Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo explained

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Yerkalo
Other Name:Catholic Church of Yerkalo
Native Name:鹽井聖心聖母堂
Native Name Lang:zh-hant
Location:Yerkalo, Chamdo, Tibet
Country:China
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Founded Date:1865
Founder:Félix Biet
Auguste Desgodins
Dedication:Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Status:Church
Functional Status:Active
Style:Tibetan
Archdiocese:Chongqing
Diocese:Kangding[1]

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, commonly referred to as Catholic Church of Yerkalo[2] or Yanjing Catholic Church, is a Catholic church located in Yerkalo, 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.

History

It was founded as a chapel in 1865 by Félix Biet and Auguste Desgodins, French missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, and dedicated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart,[3] patroness of the parish of Yerkalo.

The church is referenced in Adrien Launay's French: Histoire de la Mission du Thibet as French: Chapelle de Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur. The mission of Yerkalo was based in Xinjiang but some of its missionaries opted to proselytize in Tibet. Within a few years, Tibetan marauders supported by Buddhist lamas killed 10 priests and destroyed all but one Catholic mission which was based in Yerkalo.[4]

In 1939, the parish of Yerkalo received devotional statues of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.[5]

According to the Xinhua news agency, the establishment of a small Catholic parish in Tibet was not an easy task. Enmity from the local Tibetan Buddhist monks from the Karma Gon Monastery culminated in the killing of one of Father Biet's successors, Maurice Tornay in August 11, 1949.

Architecture

The exterior of the church features traditional Tibetan design while the interior has European Gothic designs. The church holds weekly services in the Tibetan language. As of 2014, the church had one priest, two sisters and serves a estimated 559 worshippers around the area.[6]

See also

Bibliography

29.0432°N 98.6105°W

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lim . Francis Khek Gee . May 7, 2013 . Christianity in Contemporary China: Socio-cultural Perspectives . "Routledge Studies in Asian Religion and Philosophy" series . Milton Park . Routledge . 111–112 . 9781136204999.
  2. Web site: A Catholic church in Tibet - China.org.cn. www.china.org.cn. 2017-01-21.
  3. Web site: Père Desgodins Auguste . Gratuze . Gaston . 1968 . mission-thibet.org . fr . 16 September 2023.
  4. News: Pomfret. John. 4 December 2000. Faith In Shangri-La. 23 August 2020. The Washington Post.
  5. Web site: Rapport des missions : Tatsienlu . . 1939 . irfa.paris . fr . 1 . 18 September 2023.
  6. Web site: 11 March 2014. The only catholic church in use in Tibet. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140311231727/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/travel/2014-03/11/content_17337557.htm . 2014-03-11 . 2020-08-23. China Daily.