Paris Foreign Missions Society
Encyclopedia
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris is a Roman Catholic missionary organization
. It is not a religious order
, but an organization of secular priests
and lay persons
dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris was established 1658-63. In 1659, the instructions for the establishment of the Paris Foreign Missions Society were given by Rome's Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and marked the creation of a missionary institution that did not depend on the control of the traditional missionary and colonial powers of Spain or Portugal. In the 350 years since its foundation, the institution has sent more than 4.200 missionary priests to Asia and North America, with the mission of adapting to local customs, establishing a native clergy
, and keeping close contacts with Rome.
In the 19th century, the local persecutions of missionary priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was often a pretext for French military intervention in Asia. In Vietnam
, the persecutions were used by the French government to justify the armed interventions of Jean-Baptiste Cécille
and Rigault de Genouilly. In China, the murder of Father Auguste Chapdelaine
became the casus belli
for the French involvement in the Second Opium War
in 1856. In Korea
, persecutions were used to justify the 1866 French campaign against Korea
.
Today, the Paris Foreign Missions Society remains an active institution in the evangelization of Asia.
The traditional colonial powers of Spain and Portugal had initially received from the Pope
an exclusive agreement to evangelize conquered lands, a system known as Padroado Real in Portuguese and Patronato real in Spanish. After some time however, Rome grew dissatisfied with the Padroado system, due to its limited means, strong involvement with politics, and dependence on the kings of Spain and Portugal for any decision.
From a territorial standpoint also, Portugal had been losing ground against the new colonial powers of England and Holland, meaning that it was becoming less capable of evangelizing new territories. In territories that it used to control, Portugal had seen some disasters; for instance, Japanese Christianity
was being eradicated since around 1620. Finally, Roman officials had doubts about the efficacy of religious orders, such as the Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits or Barnabites
, since they were highly vulnerable in case of persecutions. They did not seem able to develop local clergy, who would be less vulnerable to state persecution. Sending bishops to develop a strong local clergy seemed to be the solution to achieve future expansion:
As early as 1622 Pope Gregory XV
, wishing to take back control of the missionary efforts, had established the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, commonly known as Propaganda
) with the objective of bringing to the Catholic faith non-Catholic Christians (Protestants, Oriental Christians
), but also inhabitants of the American continent and Asia. In order to do so, Rome resurrected the system of Apostolic vicars
, who would report directly to Rome in their missionary efforts, and would be responsible to create a native clergy.
On the field, violent conflicts would erupt between the Padroado
and the Propaganda
during the 17th and 18th centuries (when the first missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society left for the Far East, the Portuguese had orders to capture them and send them to Lisbon
). The creation of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was well-aligned with Rome's efforts to at develop the role of the Propaganda.
The creation of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was initiated when the Jesuit Father Alexandre de Rhodes, back from Vietnam and asking for the dispatch of numerous missionaries to the Far East
, obtained in 1650 an agreement by Pope Innocent X
to send secular priests
and bishops as missionaries. Alexandre de Rhodes received in Paris in 1653 a strong financial and organizational support from the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement for the establishment of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Alexander de Rhodes found secular clergy
volunteers in Paris in the persons of François Pallu
and Pierre Lambert de la Motte
and later Ignace Cotolendi
, the first members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, who were sent to the Far-East as Apostolic vicariate
.
Due to the strong opposition of Portugal and the death of Pope Innocent X the project was stalled for several years however, until the candidates to the missions decided to go by themselves to Rome in June 1657.
On 29 July 1658, the two chief founders of the Paris Foreign Missions Society were ordained as bishops in the Vatican
, becoming Mgr Pallu, Bishop of Heliopolis
, Vicar apostolic of Tonkin, Mgr Lambert de la Motte, Bishop of Beirut
, Vicar Apostolic of Cochinchina. On 9 September 1659, the Pope defined the territories they would have to administer: for Mgr Pallu, Tonkin, Laos
, and five adjacent provinces of southern China (Yunnan
, Guizhou
, Huguang
, Guangxi
, Sichuan
), for Mgr Lambert de la Motte, Cochinchina and five provinces of southeastern China (Zhejiang
, Fujian
, Guangdong
, Jiangxi
, Hainan
). In 1660 the third founder was ordained as Mgr Cotolendi, Bishop of Metellopolis, Vicar apostolic of Nanjing
, with also five provinces of China.
All of them were nominated Bishops in partibus infidelium ("In areas of the Infidels
", i.e. Heliopolis
, Beirut
, Metellopolis etc...), receiving long-disappeared bishopric titles from areas that had been lost, in order not to compromise contemporary bishopric titles and avoid conflicts with the bishopries established through the padroado system. In 1658 also, François de Laval
was nominated Vicar Apostolic of Canada, and Bishop of Petra
in partibus infidelium, becoming the first Bishop of New France
, and in 1663 he would found the Séminaire de Québec with the support of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.
The Society itself ("Assemblée des Missions") was formally established by the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement in 1658. The object of the new society was and is still the evangelization of non-Christian countries, by founding churches and raising up a native clergy under the jurisdiction of the bishops. The creation of the Paris Foreign Missions Society coincided with the establishment of the French East India Company
.
In order to dispatch the three missionaries to Asia, the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement established a trading company (the "Compagnie de Chine
", founded 1660). A ship, the Saint-Louis, was built in the Netherlands by the shipowner Fermanel, but the ship foundered soon after being launched. At the same time, the establishment of a trading compagny and the perceived threat of French missionary efforts to Asia was met with huge opposition by the Jesuits, the Portuguese
, the Dutch
and even the Propaganda
, leading to the issuing of an interdiction of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement by Cardinal Mazarin in 1660. In spite of these events, the King, the Assembly of the French Clergy, the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement and private donors accepted to finance the effort, and the three bishop managed to depart, although they now had to travel on land.
The three bishops chosen for Asia left France (1660–62) to go to their respective missions, and crossed Persia and India on foot, since Portugal would have refused to take non-Padroado
missionaries by ship, and the Dutch and the English refused to take Catholic missionaries. Mgr Lambert left Marseilles on 26 November 1660, and reached Mergui
in Siam 18 months later, Mgr Pallu joined Mgr Lambert in the capital of Siam Ayutthaya
after 24 months overland, and Mgr Cotolendi died upon arrival in India on 6 August 1662. Siam thus became the first country to receive the evangilization efforts of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, to be followed by new missions 40 years later in Cochinchina, Tonkin and parts of China.
The mission had the objective of adapting to local customs, establishing a native clergy
, and keeping close contacts with Rome. In 1659, instructions were given by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (known as the "Propaganda"):
Instructions were also given to the effect that respecting the habits of the countries to be evangilized was paramount, a guiding principle of the Missions ever since:
The Seminary (Séminaire des Missions Étrangères) was created in March 1663, when Mgr Jean Duval, ordained under the name Bernard de Sainte Thérèse and nominated Bishop of Babylon (modern Iraq
) in 1638, offered the deserted buildings of his own Seminary for Missions to Persia, which he had created in 1644 at 128 Rue du Bac. On 10 March 1664, Father Vincent de Meur was nominated as the first Director of the Seminary, and officially became Superior of the Seminary on 11 June 1664.
The Seminary was established so that the society might recruit members and administer its property, through the actions of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement and by the priests whom the vicars Apostolic had appointed their agents. This house, whose directors were to form young priests to the apostolic life and transmit to the bishops the offerings made by charity, was, and is still situated in Paris in the Rue du Bac.
Known from the beginning as the Seminary
of Foreign Missions, it secured the approval of Pope Alexander VII
, and the legal recognition of the French Government and Louis XIV in 1663. In 1691 the chapel was established, and in 1732 the new, larger, building was completed.
Another wing, perpendicular to the 1732 one, was added in the 19th century to accommodate the great increase in members of the Seminary.
, Siam (the Seminary of Saint Joseph, at the origin of the College General
now in Penang
, Malaysia), the evangelization of Tonkin, Cochinchina, Cambodia, and Siam, where more than 40,000 Christians were baptized, the creation of an institute of Vietnamese
nuns known as "Lovers of the Cross", the establishment of rules among catechists, and the ordination of thirty native priests. Between 1660 and 1700 about 100 missionnaries were sent to Asia.
For the Paris Foreign Missions Society the starting point was Siam, with the establishment of a base in its capital Ayutthaya
, because Siam was highly tolerant of other religions and was indeed the only country in Southeast Asia where the Catholic Fathers could establish themselves safely. With the agreement of the Siamese king Narai
, the Seminary of Saint Joseph was established, which could educate Asian candidate priests from all the country of the Southeast Asian peninsula, as well as a cathedral. The College remained in Siam for a century, until the conquest of Siam by Burma in 1766.
Besides these events of purely religious interest there were others in the political order: through their initiative a more active trade was established between Indo-China, the Indies
, and France; embassies were sent from place to place; treaties were signed. In 1681 or 1682, the Siamese king Narai
, who was seeking to reduce Dutch and English influence, named Governor of Phuket
the French medical missionary Brother René Charbonneau
, a member of the Siam mission of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Charbonneau held the position of Governor until 1685. In 1687 a French expedition to Siam took possession of Bangkok
, Mergui
, and Jonselang, and France came close to possessing an Indo-Chinese empire, though failed following the 1688 Siamese revolution
, with a knock-on effect on the missions. Mgr Louis Laneau
of the Society was involved in these events, and was imprisoned for two years with half of the members of the Seminar until he could resume his activities.
In 1702, Artus de Lionne
, Bishop of Rosalie, and missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society brought one of the first Chinese to France, Arcadio Huang
, who created the basis for the study of the Chinese language in France.
In the second half of the 18th century the Society was charged with the missions which the Jesuits had possessed in India prior to their suppression in Portugal. Many of the Jesuits remained there. The missions thereupon assumed new life, especially in Sichuan
, under bishops Pottier and Dufresse, and in Cochinchina.
In Cochinchina, Mgr Pigneau de Behaine
acted as an agent for Nguyễn Phúc Ánh, a pretender to the throne, in making a treaty with France (the 1787 Treaty of Versailles
). Pigneau de Behaine assisted Nguyễn Phúc Ánh in obtaining the support of several French soldiers and officers, modernizing his army, and ultimately gaining victory over the Tây Sơn.
halted the growth of the society, which had previously been very rapid. At that time it had six bishops, a score of missionaries, assisted by 135 native priests; in the various missions there were nine seminaries with 250 students, and 300,000 Christians. Each year the number of baptisms rose on an average of 3000 to 3500; that of infant baptisms in articulo mortis was more than 100,000.
On 23 March 1805, Napoléon signed a decree reinstating the Paris Foreign Missions Society. In 1809 however, following a conflict with the Pope, Napoléon cancelled his decision. The Missions would be firmly re-established through a decree by Louis XVIII in March 1815.
Several causes contributed to the rapid growth of the Society in the 19th century; chiefly the charity of the Propagation of the Faith and the Society of the Holy Childhood. Each bishop received annually 1200 francs, each mission had its general needs and works allowance, which varied according to its importance, and could amount to from 10,000 to 30,000 francs.
The second cause was persecution. Fifteen missionaries died in prison or were beheaded during the 17th and 18th centuries and the beginning of the 19th century; but after that those killed among the missionaries were very numerous. (See Martyr Saints of China
). Altogether, about 200 MEP missionaries died of violent death. Among them 23 were beatified, of whom 20 were canonized, with an additional 3 in 2000.
Authors such as Chateaubriand, with his Génie du christianisme
, also contributed to the recovery of the militant spirit of Catholicism, after the troubles of the French Revolution
.
By 1820, the territory of the Missions, which included India since the prohition of the Company of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1776, extended to Korea, Japan, Manchuria
, Tibet
, Burma, Malaysia etc...
In the 19th century, the local persecutions of missionnary priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was often a pretext for French military intervention in Asia, based on the doctrine of the Protectorate of missions
. These persecutions were described in Europe by books, pamphlets, annals, and journals, inspiring numerous young men either with the desire for martyrdom or that of evangelization. They played a part in inspiring European nations, especially France and England, to intervene in Indochina
and China.
Another cause of the progress of the missionaries was the ease and frequency of communication in consequence of the invention of steam and the opening of the Suez Canal
. A voyage could be made safely in one month which formerly required eight to ten months amid many dangers. In Vietnam, the persecutions of numerous priests such as Pierre Borie
or Augustin Schoeffer
was used as a justification for the armed interventions of Jean-Baptiste Cécille
and Rigault de Genouilly, ultimately leading to the occupation of Vietnam and the creation of French Indochina
. In Korea, the beheading of Siméon-François Berneux
and other priests justified the 1866 French Campaign against Korea
.
In 1825, emperor Minh Mạng
, the son and successor of Gia Long
, prohibited foreign missionaries in Vietnam, on the grounds that they perverted the people. The prohibition proved largely ineffective, as missionaries continued their activities in Vietnam, and participated in armed rebellions against Minh Mạng, as in the Lê Văn Khôi revolt
(1833–1835). He totally banned Catholicism, as well as French and Vietnamese priests (1833–1836), leading to persecutions of French missionaries. These included the martyrdom of Joseph Marchand
in 1835 or Pierre Borie
in 1838. These events served in France to stoke a desire among young men to intervene and protect the Catholic faith.
Ming Man's successor, Thiệu Trị
, upheld the anti-Catholic policy of his predecessor. In 1843, the French Foreign Minister François Guizot
sent a fleet to Vietnam under Admiral Jean-Baptiste Cécille
and Captain Charner,. The action also was related to the British successes in China in 1842, and France hoped to be able to establish trade with China from the south. The pretext was to support British efforts in China, and to fight the persecution of French missionaries in Vietnam.
In 1847, Cécille sent two warships (Gloire and Victorieuse) under Captain Lapierre to Da Nang
(Tourane) in Vietnam to obtain the release of two imprisoned French missionaries, Bishop Dominique Lefèbvre
(imprisoned for a second time as he had re-entered Vietnam illegally) and Duclos, and freedom of worship for Catholics in Vietnam. As negotiations drew on without results, on April 15, 1847 a fight named the Bombardment of Đà Nẵng erupted between the French fleet and Vietnamese ships, three of which were sunk as a result. The French fleet sailed away.
Other missionaries were martyred during the reign of Emperor Tự Đức, such as Augustin Schoeffer
in 1851 and Jean Louis Bonnard
in 1852, prompting the Paris Foreign Missions Society to ask the French government for a diplomatic intervention. In 1858, Charles Rigault de Genouilly
attacked Vietnam under the orders of Napoleon III following the failed mission of diplomat Charles de Montigny
. His stated mission was to stop the persecution of Catholic missionaries in the country and assure the unimpeded propagation of the faith. Rigault de Genouilly, with 14 French gunships, 3,000 men and 300 Filipino troops provided by the Spanish, attacked the port of Da Nang in 1858, causing significant damage, and occupying the city. After a few months, Rigault had to leave due to problems with supplies and illnesses among many of his troops. Sailing south, De Genouilly captured Saigon, a poorly defended city, on 18 February 1859. This was the beginning of the French conquest of Cochinchina.
Ten martyrs of the M.E.P. were canonized by John-Paul II, 19 June 1988, as part of 117 martyrs of Vietnam, including 11 Dominican
Fathers, 37 Vietnamese priests, and 59 Vietnamese laics:
.jpg)
In the mid-19th century that the first western Catholic missionaries began to enter Korea. This was done by stealth, either via the Korean border with Manchuria or the Yellow Sea. These French missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society arrived in Korea in the 1840s to proselytize to a growing Korean flock that had in fact independently introduced Catholicism into Korea but needed ordained ministers.
of Capsa
. On 14 May 1837, he was ordained Titular Bishop of Capsa and crossed secretly from Manchuria to Korea the same year. On 10 August 1839, Bishop Imbert, who was secretly going about his missionary work, was betrayed. He was taken to Seoul
where he was tortured to reveal the whereabouts of foreign missionaries. He wrote a note to his fellow missionaries, Fathers Pierre-Philibert Maubant and Jacques-Honoré Chastan, asking them to surrender to the Korean authorities as well. They were taken before an interrogator and questioned for three days to reveal the names and whereabouts of their converts. As torture failed to break them down, they were sent to another prison and beheaded on 21 September 1839 at Saenamteo. Their bodies remained exposed for several days but were finally buried on Noku Mountain.
Bishop Siméon-François Berneux
, appointed in 1856 as head of the infant Korean Catholic church, estimated in 1859 that the number of Korean faithful had reached nearly 17,000. At first the Korean court turned a blind eye to such incursions. This attitude changed abruptly, however, with the enthronement of King Gojong in 1864. By the time the Heungseon Daewongun assumed de facto control of the government in 1864 there were twelve French Paris Foreign Missions Society priests living and preaching in Korea and an estimated 23,000 native Korean converts.
In January, 1866 Russian ships appeared on the east coast of Korea demanding trading and residency rights in what seemed an echo of the demands made on China by other western powers. Native Korean Christians, with connections at court, saw in this an opportunity to advance their cause and suggested an alliance between France and Korea to repel the Russian advances, suggesting further that this alliance could be negotiated through Bishop Berneux. The Heungseon Daewongun seemed open to this idea, though it is uncertain whether this was ruse to bring the head of the Korean Catholic Church out into the open. Berneux was summoned to the capital, but upon his arrival in February 1866, he was seized and executed. A roundup then began of the other French Catholic priests and native converts.
As a result of the Korean dragnet all but three of the French missionaries were captured and executed: among them were Bishop Siméon Berneux, Bishop Antoine Daveluy, Father Just de Bretenières, Father Louis Beaulieu, Father Pierre Henri Dorié, Father Pierre Aumaître, Father Luc Martin Huin, all of them members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and canonized by Pope John Paul II
on 6 May 1984. An untold number of Korean Catholics also met their end (estimations run around 10,000), many being executed a place called Jeoldu-san
in Seoul on the banks of the Han River. In late June 1866 one of the three surviving French missionaries, Father Felix-Claire Ridel, managed to escape via a fishing vessel and make his way to Tianjin
, China in early July 1866. Fortuitously in Tianjin at the time of Ridel's arrival was the commander of the French Far Eastern Squadron, Rear Admiral Pierre-Gustave Roze
. Hearing of the massacre and the affront to French national honor, Roze determined to launch a punitive expedition
, the French Campaign against Korea, 1866
.
Ten martyrs of the M.E.P. were canonized by John-Paul II, 6 May 1984, as part of 103 canonized martyrs of Korea
, including André Kim Tegong, the first Korean priest, and 92 Korean laics:
Father Auguste Chapdelaine
, who was preaching illegally in China, was imprisoned, tortured and killed by Chinese authorities in 1856. This event, named the "Father Chapdelaine Incident" became the pretext for the French military intervention in the Second Opium War
.
Three missionaries of the M.E.P. were canonized by Pope John-Paul II on 1 October 2000, as part of 120 Martyrs of China, including 9 Franciscans, 6 Dominicans, 7 Franciscan missionary sisters of Mary, 1 Lazarist, 1 Italian priest of the Foreign Missions of Milan, 4 Chinese priests and 83 Chinese laics:
After the suppression of Christianity in Japan
from around 1620 and nearly two century of strictly enforced seclusion thereafter, various contacts occurred from the middle of the 19th century as France was trying to expand its influence in Asia. After the signature of the Treaty of Nanking
by Great Britain in 1842, both France and the United States tried to increase their efforts in the Orient.
The first attempts at resuming contacts occurred with the Ryūkyū Kingdom
(modern Okinawa), a vassal of the Japanese fief of Satsuma since 1609. In 1844, a French naval expedition under Captain Fornier-Duplan onboard Alcmène visited Okinawa on April 28, 1844. Trade was denied, but Father Forcade of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was left behind with a Chinese translator, named Auguste Ko. Forcade and Ko remained in the Temple of Amiku, city of Tomari
, under strict surveillance, only able to learn the Japanese language from monks. After a period of one year, on May 1, 1846, the French ship Sabine, commanded by Guérin, arrived, soon followed by La Victorieuse, commanded by Rigault de Genouilly, and Cléopâtre, under Admiral Cécille. They came with the news that Pope Gregory XVI
had nominated Forcade Bishop
of Samos
and Vicar Apostolic of Japan. Cécille offered the kingdom French protection against British expansionism, but in vain, and only obtained that two missionaries could stay.
Forcade and Ko were picked up to be used as translators in Japan, and father Leturdu was left in Tomari, soon joined by Father Mathieu Adnet. On July 24, 1846, Admiral Cécille arrived in Nagasaki, but failed in his negotiations and was denied landing, and Bishop Forcade never set foot in mainland Japan. The Ryu-Kyu court in Naha complained in early 1847 about the presence of the French missionaries, who had to be removed in 1848.
France would have no further contacts with Okinawa for the next 7 years, until news came that Commodore Perry
had obtained an agreement with the islands on July 11, 1854, following his treaty with Japan. France sent an embassy under Rear-Admiral Cécille onboard La Virginie in order to obtain similar advantages. A convention was signed on November 24, 1855.
As contacts between France and Japan delopped during the Bakumatsu period (on the military side this is the period of the first French military mission to Japan), Japan was formed into a unique Vicariate Apostolic from 1866 until 1876. The Vicariate was administered by Mgr Petitjean, of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (1866–1884).
A sanatorium
for sick missionaries was established in Hong Kong
(Béthanie
); another in India among the Nilgiri
mountains, and a third in France. In Hong Kong there were also a house of spiritual retreat and a printing establishment (Nazareth
) which published works of art of the Far East - dictionaries, grammars, books of theology, piety, Christian doctrine, and pedagogy
. Houses of correspondence, or agencies, were established in the Far East, in Shanghai
, Hong Kong
, Saigon, Singapore, and one in Marseilles, France.
The crypt
at the Paris Foreign Missions Society headquarters located Rue du Bac houses a permanent display called "Salle des Martyrs" ("Room of the Martyrs"). Numerous artifacts are on display, mainly remains and relics of martyred members of the missions, depictions of various martyrdoms endured during the history of the missions, and objects related to the Catholic faith in the various countries of Asia. Also, historical archives and graphic material are available, regarding the details of the missions. The Salle des Martyrs can be visited for free from Tuesday to Saturday, from 11:00 to 18:30, and on Sundays from 13:00 to 18:00.
Another, much larger, exhibition is located on the ground floor of the main building of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Established as a temporary exhibition in 2007-2008, it remains in place but is now closed to the general public. It is only opened for visits once a year during the free-access "Journée des Musées Nationaux", although there seem to be plans to make it a permanent exhibition in the near future.
The park of the Paris Foreign Missions Society is the largest private garden in Paris. It houses various significant artifacts, such as a Chinese bell from Canton
brought to France by the French Admiral Rigault de Genouilly, a stela to Korean Martyrs
and the list of canonized members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. The park can be visited every Saturday at 15:30.
The French writer Chateaubriand lived in an apartment 120 Rue du Bac, with a view on the Park, a fact he mentions in the last paragraph of his Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe
:
Missionary order
A missionary order is a religious order of the Roman Catholic church devoted to active missionary work....
. It is not a religious order
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
, but an organization of secular priests
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
and lay persons
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
dedicated to missionary work in foreign lands.
The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris was established 1658-63. In 1659, the instructions for the establishment of the Paris Foreign Missions Society were given by Rome's Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and marked the creation of a missionary institution that did not depend on the control of the traditional missionary and colonial powers of Spain or Portugal. In the 350 years since its foundation, the institution has sent more than 4.200 missionary priests to Asia and North America, with the mission of adapting to local customs, establishing a native clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
, and keeping close contacts with Rome.
In the 19th century, the local persecutions of missionary priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was often a pretext for French military intervention in Asia. In Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, the persecutions were used by the French government to justify the armed interventions of Jean-Baptiste Cécille
Jean-Baptiste Cécille
Jean-Baptiste Thomas Médée Cécille was a French Admiral and politician who played an important role in Asia.-Military career:...
and Rigault de Genouilly. In China, the murder of Father Auguste Chapdelaine
Auguste Chapdelaine
Father Auguste Chapdelaine was a French Christian missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.-Biography:He was born in La Rochelle-Normande, France...
became the casus belli
Casus belli
is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while means bellic...
for the French involvement in the Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
in 1856. In Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, persecutions were used to justify the 1866 French campaign against Korea
French Campaign against Korea, 1866
The French campaign against Korea of 1866 is also known as Byeong-in yangyo . It refers to the French invasion of Ganghwa Island in Korea in retaliation for the earlier execution by Korea's Joseon Dynasty of French Catholic priests proselytizing in that country...
.
Today, the Paris Foreign Missions Society remains an active institution in the evangelization of Asia.
Background
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
an exclusive agreement to evangelize conquered lands, a system known as Padroado Real in Portuguese and Patronato real in Spanish. After some time however, Rome grew dissatisfied with the Padroado system, due to its limited means, strong involvement with politics, and dependence on the kings of Spain and Portugal for any decision.
From a territorial standpoint also, Portugal had been losing ground against the new colonial powers of England and Holland, meaning that it was becoming less capable of evangelizing new territories. In territories that it used to control, Portugal had seen some disasters; for instance, Japanese Christianity
Kirishitan
, from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Christian missionaries were known as bateren or iruman...
was being eradicated since around 1620. Finally, Roman officials had doubts about the efficacy of religious orders, such as the Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits or Barnabites
Barnabites
The Barnabites, or Clerics Regular of Saint Paul is a Roman Catholic order.-Establishment of the Order :It was founded in 1530 by three Italian noblemen: St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria The Barnabites, or Clerics Regular of Saint Paul (Latin: Clerici Regulares Sancti Pauli, abbr. B.) is a Roman Catholic...
, since they were highly vulnerable in case of persecutions. They did not seem able to develop local clergy, who would be less vulnerable to state persecution. Sending bishops to develop a strong local clergy seemed to be the solution to achieve future expansion:
As early as 1622 Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV
Pope Gregory XV , born Alessandro Ludovisi, was pope from 1621, succeeding Paul V on 9 February 1621...
, wishing to take back control of the missionary efforts, had established the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, commonly known as Propaganda
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for missionary work and related activities...
) with the objective of bringing to the Catholic faith non-Catholic Christians (Protestants, Oriental Christians
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
), but also inhabitants of the American continent and Asia. In order to do so, Rome resurrected the system of Apostolic vicars
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...
, who would report directly to Rome in their missionary efforts, and would be responsible to create a native clergy.
On the field, violent conflicts would erupt between the Padroado
Padroado
The Padroado , was an arrangement between the Holy See and the kingdom of Portugal, affirmed by a series of treaties, by which the Vatican delegated to the kings of Spain and Portugal the administration of the local Churches...
and the Propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
during the 17th and 18th centuries (when the first missionaries of the Paris Foreign Missions Society left for the Far East, the Portuguese had orders to capture them and send them to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
). The creation of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was well-aligned with Rome's efforts to at develop the role of the Propaganda.
Establishment
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, obtained in 1650 an agreement by Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
to send secular priests
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
and bishops as missionaries. Alexandre de Rhodes received in Paris in 1653 a strong financial and organizational support from the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement for the establishment of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Alexander de Rhodes found secular clergy
Secular clergy
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...
volunteers in Paris in the persons of François Pallu
François Pallu
François Pallu was a French bishop. He was a founding member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and became a missionnary in Asia.-Life:...
and Pierre Lambert de la Motte
Pierre Lambert de la Motte
Pierre Lambert de la Motte was a French bishop. He was a founding member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and became a missionary in Asia.-Life:...
and later Ignace Cotolendi
Ignace Cotolendi
Ignace Cotolendi was a French bishop. He was a founding member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society and became a missionnary in Asia.-Life:...
, the first members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, who were sent to the Far-East as Apostolic vicariate
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...
.
Due to the strong opposition of Portugal and the death of Pope Innocent X the project was stalled for several years however, until the candidates to the missions decided to go by themselves to Rome in June 1657.
Ordination of missionary Bishops
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
, becoming Mgr Pallu, Bishop of Heliopolis
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
, Vicar apostolic of Tonkin, Mgr Lambert de la Motte, Bishop of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Vicar Apostolic of Cochinchina. On 9 September 1659, the Pope defined the territories they would have to administer: for Mgr Pallu, Tonkin, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, and five adjacent provinces of southern China (Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
, Huguang
Huguang
Huguang was a province of China during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. It was partitioned in the late Qing Dynasty, becoming the provinces of Hubei and Hunan....
, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
), for Mgr Lambert de la Motte, Cochinchina and five provinces of southeastern China (Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
, Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
, Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
). In 1660 the third founder was ordained as Mgr Cotolendi, Bishop of Metellopolis, Vicar apostolic of Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, with also five provinces of China.
All of them were nominated Bishops in partibus infidelium ("In areas of the Infidels
Infidels
Infidels is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 22nd studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1983.Produced by Mark Knopfler and Dylan himself, Infidels is seen as his return to secular music, following a conversion to Christianity and three evangelical, gospel records...
", i.e. Heliopolis
Baalbek
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude , situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in the Empire...
, Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Metellopolis etc...), receiving long-disappeared bishopric titles from areas that had been lost, in order not to compromise contemporary bishopric titles and avoid conflicts with the bishopries established through the padroado system. In 1658 also, François de Laval
François de Laval
This article is in part a sermon and generally comes close to hagiography.Blessed François-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval was the first Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec and was one of the most influential men of his day. He was appointed when he was 36 years old by Pope Alexander VII. He was a member...
was nominated Vicar Apostolic of Canada, and Bishop of Petra
Petra
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...
in partibus infidelium, becoming the first Bishop of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, and in 1663 he would found the Séminaire de Québec with the support of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.
The Society itself ("Assemblée des Missions") was formally established by the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement in 1658. The object of the new society was and is still the evangelization of non-Christian countries, by founding churches and raising up a native clergy under the jurisdiction of the bishops. The creation of the Paris Foreign Missions Society coincided with the establishment of the French East India Company
French East India Company
The French East India Company was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies in colonial India....
.
Compagnie de Chine
The Compagnie de Chine was a French trading company established in 1660 by the Catholic society Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, in order to dispatch missionaries to Asia...
", founded 1660). A ship, the Saint-Louis, was built in the Netherlands by the shipowner Fermanel, but the ship foundered soon after being launched. At the same time, the establishment of a trading compagny and the perceived threat of French missionary efforts to Asia was met with huge opposition by the Jesuits, the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and even the Propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
, leading to the issuing of an interdiction of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement by Cardinal Mazarin in 1660. In spite of these events, the King, the Assembly of the French Clergy, the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement and private donors accepted to finance the effort, and the three bishop managed to depart, although they now had to travel on land.
The three bishops chosen for Asia left France (1660–62) to go to their respective missions, and crossed Persia and India on foot, since Portugal would have refused to take non-Padroado
Padroado
The Padroado , was an arrangement between the Holy See and the kingdom of Portugal, affirmed by a series of treaties, by which the Vatican delegated to the kings of Spain and Portugal the administration of the local Churches...
missionaries by ship, and the Dutch and the English refused to take Catholic missionaries. Mgr Lambert left Marseilles on 26 November 1660, and reached Mergui
Mergui
Myeik is a city in Tanintharyi Division in Myanmar , located in the extreme south of the country on the coast of an island on the Andaman Sea. the estimated population was over 209,000. The area inland from the city is a major smuggling corridor into Thailand.-History:Myeik was the southernmost...
in Siam 18 months later, Mgr Pallu joined Mgr Lambert in the capital of Siam Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
after 24 months overland, and Mgr Cotolendi died upon arrival in India on 6 August 1662. Siam thus became the first country to receive the evangilization efforts of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, to be followed by new missions 40 years later in Cochinchina, Tonkin and parts of China.
Founding principles
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
, and keeping close contacts with Rome. In 1659, instructions were given by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (known as the "Propaganda"):
Instructions were also given to the effect that respecting the habits of the countries to be evangilized was paramount, a guiding principle of the Missions ever since:
Establishment Rue du Bac, Paris
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
) in 1638, offered the deserted buildings of his own Seminary for Missions to Persia, which he had created in 1644 at 128 Rue du Bac. On 10 March 1664, Father Vincent de Meur was nominated as the first Director of the Seminary, and officially became Superior of the Seminary on 11 June 1664.
The Seminary was established so that the society might recruit members and administer its property, through the actions of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement and by the priests whom the vicars Apostolic had appointed their agents. This house, whose directors were to form young priests to the apostolic life and transmit to the bishops the offerings made by charity, was, and is still situated in Paris in the Rue du Bac.
Known from the beginning as the Seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
of Foreign Missions, it secured the approval of Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...
, and the legal recognition of the French Government and Louis XIV in 1663. In 1691 the chapel was established, and in 1732 the new, larger, building was completed.
Another wing, perpendicular to the 1732 one, was added in the 19th century to accommodate the great increase in members of the Seminary.
1658-1800
The chief events of this period were: the publication of the book Institutions apostoliques, which contains the germ of the principles of the rule, the foundation of the general seminary in AyutthayaAyutthaya (city)
Ayutthaya city is the capital of Ayutthaya province in Thailand. Located in the valley of the Chao Phraya River. The city was founded in 1350 by King U Thong, who went there to escape a smallpox outbreak in Lop Buri and proclaimed it the capital of his kingdom, often referred to as the Ayutthaya...
, Siam (the Seminary of Saint Joseph, at the origin of the College General
College General
The College General is a Roman Catholic seminary located in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, Malaysia. The college's foundation can be traced back to the 1665 establishment of the Seminary of Saint Joseph in Ayuthia which was then the capital of Siam .- Ayuthia :The College General traces its history to...
now in Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Malaysia), the evangelization of Tonkin, Cochinchina, Cambodia, and Siam, where more than 40,000 Christians were baptized, the creation of an institute of Vietnamese
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
nuns known as "Lovers of the Cross", the establishment of rules among catechists, and the ordination of thirty native priests. Between 1660 and 1700 about 100 missionnaries were sent to Asia.
Siam
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
, because Siam was highly tolerant of other religions and was indeed the only country in Southeast Asia where the Catholic Fathers could establish themselves safely. With the agreement of the Siamese king Narai
Narai
Somdet Phra Narai or Somdet Phra Ramathibodi III was the king of Ayutthaya from 1656 to 1688 and arguably the most famous Ayutthayan king. His reign was the most prosperous during the Ayutthaya period and saw the great commercial and diplomatic activities with foreign nations including the...
, the Seminary of Saint Joseph was established, which could educate Asian candidate priests from all the country of the Southeast Asian peninsula, as well as a cathedral. The College remained in Siam for a century, until the conquest of Siam by Burma in 1766.
Besides these events of purely religious interest there were others in the political order: through their initiative a more active trade was established between Indo-China, the Indies
Indies
The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and...
, and France; embassies were sent from place to place; treaties were signed. In 1681 or 1682, the Siamese king Narai
Narai
Somdet Phra Narai or Somdet Phra Ramathibodi III was the king of Ayutthaya from 1656 to 1688 and arguably the most famous Ayutthayan king. His reign was the most prosperous during the Ayutthaya period and saw the great commercial and diplomatic activities with foreign nations including the...
, who was seeking to reduce Dutch and English influence, named Governor of Phuket
Phuket Province
Phuket , formerly known as Thalang and, in Western sources, Junk Ceylon , is one of the southern provinces of Thailand...
the French medical missionary Brother René Charbonneau
René Charbonneau
René Charbonneau was 17th century French medical missionary Brother and a member of the Siam mission of the Société des Missions Etrangères. He was the first medical missionary to Siam and arrived in the country in 1677....
, a member of the Siam mission of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Charbonneau held the position of Governor until 1685. In 1687 a French expedition to Siam took possession of Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Mergui
Mergui
Myeik is a city in Tanintharyi Division in Myanmar , located in the extreme south of the country on the coast of an island on the Andaman Sea. the estimated population was over 209,000. The area inland from the city is a major smuggling corridor into Thailand.-History:Myeik was the southernmost...
, and Jonselang, and France came close to possessing an Indo-Chinese empire, though failed following the 1688 Siamese revolution
Siamese revolution (1688)
The Siamese revolution of 1688 was a major popular upheaval in the Siamese Ayutthaya Kingdom which led to the overthrow of the pro-foreign Siamese king Narai...
, with a knock-on effect on the missions. Mgr Louis Laneau
Louis Laneau
Louis Laneau was a French Bishop of the 17th century who was active in the kingdom of Siam . He was a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society...
of the Society was involved in these events, and was imprisoned for two years with half of the members of the Seminar until he could resume his activities.
In 1702, Artus de Lionne
Artus de Lionne
Artus de Lionne , abbé and Bishop of Rosalie in partibus infidelium, in Turkey, was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was a son of Louis XIV's Foreign Minister, Hugues de Lionne....
, Bishop of Rosalie, and missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society brought one of the first Chinese to France, Arcadio Huang
Arcadio Huang
Arcadio Huang, also Arcadius Huang or Arcade Huang , was a Chinese Christian convert, brought to Paris by the Missions étrangères. He took a pioneering role in the teaching of the Chinese language in France around 1715...
, who created the basis for the study of the Chinese language in France.
In the second half of the 18th century the Society was charged with the missions which the Jesuits had possessed in India prior to their suppression in Portugal. Many of the Jesuits remained there. The missions thereupon assumed new life, especially in Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, under bishops Pottier and Dufresse, and in Cochinchina.
Cochinchina
In Cochinchina, Mgr Pigneau de Behaine
Pigneau de Behaine
Pierre Joseph Georges Pigneau , commonly known as Pigneau de Béhaine, also Pierre Pigneaux and Bá Đa Lộc , was a French Catholic priest best known for his role in assisting Nguyễn Ánh to establish the Nguyễn Dynasty in Vietnam after the Tây Sơn...
acted as an agent for Nguyễn Phúc Ánh, a pretender to the throne, in making a treaty with France (the 1787 Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles (1787)
The Versailles Treaty of 1787 was a treaty of alliance signed between the French king Louis XVI and the Vietnamese Prince Nguyễn Ánh, the future Emperor Gia Long....
). Pigneau de Behaine assisted Nguyễn Phúc Ánh in obtaining the support of several French soldiers and officers, modernizing his army, and ultimately gaining victory over the Tây Sơn.
French revolution
At the end of the 18th century, the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
halted the growth of the society, which had previously been very rapid. At that time it had six bishops, a score of missionaries, assisted by 135 native priests; in the various missions there were nine seminaries with 250 students, and 300,000 Christians. Each year the number of baptisms rose on an average of 3000 to 3500; that of infant baptisms in articulo mortis was more than 100,000.
Nineteenth century
Several causes contributed to the rapid growth of the Society in the 19th century; chiefly the charity of the Propagation of the Faith and the Society of the Holy Childhood. Each bishop received annually 1200 francs, each mission had its general needs and works allowance, which varied according to its importance, and could amount to from 10,000 to 30,000 francs.
Martyr Saints of China
The Martyr Saints of China, or Augustine Zhao Rong and his 119 companions, are saints of the Roman Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western missionaries, from the mid-17th century to 1930, were martyred because of their ministry and, in some cases, for their refusal to apostatize...
). Altogether, about 200 MEP missionaries died of violent death. Among them 23 were beatified, of whom 20 were canonized, with an additional 3 in 2000.
Authors such as Chateaubriand, with his Génie du christianisme
Génie du christianisme
Génie du christianisme is a work by the French author François-René de Chateaubriand, written during his exile in England in the 1790s as a defence of the Catholic Christian religion, then under attack during the French Revolution...
, also contributed to the recovery of the militant spirit of Catholicism, after the troubles of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
By 1820, the territory of the Missions, which included India since the prohition of the Company of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1776, extended to Korea, Japan, Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, Burma, Malaysia etc...
In the 19th century, the local persecutions of missionnary priests of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was often a pretext for French military intervention in Asia, based on the doctrine of the Protectorate of missions
Protectorate of missions
Protectorate of Missions is a term for the right of protection exercised by a Christian power in an 'infidel' country with regard to the persons and establishments of the missionaries...
. These persecutions were described in Europe by books, pamphlets, annals, and journals, inspiring numerous young men either with the desire for martyrdom or that of evangelization. They played a part in inspiring European nations, especially France and England, to intervene in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
and China.
Another cause of the progress of the missionaries was the ease and frequency of communication in consequence of the invention of steam and the opening of the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
. A voyage could be made safely in one month which formerly required eight to ten months amid many dangers. In Vietnam, the persecutions of numerous priests such as Pierre Borie
Pierre Borie
Pierre Dumoulin-Borie was a French Catholic missionary priest and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He is a Catholic saint, canonized in 1988 along with other Vietnamese Martyrs.-Life:...
or Augustin Schoeffer
Augustin Schoeffer
Augustin Schoeffer was a French saint and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was a priest in Lorraine who joined the Foreign Missions of Paris. He worked as a missionary to Indochina and was one of two French missionaries killed in northern...
was used as a justification for the armed interventions of Jean-Baptiste Cécille
Jean-Baptiste Cécille
Jean-Baptiste Thomas Médée Cécille was a French Admiral and politician who played an important role in Asia.-Military career:...
and Rigault de Genouilly, ultimately leading to the occupation of Vietnam and the creation of French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
. In Korea, the beheading of Siméon-François Berneux
Siméon-François Berneux
Siméon-François Berneux was a French Catholic missionary, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who was canonized as a saint....
and other priests justified the 1866 French Campaign against Korea
French Campaign against Korea, 1866
The French campaign against Korea of 1866 is also known as Byeong-in yangyo . It refers to the French invasion of Ganghwa Island in Korea in retaliation for the earlier execution by Korea's Joseon Dynasty of French Catholic priests proselytizing in that country...
.
Vietnam
Minh Mang
Minh Mạng was the second emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from 14 February 1820 until 20 January 1841. He was a younger son of Emperor Gia Long, whose eldest son, Crown Prince Canh, had died in 1801...
, the son and successor of Gia Long
Gia Long
Emperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam...
, prohibited foreign missionaries in Vietnam, on the grounds that they perverted the people. The prohibition proved largely ineffective, as missionaries continued their activities in Vietnam, and participated in armed rebellions against Minh Mạng, as in the Lê Văn Khôi revolt
Le Van Khoi revolt
The Lê Văn Khôi revolt was an important revolt in 19th century Vietnam, in which southern Vietnamese, Vietnamese Catholics, French Catholic missionaries and Chinese settlers under the leadership of Lê Văn Khôi opposed the Imperial rule of Minh Mạng.-Origin:The revolt was spurred by the...
(1833–1835). He totally banned Catholicism, as well as French and Vietnamese priests (1833–1836), leading to persecutions of French missionaries. These included the martyrdom of Joseph Marchand
Joseph Marchand
Joseph Marchand was a French missionary in Vietnam, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society....
in 1835 or Pierre Borie
Pierre Borie
Pierre Dumoulin-Borie was a French Catholic missionary priest and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He is a Catholic saint, canonized in 1988 along with other Vietnamese Martyrs.-Life:...
in 1838. These events served in France to stoke a desire among young men to intervene and protect the Catholic faith.
Thieu Tri
Nguyễn Phúc Miên Tông was the third emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty taking the era name of Thiệu Trị...
, upheld the anti-Catholic policy of his predecessor. In 1843, the French Foreign Minister François Guizot
François Guizot
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, a conservative liberal who opposed the attempt by King Charles X to usurp legislative power, and worked to sustain a constitutional...
sent a fleet to Vietnam under Admiral Jean-Baptiste Cécille
Jean-Baptiste Cécille
Jean-Baptiste Thomas Médée Cécille was a French Admiral and politician who played an important role in Asia.-Military career:...
and Captain Charner,. The action also was related to the British successes in China in 1842, and France hoped to be able to establish trade with China from the south. The pretext was to support British efforts in China, and to fight the persecution of French missionaries in Vietnam.
In 1847, Cécille sent two warships (Gloire and Victorieuse) under Captain Lapierre to Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
(Tourane) in Vietnam to obtain the release of two imprisoned French missionaries, Bishop Dominique Lefèbvre
Dominique Lefèbvre
Dominique Lefèbvre was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, Bishop of Isauropolis in partibus infidelium, and Vicar Apostolic in Vietnam during the 19th century. His imprisonment in Vietnam was a pretext for the first French naval interventions in the country.Dominique...
(imprisoned for a second time as he had re-entered Vietnam illegally) and Duclos, and freedom of worship for Catholics in Vietnam. As negotiations drew on without results, on April 15, 1847 a fight named the Bombardment of Đà Nẵng erupted between the French fleet and Vietnamese ships, three of which were sunk as a result. The French fleet sailed away.
Augustin Schoeffer
Augustin Schoeffer was a French saint and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was a priest in Lorraine who joined the Foreign Missions of Paris. He worked as a missionary to Indochina and was one of two French missionaries killed in northern...
in 1851 and Jean Louis Bonnard
Jean Louis Bonnard
Jean-Louis Bonnard was a French Roman Catholic missionary to Vietnam, one of the Martyrs of Vietnam, canonized in 1988.-Life:...
in 1852, prompting the Paris Foreign Missions Society to ask the French government for a diplomatic intervention. In 1858, Charles Rigault de Genouilly
Charles Rigault de Genouilly
Pierre-Louis-Charles Rigault de Genouilly was a nineteenth-century French admiral...
attacked Vietnam under the orders of Napoleon III following the failed mission of diplomat Charles de Montigny
Charles de Montigny
Louis Charles de Montigny was a French diplomat who was active in Asia during the 19th century.He was the first French consul in Shanghai from January 23, 1848 to June 10, 1853. He founded the Shanghai French Concession in 1849....
. His stated mission was to stop the persecution of Catholic missionaries in the country and assure the unimpeded propagation of the faith. Rigault de Genouilly, with 14 French gunships, 3,000 men and 300 Filipino troops provided by the Spanish, attacked the port of Da Nang in 1858, causing significant damage, and occupying the city. After a few months, Rigault had to leave due to problems with supplies and illnesses among many of his troops. Sailing south, De Genouilly captured Saigon, a poorly defended city, on 18 February 1859. This was the beginning of the French conquest of Cochinchina.
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
Fathers, 37 Vietnamese priests, and 59 Vietnamese laics:
- François-Isidore GagelinFrançois-Isidore GagelinFrançois-Isidore Gagelin was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Vietnam. He died a martyr, and became the first French martyr of the 19th century in Vietnam. He was born in Montperreux, Doubs. He left for Vietnam in 1821...
(1833) - Joseph MarchandJoseph MarchandJoseph Marchand was a French missionary in Vietnam, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society....
(1835) - Jean-Charles CornayJean-Charles CornayJean-Charles Cornay was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in Vietnam. He was born in Loudun, Vienne, France, and was executed in Ha Tay, Vietnam, during the persecutions of Emperor Minh Mạng....
(1837) - François Jaccard (1838)
- Pierre BoriePierre BoriePierre Dumoulin-Borie was a French Catholic missionary priest and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He is a Catholic saint, canonized in 1988 along with other Vietnamese Martyrs.-Life:...
(24 November 1838) - Augustin SchoefferAugustin SchoefferAugustin Schoeffer was a French saint and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was a priest in Lorraine who joined the Foreign Missions of Paris. He worked as a missionary to Indochina and was one of two French missionaries killed in northern...
(1851) - Jean Louis BonnardJean Louis BonnardJean-Louis Bonnard was a French Roman Catholic missionary to Vietnam, one of the Martyrs of Vietnam, canonized in 1988.-Life:...
(1852) - Pierre-François Néron (1860)
- Théophane VénardThéophane VénardSaint Jean-Théophane Vénard, M.E.P. was aFrench Catholic missionary to Indo-China. He was a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society...
(1861) - Stéphane-Théodore Cuenot, vicar Apostolic of Eastern Cochinchina (1861)
Korea
1839 persecutions
On 26 April 1836, Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Korea and Titular BishopTitular bishop
A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of Capsa
Capsa (see)
Capsa is a titular see of North Africa.The city, said to have been founded by the Libyan Hercules, belonged to King Jugurtha, who had deposited his treasures there; it was captured by Gaius Marius in 106 BC and destroyed, but later became a Roman colony. When Africa was divided into two provinces...
. On 14 May 1837, he was ordained Titular Bishop of Capsa and crossed secretly from Manchuria to Korea the same year. On 10 August 1839, Bishop Imbert, who was secretly going about his missionary work, was betrayed. He was taken to Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
where he was tortured to reveal the whereabouts of foreign missionaries. He wrote a note to his fellow missionaries, Fathers Pierre-Philibert Maubant and Jacques-Honoré Chastan, asking them to surrender to the Korean authorities as well. They were taken before an interrogator and questioned for three days to reveal the names and whereabouts of their converts. As torture failed to break them down, they were sent to another prison and beheaded on 21 September 1839 at Saenamteo. Their bodies remained exposed for several days but were finally buried on Noku Mountain.
1866 persecutions
Siméon-François Berneux
Siméon-François Berneux was a French Catholic missionary, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who was canonized as a saint....
, appointed in 1856 as head of the infant Korean Catholic church, estimated in 1859 that the number of Korean faithful had reached nearly 17,000. At first the Korean court turned a blind eye to such incursions. This attitude changed abruptly, however, with the enthronement of King Gojong in 1864. By the time the Heungseon Daewongun assumed de facto control of the government in 1864 there were twelve French Paris Foreign Missions Society priests living and preaching in Korea and an estimated 23,000 native Korean converts.
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
on 6 May 1984. An untold number of Korean Catholics also met their end (estimations run around 10,000), many being executed a place called Jeoldu-san
Jeoldu-san
Jeoldu-san is a rocky promontory overlooking the Han River in the district of Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea...
in Seoul on the banks of the Han River. In late June 1866 one of the three surviving French missionaries, Father Felix-Claire Ridel, managed to escape via a fishing vessel and make his way to Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
, China in early July 1866. Fortuitously in Tianjin at the time of Ridel's arrival was the commander of the French Far Eastern Squadron, Rear Admiral Pierre-Gustave Roze
Pierre-Gustave Roze
Pierre-Gustave Roze was a French admiral. He was born in Toulon, France and throughout his adult life served as a career naval officer. As a young rear admiral he served in Mexico during the French intervention there of 1862. In 1865 he was appointed commander of the French Far Eastern Station...
. Hearing of the massacre and the affront to French national honor, Roze determined to launch a punitive expedition
Punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons outside the borders of the punishing state. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge...
, the French Campaign against Korea, 1866
French Campaign against Korea, 1866
The French campaign against Korea of 1866 is also known as Byeong-in yangyo . It refers to the French invasion of Ganghwa Island in Korea in retaliation for the earlier execution by Korea's Joseon Dynasty of French Catholic priests proselytizing in that country...
.
Ten martyrs of the M.E.P. were canonized by John-Paul II, 6 May 1984, as part of 103 canonized martyrs of Korea
Korean Martyrs
The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against the Catholic Church during the 19th century in Korea. At least 8,000 adherents to the faith were known to have been killed during this persecution, 103 of whom were canonized en masse in 1984.-History:Catholicism had entered...
, including André Kim Tegong, the first Korean priest, and 92 Korean laics:
- Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert (21 September 1839)
- Pierre Maubant (21 September 1839)
- Jacques Chastan (21 September 1839)
- Bishop Siméon-François BerneuxSiméon-François BerneuxSiméon-François Berneux was a French Catholic missionary, and a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who was canonized as a saint....
(8 March 1866) - Bishop Antoine Daveluy (8 March 1866)
- Just de Bretenières (8 March 1866)
- Louis Beaulieu (8 March 1866)
- Pierre Henri DoriéPierre Henri DoriéPierre Henri Dorie was a French missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, who was martyred in Korea in 1866. He was born in Saint-Hilaire-de-Talmont in Vendée....
(30 March 1866) - Pierre Aumaître (30 March 1866)
- Luc Martin Huin (30 March 1866)
China
Auguste Chapdelaine
Father Auguste Chapdelaine was a French Christian missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.-Biography:He was born in La Rochelle-Normande, France...
, who was preaching illegally in China, was imprisoned, tortured and killed by Chinese authorities in 1856. This event, named the "Father Chapdelaine Incident" became the pretext for the French military intervention in the Second Opium War
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...
.
Three missionaries of the M.E.P. were canonized by Pope John-Paul II on 1 October 2000, as part of 120 Martyrs of China, including 9 Franciscans, 6 Dominicans, 7 Franciscan missionary sisters of Mary, 1 Lazarist, 1 Italian priest of the Foreign Missions of Milan, 4 Chinese priests and 83 Chinese laics:
- Gabriel-Taurin Dufresse, vicar Apostolic of SichuanSichuan' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, China (1815) - Auguste ChapdelaineAuguste ChapdelaineFather Auguste Chapdelaine was a French Christian missionary of the Paris Foreign Missions Society.-Biography:He was born in La Rochelle-Normande, France...
, Saint, martyred in China (29 February 1856) - Jean-Pierre Néel, China (1862)
Japan
Kirishitan
, from Portuguese cristão, referred to Roman Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used as a historiographic term for Roman Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. Christian missionaries were known as bateren or iruman...
from around 1620 and nearly two century of strictly enforced seclusion thereafter, various contacts occurred from the middle of the 19th century as France was trying to expand its influence in Asia. After the signature of the Treaty of Nanking
Treaty of Nanking
The Treaty of Nanking was signed on 29 August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Qing Dynasty of China...
by Great Britain in 1842, both France and the United States tried to increase their efforts in the Orient.
The first attempts at resuming contacts occurred with the Ryūkyū Kingdom
Ryukyu Kingdom
The Ryūkyū Kingdom was an independent kingdom which ruled most of the Ryukyu Islands from the 15th century to the 19th century. The Kings of Ryūkyū unified Okinawa Island and extended the kingdom to the Amami Islands in modern-day Kagoshima Prefecture, and the Sakishima Islands near Taiwan...
(modern Okinawa), a vassal of the Japanese fief of Satsuma since 1609. In 1844, a French naval expedition under Captain Fornier-Duplan onboard Alcmène visited Okinawa on April 28, 1844. Trade was denied, but Father Forcade of the Paris Foreign Missions Society was left behind with a Chinese translator, named Auguste Ko. Forcade and Ko remained in the Temple of Amiku, city of Tomari
Tomari, Okinawa
is a neighborhood in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, where the Tomari Terminal of the port of Naha is located. The terminal is used for ferries and passenger vessels which connect Naha and neighboring islands....
, under strict surveillance, only able to learn the Japanese language from monks. After a period of one year, on May 1, 1846, the French ship Sabine, commanded by Guérin, arrived, soon followed by La Victorieuse, commanded by Rigault de Genouilly, and Cléopâtre, under Admiral Cécille. They came with the news that Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...
had nominated Forcade Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Samos
Samoš
Samoš is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Kovačica municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,247 people .-See also:...
and Vicar Apostolic of Japan. Cécille offered the kingdom French protection against British expansionism, but in vain, and only obtained that two missionaries could stay.
France would have no further contacts with Okinawa for the next 7 years, until news came that Commodore Perry
Commodore Perry
Commodore Perry may refer to:* Commodore Matthew Perry , United States Navy officer* Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry , United States Navy officer* Commodore Perry Owens , American gunfighter...
had obtained an agreement with the islands on July 11, 1854, following his treaty with Japan. France sent an embassy under Rear-Admiral Cécille onboard La Virginie in order to obtain similar advantages. A convention was signed on November 24, 1855.
As contacts between France and Japan delopped during the Bakumatsu period (on the military side this is the period of the first French military mission to Japan), Japan was formed into a unique Vicariate Apostolic from 1866 until 1876. The Vicariate was administered by Mgr Petitjean, of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (1866–1884).
20th century
The following table shows the state of the missions at the turn of the 20th century:Missions of Japan and Korea
Total number of
|
Missions of China and Tibet
Total number of
|
Total number of
|
Missions of Western Indo-China
Total number of
|
Total number of
|
A sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
for sick missionaries was established in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
(Béthanie
Béthanie (Hong Kong)
Béthanie is a historical building complex located in Pok Fu Lam, in Hong Kong built in 1875 as a sanatorium by the Paris Foreign Missions Society . It is a Grade II historic building....
); another in India among the Nilgiri
Nilgiris (mountains)
The Nilgiri , often referred to as the Nilgiri Hills, are a range of mountains with at least 24 peaks above , in the westernmost part of Tamil Nadu state at the junction of Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India...
mountains, and a third in France. In Hong Kong there were also a house of spiritual retreat and a printing establishment (Nazareth
University Hall (University of Hong Kong)
University Hall, or just UHall is a historical male students residence of the University of Hong Kong. Uhall is one of the oldest student residence under the university's hall system. The building itself dates back to 1861 when a wealthy Scottish trader named Douglas Lapraik build Douglas Castle...
) which published works of art of the Far East - dictionaries, grammars, books of theology, piety, Christian doctrine, and pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
. Houses of correspondence, or agencies, were established in the Far East, in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Saigon, Singapore, and one in Marseilles, France.
Exhibits
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
at the Paris Foreign Missions Society headquarters located Rue du Bac houses a permanent display called "Salle des Martyrs" ("Room of the Martyrs"). Numerous artifacts are on display, mainly remains and relics of martyred members of the missions, depictions of various martyrdoms endured during the history of the missions, and objects related to the Catholic faith in the various countries of Asia. Also, historical archives and graphic material are available, regarding the details of the missions. The Salle des Martyrs can be visited for free from Tuesday to Saturday, from 11:00 to 18:30, and on Sundays from 13:00 to 18:00.
Another, much larger, exhibition is located on the ground floor of the main building of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Established as a temporary exhibition in 2007-2008, it remains in place but is now closed to the general public. It is only opened for visits once a year during the free-access "Journée des Musées Nationaux", although there seem to be plans to make it a permanent exhibition in the near future.
The park
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
brought to France by the French Admiral Rigault de Genouilly, a stela to Korean Martyrs
Korean Martyrs
The Korean Martyrs were the victims of religious persecution against the Catholic Church during the 19th century in Korea. At least 8,000 adherents to the faith were known to have been killed during this persecution, 103 of whom were canonized en masse in 1984.-History:Catholicism had entered...
and the list of canonized members of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. The park can be visited every Saturday at 15:30.
The French writer Chateaubriand lived in an apartment 120 Rue du Bac, with a view on the Park, a fact he mentions in the last paragraph of his Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe
Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe
Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe - literally "Memoirs from Beyond the Grave" - is an autobiography in 42 volumes by François-René de Chateaubriand, published posthumously in 1848...
:
See also
- France-Asia relations
- Timeline of Christian missionsTimeline of Christian missionsThis timeline of Christian missions chronicles the global expansion of Christianity through a listing of the most important missionary outreach events.-Apostolic Age:.Earliest dates must all be considered approximate...
- Roman Catholic religious orderRoman Catholic religious orderCatholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular ; monastics ; mendicants Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular (canons and canonesses regular...
- Society of Saint-SulpiceSociety of Saint-SulpiceThe Society of Saint-Sulpice is a Catholic Society of Apostolic Life named for Eglise Saint-Sulpice, Paris, in turn named for St. Sulpitius the Pious. Typically, priests become members of the Society of St. Sulpice only after ordination and some years of pastoral work. Uniquely, Sulpicians retain...
- Roman Catholicism in Asia
- Christianity in AsiaChristianity in AsiaChristianity in Asia has its roots in the very inception of Christianity, which originated from the teachings of Jesus Christ. Christianity in Asia then spread through the missionary work of his apostles. Christianity first expanded in the Levant, taking roots in the major cities such as Jerusalem...
- Chinese Rites controversyChinese Rites controversyThe Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry...
- :Category:Paris Foreign Missions Society
- Former French Mission BuildingFormer French Mission BuildingThe Former French Mission Building is a declared monument of Hong Kong. It is located at 1, Battery Path, Central. It currently houses the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong.-Features:...
in Hong Kong