2023}}</ref>

=== 19th century ===
In 1844, [[Évariste Régis Huc]], a French [[Congregation of the Mission|Lazarist]], prepared his trip to Tibet at the suggestion of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xiwanzi|Apostolic Vicar of Mongolia]] ({{ill|Joseph-Martial Mouly|fr}}). In September 1844 he arrived in [[Dolon Nor]] and made preparations for his journey. Shortly after, he was accompanied by a young fellow Lazarist, [[Joseph Gabet]].<ref>{{cite CE1913|wstitle= Tibet |volume= 14 |last= Cordier |first= Henri |author-link= Henri Cordier|quote=see final para:- Missions - Since the Capuchins were expelled in 1760, except the Lazarists Huc and Gabet, who paid a visit to Lhasa in 1844, no missionary entered Tibet proper |short=1}}</ref> In January 1845 they reached [[Chengguan, Huangyuan County|Tang-kiul]], a frontier trading post between the Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan cultural spheres. Instead of undertaking an independent four-month trip to [[Lhasa]], they waited eight months for a Tibetan embassy to return from Peking. Meanwhile, under the guidance of an intelligent teacher, they studied the Tibetan language and Buddhist literature. During the three months of their stay they resided in [[Kumbum Monastery]], which was said to have capacity for 4,000 people.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Huc, Évariste Régis |volume= 13 |pages=846-847 |short=1}}</ref>

[[File:Ancienne cathédrale de Tatsienlou (intérieur).jpg|thumb|230px|Interior of the former Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at Dartsedo]]
[[File:Généalogie des juridictions MEP au Sichuan avec ses rattachements.png|thumb|240px|Genealogy of [[Paris Foreign Missions Society|MEP]] ecclesiastical jurisdiction in [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chengdu|Sichuan]], with its three attachments: [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Tibet]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kunming|Yunnan]] and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guiyang|Guizhou]].]]
On March 27, 1846, the Apostolic Vicariate of Lhasa (now [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Diocese of Kangding]], or [[Kangding|Dartsedo]]) was erected with the [[Papal brief|brief]] {{lang|la|Ex debito}} from [[Pope Gregory XVI]], obtaining territory from the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chengdu|Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan]] and the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra|Apostolic Vicariate of Tibet-Hindustan]]. Evangelization was entrusted to the [[Paris Foreign Missions Society]] (MEP).<ref>{{cite book |last=Launay |first=Adrien |date=1903 |title=Histoire de la Mission du Thibet, tome premier |url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredelamiss01laun |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Desclée, de Brouwer et cie |page=66}}</ref> In 1847, {{ill|Charles-René Renou|pl}} set out disguised as a merchant for Dartsedo and then continued his journey towards [[Chamdo]]. He was recognized and arrested in 1848 and escorted back to [[Guangzhou]], southern China.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dubernard |first=Étienne-Jules |date=1990 |title=Tibet " Mission Impossible " : Lettres du Père Étienne-Jules Dubernard |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Le Sarment-Fayard |isbn=2866790588}}</ref> At the same time, [[Nicolas Krick]] and [[Augustin Bourry]] approached Tibet from the south, from [[Assam]] in northeastern India.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.asiaharvest.org/china-resources/tibet/1854-nicolas-krick-augustin-bourry |title=1854 - Nicolas Krick & Augustin Bourry |last=Hattaway |first=Paul |date=2007 |website=asiaharvest.org |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref> In 1856, [[Pope Pius IX]] commissioned [[Eugène-Jean-Claude-Joseph Desflèches]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chongqing|Apostolic Vicar of Eastern Szechwan]], to choose a vicar for the Mission of Lhasa. The next year, {{ill|Léon Thomine Desmazures|fr}} was installed as the first Apostolic Vicar of Lhasa.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goré |first=Francis |date=1992 |title=Trente ans aux portes du Thibet interdit |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Éditions Kimé |isbn=2-908212-25-0}}</ref> In 1865, [[Félix Biet]] and [[Auguste Desgodins]] established the parish of Yerkalo in Chamdo. The [[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo|parish church]] was blessed on August 15, 1873,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mission-thibet.org/pere-desgodins-auguste/ |title=Père Desgodins Auguste |last=Gratuze |first=Gaston |date=1968 |website=mission-thibet.org |language=fr |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref> and dedicated to [[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Launay |first=Adrien |date=1903 |title=Histoire de la Mission du Thibet, tome deuxième |url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredelamiss02laun |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Desclée, de Brouwer et cie |pages=74–75}}</ref>

In [[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Yunnanese Tibet]], following the establishment of the parish of Tsekou (later transferred to Cizhong; {{ill|Sacred Heart Church, Cizhong|fr|Église du Sacré-Cœur de Tsedjrong}}) in 1867 by {{ill|Jules Dubernard|fr}},<ref>{{cite web |url=https://irfa.paris/en/missionnaire/0848-dubernard-jules/ |title=Jules DUBERNARD |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=irfa.paris |language=fr |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref> Xiaoweixi ({{ill|Sacred Heart Church, Xiaoweixi|lt=Sacred Heart Church|zh|小維西聖心堂}}, 1880), [[Dimaluo]] ({{ill|Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Bahang|lt=Sacred Heart of Jesus Church|fr|Église du Sacré-Cœur-de-Jésus de Bahang}}, 1899) and Zhongding ([[Sacred Heart Church, Zhongding|Sacred Heart Church]], 1908) were successively occupied by French missionaries. Although the last two are located in the [[Nu people|Nu]] and [[Lisu people|Lisu]] lands, this district was still part of the Mission of Tibet and later of the Diocese of Kangding.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hsstudyc.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/T059_15.pdf |title=Tibetan Catholics |last=Savioz |first=Alphonse |date=2022 |website=[[Holy Spirit Seminary|hsstudyc.org.hk]] |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
After the [[British expedition to Tibet]] in 1904, [[Auguste Desgodins]] was appointed "parish priest of [[Lhasa]]" by {{ill|Pierre-Philippe Giraudeau|fr}}, [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Apostolic Vicar of Tibet]], but he never traveled to Lhasa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Deshayes |first1=Laurent |last2=Lenoir |first2=Frédéric |author-link2=Frédéric Lenoir |date=2002 |title=L'épopée des Tibétains : entre mythe et réalité |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Éditions Fayard |page=107 |isbn=9782213610283}}</ref> In 1905, four French missionaries were killed in the [[Batang uprising|Bathang uprising]], including [[André Soulié|Jean-André Soulié]]. He was captured, tortured and shot by lamas close to [[Yarigong Township, Sichuan|Yaregong]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.mepasie.org/annales-des-missions-etrangeres/un-missionnaire-massacra-c-au-thibet |title=Un Missionnaire Massacré au Thibet : M. Soulié |last=Launay |first=Adrien |date=1905 |website=archives.mepasie.org |language=fr |access-date=September 22, 2023 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122174739/http://archives.mepasie.org/annales-des-missions-etrangeres/un-missionnaire-massacra-c-au-thibet |archive-date=November 22, 2015}}</ref> Nine years later (1914), [[Théodore Monbeig|Jean-Théodore Monbeig]], another French missionary working in the [[Kham|Sichuan-Tibetan border region]], was killed by lamas near [[Litang County|Lithang]], not long after helping revive the Christian community at [[Batang, Sichuan|Bathang]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://irfa.paris/missionnaire/2423-monbeig-jean-theodore/ |title=Jean-Théodore MONBEIG |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=irfa.paris |language=fr |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://plants.jstor.org/person/bm000329716 |title=Monbeig, Jean-Théodore (1875-1914) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=plants.jstor.org |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref>

After the fall of the [[Qing dynasty|Manchu empire]] in 1911, {{ill|1917 Sino-Tibetan military conflict|lt=attempted invasions of Tibet in 1917|zh|民七事件}} and [[Sino-Tibetan War of 1930–1932|in 1930]] did not help the establishment of the Paris Foreign Missions. Some of these missionaries had difficulty adapting to the climate, so after 1930 a dozen [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[Canon (title)|canons]] of the {{ill|Chanoines réguliers du Grand-Saint-Bernard|fr}} were sent to [[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Yunnanese Tibet]] at the invitation of {{ill|Jean de Guébriant|fr}}, [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ningyuan|Apostolic Vicar of Kienchang]]. These were young missionaries seasoned in the [[Swiss Alps]], who also had a project of building a hospice in 1933 in the Latsa pass, between the valleys of the [[Mekong]] and [[Salween River|Salween]] rivers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bonet |first=André |date=2006 |title=Les chrétiens oubliés du Tibet |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Presses de la Renaissance |isbn=2856168914}}</ref> 

[[File:BarrachinaLapiedra-1990-Fray.Pascual.Nadal.Oltra (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|180px|Pascual Nadal Oltra, Spanish Franciscan missionary to a Tibetan [[leper colony]], beheaded by the [[Chinese Red Army]] during the [[Long March]] in 1935.]]
In 1930, {{ill|Pascual Nadal Oltra|es}}, a [[Pego, Alicante|Pego]]-born Spanish [[Franciscans|Franciscan]] friar and artist, arrived in [[Moxi, Luding County|Mosimien]] (a.k.a. Boxab by its Tibetan name), a small town located in [[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Sichuanese Tibet]]. With the support of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding#Ordinaries|Bishop of Tatsienlu]] ({{ill|Pierre-Philippe Giraudeau|fr}}) and his coadjutor {{ill|Pierre Valentin|fr}}, Oltra, the Father Guardian Plácido Albiero, a Canadian friar Bernabé Lafond and an Italian José Andreatta formed the founding community of a [[leper colony]] established near [[St. Anne's Church, Moxi|St. Anne's Church]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Barrachina Lapiedra |first=José M. |date=1990 |title=Fray Pascual Nadal y Oltra: Apóstol de los leprosos, mártir de China |language=es |location=Valencia |publisher=Unión Misional Franciscana |page=59 |isbn=84-404-8209-4}}</ref> known as St. Joseph's Home.<ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1949 |title=Leprosy Institutions in China |url=http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v17n4a17.pdf |journal=International Journal of Leprosy |volume=17 |page=469 |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref> In May 1935, a [[Chinese Red Army]] column led by [[Mao Zedong]] (Mao Tse Tung) was fleeing [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s regular army to northwest China through the Mosimien area, part of a military retreat later known as [[Long March]]. According to the [[Valencia]]n Franciscan friar José Miguel Barrachina Lapiedra, author of the book {{lang|es|Fray Pascual Nadal y Oltra: Apóstol de los leprosos, mártir de China}}, and a report published in ''[[CatholicNews|Malaya Catholic Leader]]'', the official newspaper of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore]]: "The communist soldiers entered the leper colony, they looted the residence and arrested the friars and sisters. Many of the lepers tried to defend the missionaries, but they were shot by the soldiers. The Franciscans were then brought before Mao Tse Tung, who interrogated them, imprisoned two of them, Pascual Nadal Oltra and an Italian friar [[Epifanio Pegoraro]], and released the rest. There were more than 30,000 Reds in the band, including a large number of women. Before their departure, the soldiers ransacked the village, carrying away everything movable and edible, left the people of the district without means of subsistence. Days later, on 4 December 1935, the army reached {{ill|Lianghekou, Xiaojin|lt=Leang Ho Kow|zh|兩河口鎮 (小金縣)}}, [[Xiaojin County|Tsanlha]], where the two Franciscans were beheaded with a sword."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radiopego.com/investigacio-a-fons-de-la-mort-de-fra-pascual-nadal-oltra/ |title=Investigació a fons de la mort de Fra Pascual Nadal Oltra |last=Garcia |first=Sara |date=November 29, 2006 |website=radiopego.com |language=ca-valencia |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lasprovincias.es/valencia/prensa/20061129/ocio/investigan-muerte-1935-fraile_20061129.html |title=Investigan la muerte en 1935 de un fraile de Pego en China |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=29 November 2006 |website=[[Las Provincias|lasprovincias.es]] |language=es |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=31 August 1935 |title=Abducted Franciscans Still Missing: Leper Asylum Near Tibetan Border Invaded by Reds |url=https://issuu.com/catholicnews/docs/1935_cn35/7 |work=Malaya Catholic Leader |volume=1 |issue=35 |location=Singapore |page=7 |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref> Nevertheless, the missionaries managed to recover and welcome back the sick after the devastation, who in 1937 were 148 people.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.diocese15.fr/diocese/patrimoine/en-direct-des-archives/2020/une-missionnaire-aurillacoise-au-tibet |title=Une missionnaire aurillacoise au Tibet |last=Moulier |first=Pascale |date=2020 |website=[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint-Flour|diocese15.fr]] |language=fr |access-date=September 22, 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Mauricetornayagaunien.jpg|thumb|180px|Blessed [[Maurice Tornay]], [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] missionary and parish priest at [[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo|Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church at Yerkalo]], ambushed and murdered by [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] monks from the [[Karma Gon Monastery]] in 1949. [[Beatification|Beatified]] by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 1993.]]
In 1945, [[Valais]]-born [[Maurice Tornay]] was appointed parish priest of [[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo|Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church at Yerkalo]], after completing his theological and local language studies in [[Weixi Lisu Autonomous County|Weisi]]. Repeated acts of violence and [[religious persecution]] by Buddhist monks from the local [[Karma Gon Monastery]] drove Fr. Tornay from his parish, but ultimately led him to travel to Lhasa disguised as a pilgrim seeking to appeal to the [[14th Dalai Lama]] for [[religious toleration]] to be granted to Tibetan Christians. On 11 August 1949, he was ambushed and assassinated by four armed Tibetan Buddhist monks at [[Cho La (Sichuan)|Cho La, Sichuan]]. He was [[Beatification|beatified]] as a Roman Catholic martyr on May 16, 1993, by [[Pope John Paul II]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/maurice-tornay.html |title=Maurice Tornay |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=[[Dicastery for the Causes of Saints|causesanti.va]] |language=it |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref>

== Current situation ==
Both militant [[state atheism]] and severe [[Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party|anti-religious persecution]] began immediately and have continued ever since the invasion and [[Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China]]. Both clergy and laity were arrested and sent to [[Laogai]] [[concentration camp]]s  and "[[Thought reform in China|thought reform]] centers", where they experienced severe [[psychological abuse]] in a vindictive prison setting.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lifton |first=Robert J. |author-link=Robert Jay Lifton |date=1957 |title=Chinese Communist 'Thought Reform': Confession and Re-Education of Western Civilians |journal=[[Journal of Urban Health|Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine]] |volume=33 |issue=9 |pages=626–644 |pmid=19312633 |pmc=1806208}}</ref> Ever since, [[Catholic Church in China|Catholicism in China]], like all religions in the country, are permitted to operate only under the strict supervision and control of the [[State Administration for Religious Affairs]]. All legal worship has to be conducted in government-approved churches belonging to the [[Catholic Patriotic Association]], which is [[Caesaropapism|State controlled]] and rejects [[papal primacy]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moody |first1=Peter R. |date=2013 |title=The Catholic Church in China Today: The Limitations of Autonomy and Enculturation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23922765 |journal=[[Journal of Church and State]] |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=403–431 |doi=10.1093/jcs/css049 |jstor=23922765 |access-date=September 22, 2022}}</ref> Even so, Roman Catholicism still has followers among [[Tibetan people|ethnic Tibetans]] and the strictly illegal and Pro-Vatican [[Underground Church]] continues to remain active throughout the region. 

In 1952, following the expulsion of {{ill|Pierre Valentin|fr}}, the then Bishop of Kangding, the communist regime put an end to the missionary presence in Tibet, since then the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Diocese of Kangding]] has been left [[Sede vacante|without a bishop]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tibet-info.net/www/Chronologie-historique-detaillee.html?lang=fr |title=Chronologie historique détaillée du Tibet |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 27, 2008 |website=tibet-info.net |language=fr |access-date=September 22, 2023 |quote=Février 1952 : Expulsion par la troupe communiste chinoise du Père Valentin du Tibet oriental désormais sous contrôle de la Chine. Fin de 106 ans d'efforts de christianisation du Tibet.}}</ref> According to a report by the {{ill|Catholic International Press Agency|fr|Agence de presse internationale catholique}}, in 1989, a community of Catholics were found living in [[Lhasa]], the capital of Tibet. A Church collaborator in [[Chongqing]] told the agency that there were approximately 10,000 Tibetan Catholics in the Diocese of Kangding. He further stated that, at the time, no one knew exactly the situation of the Catholic Church in that country.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cath.ch/newsf/chine-toujours-des-catholiques-au-tibet-080989/ |title=Chine : toujours des catholiques au Tibet |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=September 8, 1989 |website=cath.ch |language=fr |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1989/09/05/reports-say-catholics-live-inside-tibet-but-priests-are-in-sichuan&post_id=38507 |title=Reports say Catholics live inside Tibet but priests are in Sichuan |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=September 4, 1989 |website=[[Union of Catholic Asian News|ucanews.com]] |access-date=September 30, 2023}}</ref>

In 1989, while an [[Diocesan administrator|administrator]] of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Qinzhou|Diocese of Qinzhou]], {{ill|John Baptist Wang Ruohan|pl}} was consecrated "[[Underground church|underground bishop]]" of Kangding by {{ill|Paul Li Zhenrong|no}}, [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xianxian|Bishop of Xianxian]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bishops-in-china.com/default.asp?iId=KGMFJ |title=Bishops in China, W: Wang Ruohan, John Baptist |last=Brender |first=Andreas |date=2012 |website=bishops-in-china.com |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref> In 2011, Bishop John Baptist Wang was arrested by Chinese security forces, along with his brothers, Bishop [[Casimir Wang Mi-lu]] and Father [[John Wang Ruowang]], as well as a group of lay faithful, who do not belong to the government-authorized Catholic Patriotic Association.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Tianshui:-police-arrest-dozens-of-underground-priests-and-lay-faithful-22441.html |title=Tianshui: police arrest dozens of underground priests and lay faithful |last=Wang |first=Zhicheng |date=August 24, 2011 |website=[[AsiaNews|asianews.it]] |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref>

On September 3, 2011, an attack occurred against a nun and a priest in [[Moxi, Luding County|Mosimien]]. Sister Xie Yuming and Father Huang Yusong were attacked by a dozen unknown assailants after attempting to recover two former properties of the Diocese of Kangding. The nun was brutally beaten while the priest suffered minor injuries. The properties, a former Latin school and a boys' school, are among several properties that were confiscated by authorities in the 1950s but were due to be returned to the diocese. At that time, the Latin school was demolished by the government and the land occupied by a private company; the boys' school was used as housing for officials of the Mosimien regional government. The attack sparked anger among many parishioners who gathered to protest in front of [[St. Anne's Church, Moxi|St. Anne's Church]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ucanews.com/news/check-nun-priest-beaten-by-mob/29080 |title=Nun, priest beaten by mob |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=September 6, 2011 |website=ucanews.com |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref>

According to Baptiste Langlois-Meurinne, a member of the Raiders Scouts, in 2014, while helping with the development of the Tibetan Catholic populations of the [[Mekong]] and [[Salween River|Salween]] valleys through the {{lang|fr|Sentiers du ciel}} association, he met a [[Vatican City|Vatican]] priest —that is, not affiliated to the official Chinese Patriotic Church but with the [[underground church]]— who organized a clandestine camp for Bareng children where he taught them [[Khams Tibetan|Tibetan]], English and [[Catechism of the Catholic Church|catechism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mairie-chevrieres.fr/wp-content/uploads/adn-57.pdf |title=Un chevriot sur le toit du monde |last=Langlois-Meurinne |first=Baptiste |date=October 2014 |website=mairie-chevrieres.fr |language=fr |page=5 |access-date=September 22, 2023}}</ref>

== Diocese of Kangding ==
{{Main|Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding}}
The Apostolic Vicariate of Lhasa —which would become the Diocese of Kangding a century later— was erected on March 27, 1846, with the [[Papal brief|brief]] {{lang|la|Ex debito}} from [[Pope Gregory XVI]]. This bishopric had been in [[full communion]] with the [[Pope]] in [[Holy See|Rome]] until the establishment of the state-sanctioned [[Catholic Patriotic Association|Catholic Patriotic Church]] (1957) after the fall of [[mainland China]] and [[Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China|Tibet to communism]] in 1949 and 1951, respectively.

Jurisdictional changes made by the Catholic Patriotic Church and the {{ill|Bishops' Conference of Catholic Church in China|zh|中國天主教主教團}} took place in the 1980s and the 1990s. On March 24, 1984, the territory of the Diocese of Kangding was placed under the jurisdiction of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Ningyuan|Bishop of Ningyuan]]. On March 7, 1993, the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jiading|Diocese of Jiading]] assumed authority over Kangding.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Liu |first=Zhiqing |date=2013 |title=天主教在重庆和四川传播史略 |trans-title=A brief history of the spread of Catholicism in Chongqing and Sichuan |url=http://194.246.119.58/pdfs/cnkiImport/CJFD/ZGTA201302028.pdf |language=zh-hans |magazine=Catholic Church in China |issue=2 |page=50 |location=Beijing |publisher=Catholic Patriotic Association}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable
!scope="col" width="200"| Diocese
!scope="col" width="130"| French
!scope="col" width="130"| Tibetan
!scope="col" width="50"| Former name/spelling
!scope="col" width="300"| Cathedral
!scope="col" width="500"| History
!scope="col" width="50"| Founded
!scope="col" width="50"| Ref.
|-
|[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kangding|Diocese of Kangding]]
|{{lang|fr|Ta-tsien-lou}}
|{{transl|khg|Dartsedo}}
|Kangting<br />Tatsienlu
|[[Sacred Heart Cathedral, Kangding]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/asia/6407.htm |title=Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Kangding |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=gcatholic.org |access-date=April 29, 2024}}</ref>
|•March 27, 1846: Established as the Apostolic Vicariate of Lhassa ([[Lhasa]]) with territory from the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chengdu|Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan]] and the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra|Apostolic Vicariate of Tibet-Hindustan]]
•July 28, 1868: Renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Thibet ([[Tibet]])<br />
•December 3, 1924: Renamed as the Apostolic Vicariate of Tatsienlu (today known as [[Kangding]], in [[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Sichuanese Tibet]])<br />
•December 15, 1929: Lost territory to establish the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Darjeeling|Mission sui iuris of Sikkim]]<br />
•April 11, 1946: Elevated as the Diocese of Kangting
|1846
|<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dkang.html |title=Diocese of Kangding [Kangting] |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=catholic-hierarchy.org |access-date=April 29, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ucanews.com/directory/dioceses/china-kangding/589 |title=Diocese of Kangding |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=<!--Not stated--> |website=ucanews.com |access-date=April 29, 2024}}</ref>
|-
|colspan=8|{{multiple image |align=center |border=infobox |direction=horizontal |total_width=400 |image_style=border:1;
| image1 = Mission du Thibet 1.jpg
| image2 = Mission du Thibet 2.jpg}}
|- 
|colspan=8 style="text-align:center;" |Map of the Tibetan Mission (Tibet – West China – North India)
|}

=== Gallery ===
Except for the [[Catholic Church of Lhasa]], all churches belong to the Diocese of Kangding (former Apostolic Vicariate of Lhasa/Tibet/Tatsienlu).

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px" >
File:Tsakalo2.jpg|[[Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo]] ([[Tibet Autonomous Region]])
File:Tsakalo3.jpg|Interior of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo
File:Catholic Church Cizhong Yunnan China.jpg|{{ill|Sacred Heart Church, Cizhong|fr|Église du Sacré-Cœur de Tsedjrong}} ([[Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Yunnanese Tibet]])
File:茨中教堂 04.jpg|Interior of Sacred Heart Church, Cizhong
File:St. Anne's Church, Mosimien.png|[[St. Anne's Church, Moxi|St. Anne's Church, Mosimien]] ([[Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture|Sichuanese Tibet]])
File:St. Anne's Church, Mosimien (interior) 2.jpg|Altar of St. Anne's Church, Mosimien
File:Église de Bahang dans les années 1920.png|{{ill|Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, Bahang|fr|Église du Sacré-Cœur-de-Jésus de Bahang}} ([[Dimaluo]]; part of Tibetan Mission)
File:Église du Sacré-Cœur de Tchongteu.jpg|Former [[Sacred Heart Church, Zhongding]] ([[Gongshan Derung and Nu Autonomous County|Koksang]]; part of Tibetan Mission)
File:云南丙中洛重丁教堂3.JPG|Rebuilt Sacred Heart Church, Zhongding
File:A European bell and three Tibetan prayer wheels on the summit of Pennabilli, Italy.jpg|A surviving bell of the [[Catholic Church of Lhasa]]
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{div col}}
* [[Religion in Tibet#Christianity|Christianity in Tibet]]
* [[Catholic Church in Sichuan]]
* [[Catholic Church in Bhutan]]
* [[Catholic Church in India]]
* [[Catholic Church in Nepal]]
* [[Catholic missions]]
* [[Tibetan Muslims|Islam in Tibet]]
* [[Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party]]
* [[History of European exploration in Tibet]]
* [[:Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in Tibet]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{YouTube|ThEzJgZuD_s|The St Bernard Mission to Tibet {{small|(a 21-minute documentary)}}}}
* {{YouTube|swK1K5yT7L4|China's tiny Catholic Tibetan community's uneasy truce with the Communist Party {{small|(''The Telegraph'' report)}}}}
* {{YouTube|31s82sJGO2Q|{{lang|fr|Longue piste dans l'Himalaya}} {{small|(documentary about four scouts helping with the development of the local Catholic Church in Yunnanese Tibet)}}}} {{in lang|fr}}

{{Christianity in Tibet}}
{{Christianity in Sichuan}}
{{Catholic Church footer|state=collapsed}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

[[Category:Catholic Church in Tibet| ]]
[[Category:Catholic Church in Sichuan]]
[[Category:Catholic Church in Yunnan]]
[[Category:History of the Catholic Church|Tibet]]
[[Category:Persecution of Catholics]]