Roman Catholicism in Afghanistan
Encyclopedia
The Roman Catholic Church in Afghanistan is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope
and curia
in Rome
. There are very few Catholics in this overwhelmingly Muslim
country — just over 200 attend mass in its only chapel — and freedom of religion has been difficult to obtain in recent times, especially under the former Taliban regime. On 16 May 2002, Pope John Paul II
established a mission sui iuris
for Afghanistan
with Father Giuseppe Moretti as its first superior. The only Catholic church in the country is the chapel at the Italian
embassy in Kabul
. In 2004, the Missionaries of Charity
arrived in Kabul to carry out humanitarian work.
l Gospel of Thomas
and other ancient documents suggests that Saint Thomas preached in Bactria
, which is today northern Afghanistan. The Nestorians
planted Christianity in the area, and there have been nine bishops and dioceses in the region, including Herat
(424-1310), Farah
(544-1057), Kandahar
, and Balkh
. This early establishment of the Church was overcome by Muslim invasions in the 7th century, though the territory was not substantially controlled by Muslims until the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1581 and 1582 respectively, the Jesuit
and Spanish
Montesserat and the Portuguese
Bento de Góis were warmly welcomed by the Islamic Emperor Akbar
, but there was no lasting presence by the Jesuits in the country.
arrived to start giving pastoral care. The actual pastoral work began in 1933 when the chapel international technicians had asked for was built. In the 1950s, the simple cement chapel was finished.
Pope John Paul II called for a "just solution" to the Soviet–Afghan war in the 1980s. From 1990 to 1994, Father Giuseppe Moretti was the only priest in Afghanistan, but he was forced to leave in 1994 after being hit with shrapnel and had to return to Italy. After 1994, only the Little Sisters of Jesus
were allowed to remain in Afghanistan, as they had been there since 1955 and their work was renowned. An official from the last pro-Communist government of Mohammad Najibullah
went to see Fr Giuseppe Moretti in 1992 with a sketch for a small compound that would be guaranteed immunity. However, nothing came of it as the political situation in Afghanistan unravelled — the civil war escalated and the Taliban came to power. Father Moretti again was forced to flee but he later returned. Following the attacks of September 11, Catholic Relief Services
sent clothing, food and bedding to returning refugees and internally displaced persons. They also bought school supplies for children returning to school.
how to go to the bathroom and how to eat on their own. The small community went through a period of crisis during the kidnapping on May 17, 2005 of Clementina Cantoni, a member of Care International, by four gunmen in Kabul as she walked to her car. Sisters from the Missionaries of Charity
had their house blessed on May 9, 2006, and have already started taking in street children. There had been fears that their distinctive blue and white dress would make them stand out and be harassed by Muslims, but their order is generally respected. Jesuit Relief Services has also applied to join the growing number of religious orders in the country. Jesuit Refuge Services has recently opened a technical school in Herat
for 500 students including 120 girls.
There have been efforts made to start inter-religious dialogue, with the Islamist head of the Afghan Supreme Court. Mullah Fazul Shinwari attended the inauguration of the mission and has expressed a desire to meet with the Pope
.
The Catholic community in Afghanistan is mainly made of foreigners, especially aid workers, and no Afghans currently are part of the Church, mainly due to great social and legal pressure not to convert to non-Islamic religions. Some Afghans have converted while overseas, but they keep it secret when they return. Despite this, the community has grown from only a few nuns to a full Sunday Mass of around 100.
Relations with the new democratic government of Afghanistan have been positive, such as President Hamid Karzai attending Pope John Paul II's funeral and congratulating Pope Benedict XVI
on his election. The nuncio to Pakistan visited Afghanistan in 2005 and held a Mass in the Italian Embassy Chapel to an overflowing crowd, and Catholic officials hope that official diplomatic ties and a public Catholic church will be possible in the future.
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...
and curia
Curia
A curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i.e. more or less a tribe, and with a metonymy it came to mean also the meeting place where the tribe discussed its affairs...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. There are very few Catholics in this overwhelmingly Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
country — just over 200 attend mass in its only chapel — and freedom of religion has been difficult to obtain in recent times, especially under the former Taliban regime. On 16 May 2002, Pope John Paul II
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 ...
established a mission sui iuris
Mission sui iuris
A mission sui iuris, or in Latin missio sui iuris, also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction in an area with very few Catholics, often desolate or remote....
for Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
with Father Giuseppe Moretti as its first superior. The only Catholic church in the country is the chapel at the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
embassy in Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
. In 2004, the Missionaries of Charity
Missionaries of Charity
Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which consists of over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries...
arrived in Kabul to carry out humanitarian work.
History of the Catholic Church in Afghanistan
Legend from the apocryphaApocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
l Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Thomas
The Gospel According to Thomas, commonly shortened to the Gospel of Thomas, is a well preserved early Christian, non-canonical sayings-gospel discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945, in one of a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library...
and other ancient documents suggests that Saint Thomas preached in Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
, which is today northern Afghanistan. The Nestorians
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a Christological doctrine advanced by Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople from 428–431. The doctrine, which was informed by Nestorius's studies under Theodore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch, emphasizes the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus...
planted Christianity in the area, and there have been nine bishops and dioceses in the region, including Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
(424-1310), Farah
Farah, Afghanistan
Farah is a city in western Afghanistan, situated at 650 m altitude, and located on the Farah River. It is the capital of Farah Province, and has a population of approximately 109,409....
(544-1057), Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
, and Balkh
Balkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...
. This early establishment of the Church was overcome by Muslim invasions in the 7th century, though the territory was not substantially controlled by Muslims until the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1581 and 1582 respectively, the Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Montesserat and 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...
Bento de Góis were warmly welcomed by the Islamic Emperor Akbar
Akbar the Great
Akbar , also known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam or Akbar the Great , was the third Mughal Emperor. He was of Timurid descent; the son of Emperor Humayun, and the grandson of the Mughal Emperor Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, the ruler who founded the Mughal dynasty in India...
, but there was no lasting presence by the Jesuits in the country.
The 20th Century
Italy was the first country to recognise Afghanistan’s independence in 1919, and the Afghan government asked how it could thank Italy. Rome requested the right to build a chapel, which was being requested by international technicians then living in the Afghan capital. A clause giving Italy the right to build a chapel within its embassy was included in the Italian-Afghan treaty of 1921, and that same year the BarnabitesBarnabites
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...
arrived to start giving pastoral care. The actual pastoral work began in 1933 when the chapel international technicians had asked for was built. In the 1950s, the simple cement chapel was finished.
Pope John Paul II called for a "just solution" to the Soviet–Afghan war in the 1980s. From 1990 to 1994, Father Giuseppe Moretti was the only priest in Afghanistan, but he was forced to leave in 1994 after being hit with shrapnel and had to return to Italy. After 1994, only the Little Sisters of Jesus
Little Sisters of Jesus
The Little Sisters of Jesus are a Roman Catholic community of religious sisters inspired by the life and writings of Charles de Foucauld, founded by Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus .-Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus 1898 - 1989:...
were allowed to remain in Afghanistan, as they had been there since 1955 and their work was renowned. An official from the last pro-Communist government of Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai , originally merely Najibullah, was the fourth and last President of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He is also considered the second President of the Republic of Afghanistan.-Early years:Najibullah was born in August 1947 to the Ahmadzai...
went to see Fr Giuseppe Moretti in 1992 with a sketch for a small compound that would be guaranteed immunity. However, nothing came of it as the political situation in Afghanistan unravelled — the civil war escalated and the Taliban came to power. Father Moretti again was forced to flee but he later returned. Following the attacks of September 11, Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the U.S. bishops, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 90 countries and territories in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and...
sent clothing, food and bedding to returning refugees and internally displaced persons. They also bought school supplies for children returning to school.
Post-Taliban
The first Mass in 9 years was celebrated on January 27, 2002 for members of the International Security Force and various members of foreign agencies. On May 16, 2002, a mission sui iuris was created for all of Afghanistan. There is only one functioning chapel in the country, and it is the Italian Embassy's chapel. Projects of the new mission include a "Peace School" for 500 students that began construction in August 2003 and will be at "European standards". Three nuns also work with those who have mental disabilities in the capital city, teaching those with cerebral palsyCerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
how to go to the bathroom and how to eat on their own. The small community went through a period of crisis during the kidnapping on May 17, 2005 of Clementina Cantoni, a member of Care International, by four gunmen in Kabul as she walked to her car. Sisters from the Missionaries of Charity
Missionaries of Charity
Missionaries of Charity is a Roman Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, which consists of over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries...
had their house blessed on May 9, 2006, and have already started taking in street children. There had been fears that their distinctive blue and white dress would make them stand out and be harassed by Muslims, but their order is generally respected. Jesuit Relief Services has also applied to join the growing number of religious orders in the country. Jesuit Refuge Services has recently opened a technical school in Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
for 500 students including 120 girls.
There have been efforts made to start inter-religious dialogue, with the Islamist head of the Afghan Supreme Court. Mullah Fazul Shinwari attended the inauguration of the mission and has expressed a desire to meet with the Pope
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...
.
The Catholic community in Afghanistan is mainly made of foreigners, especially aid workers, and no Afghans currently are part of the Church, mainly due to great social and legal pressure not to convert to non-Islamic religions. Some Afghans have converted while overseas, but they keep it secret when they return. Despite this, the community has grown from only a few nuns to a full Sunday Mass of around 100.
Relations with the new democratic government of Afghanistan have been positive, such as President Hamid Karzai attending Pope John Paul II's funeral and congratulating Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
on his election. The nuncio to Pakistan visited Afghanistan in 2005 and held a Mass in the Italian Embassy Chapel to an overflowing crowd, and Catholic officials hope that official diplomatic ties and a public Catholic church will be possible in the future.
See also
- Catholic Church by country
- Christianity in Afghanistan
- Protestantism in Afghanistan