An overview of the Missions Étrangères de Paris in China: 1684-1955
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the arrival of the first European ships brings Christianity to the doorstep of a vast China. It is only in 1684 however, with Mgr François Pallu (陸方濟), that the MEP enter China for the first time. Their work is rapidly hindered by the effects of the “Chinese rituals quarrel”. From 1645 onwards, and for more than a century, the quarrel involves great MEP figures such as Mgr Charles Maigrot (嚴檔), whose 1693 mandate reignites heated debates. In 1696, the MEP are assigned to the Sichuan(四川) and Yunnan (云南) apostolic vicariates by Rome. Despite the 1706 imperial edict demanding that every missionary respects the traditional Confucian rituals, the MEP secretly continue with their apostolate.
From 1715 (Ex illa die papal bull condemning the Chinese rituals) until the First opium war in 1840, the MEP missionaries are located primarily in the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, where they rely on the colossal work of Chinese priests and catechists like André Li, handling their ministry despite the persecutions and the absence of subsidies from Europe. Many Chinese Christians will die as martyrs during the second half of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century.
From 1840 until the advent of the Republic of China in 1912, the colonial period brings about major changes as it allows for a relative acceptance of the Christian missionaries’ presence. However, because this presence is imposed through gunboat diplomacy from European nations, the missionaries are met with a growing hostility from the local populations. Despite the protection provided by unbalanced treaties, the missionaries, whose presence is associated with the invader, experience new persecutions. The martyr Father Augustin Chapdelaine 馬賴 (1842) is a perfect example.
Simultaneously, the missionaries explore uncharted territories, like Manchuria (assigned to the MEP by Rome in 1838) and Tibet (multiple attempts from 1846 onwards). They also widen their scope of action to the Guangdong (广东) (from 1848), Guizhou (贵州) (1860), and Guangxi (广西) (1875) provinces. The human and financial resources required for their operations are to be found in the Macao/Hong Kong procure, the central hub of the missionary activities.
Between 1912 and 1949, China is dragged into a complex cycle of alliances and must face up to the aggressivity of its Japanese neighbour, whose incursions on Chinese territory are multiplying. The work of the MEP is therefore affected by wars and the Vatican diplomacy somehow tries to adapt to the major upheavals the country is going through. In this context, the MEP apostolic visitor Mgr Jean-Baptiste Budes de Guébriant (光若翰) distinguishes himself by finding new ways to facilitate apostolate activities. However, the MEP’s adventure in China draws to an abrupt end with the advent of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, as the new regime orders the deportation of all missionaries between 1951 and 1955.
©IRFA, CHINE vue panoramique Canton bt 10
Timeline of the MEP in China
1576: Gregory XIII sets up the first Chinese episcopal see in the Portuguese colony of Macao, and grants it jurisdiction over the whole territory of China, Japan and the surrounding islands
1658: Mgrs Lambert de la Motte (郞伯爾), François Pallu, Ignace Cotolendi are appointed as apostolic vicars of China and are charged with reaching continental China.
1684: François Pallu is the first MEP to enter China through Fujian (福建).
1685: Creation of the Canton procure.
1696: Artus de Lionne (梁弘任 ) and Mgr Le Blanc (雷勃郎 ou 李斐理), P. Danry (但利 ou 湯), are respectively appointed as bishop of Fujian and apostolic vicars of Sichuan and Yunnan.
There are approximately a hundred European missionaries and 200,000 Christian neophytes in China.
Mgr Maigrot becomes bishop of Fujian.
1645-1715: “Chinese rituals quarrel”; debates on whether Confucian practices and rituals should be prohibited or not.
1700: arrival of two MEP missionaries in Sichuan. Artus de Lionne is the named bishop of Fuzhou (福州), Sichuan
1702: arrival of two MEP missionaries in Yunnan, Mgr Leblanc et P. Danry.
1706: prohibition of Christianity by imperial edict.
1706-1780: no more MEP presence in Yunnan because of severe persecution.
19th of March 1715: Ex illa Die papal bull condemning traditional Chinese rituals and prohibiting missionaries from signing the piao. Christians are persecuted by the Chinese imperial authorities in the following years.
1732: Andre Li (李安德) arrives in Sichuan. Emperor Yongzheng’s edict expels all the missionaries in Guangdong.
The Canton procure is transferred to Macao.
8 janvier 1753 : a roman decree grnts the MEP jurisdiction over Sichuan.
1767: François Pottier (薄方濟) is appointed as the apostolic vicar of the Sichuan province.
1802: the Sichuan province is comprised of 40,000 Christians and 16 chinese priests
1803: 1st Chinese synod, gathered in Sichuan.
1774-1815: severe persecutions against the Sichuan Christians, martyrdom of Jean Martin Moye 梅耶 (1774), Pierre Wu Guosheng (1812), Mgr Taurin Dufresse 徐德新 and Augustin Zhao (1815).
1838: the Propaganda Fide hands over a part of Manchuria to the MEP.
Emmanuel Verolles (方濟各 ou 吳樂爾 ) is chosen as apostolic vicar of Manchuria.
1839-1842: First opium war.
1842: arrival of Father Napoléon Libois 李播 (procurator) in Macao.
1843: P. Jospeh Ponsot (袁棚索) is consecrated bishop of Chongqing (重庆). The Yunnan province comprises of 4,000 Christians and 30 missions.
24th of October 1844: the Whampoa treaty signed by Théodore de Langernée, organises extensive protection for the missionaries.
1847: the Macao procure is transferred to Hong Kong.
1848: the Propaganda Fide puts the MEP in charge of the Guangdong mission.
1846-1854: attempt and failure to establish missions in Tibet.
1856: execution of Mgr Augustin Chapdelaine, French enters the Second opium war siding with the English as retribution.
October 1858: Beijing Convention, Christianism is officially approved.
1860: Sichuan is divided into three apostolic vicariates, all handed over to the MEP: Western Sichuan, Eastern Sichuan, and Southern Sichuan.
Louie Faurie (胡縛理) is nominated apostolic vicar of Guizhou.
1861: Mgr Pinchon (洪廣化) becomes the head of the Western Sichuan vicariate. During the next 30 years under his supervision, a large number of churches and schools are build, as well as a seminary in Ho-pa-tchang (Hebachang). in 1891, there are 31 missionaries managing 40,000 Christian in 1891.
1864: Creation of the Shanghai (上海) procure.
18th of February 1862: Father Jean-Pierre Néel (文乃而) is decapitated with his catechists and the virgin Lucie Yi. The French consulate destroys the yamen (tribunal) in Guiyang and builds a church of martyrs on its ruins.
1871 : P. Paul Farges (方羅日) arrives in the disctrict of Tchen-kou (Chenkou) in Oriental Sichuan.
1875: Mgr Foucard (富幹道) is appointed as first apostolic prefect of Guangxi.
The Bethany sanatorium is built in Hong-Kong.
1881: Mgr Chausse (邵) is nominated apostolic vicar of Guangdong. By the time of his death in 1900, the Guangdong province comprises of 57 MEP missionaries, 12 indigenous priests and 42,000 Christians.
1883-1885: Franco-Chinese war, which provokes the growing discontent of the local population and repeated persecutions against the Christians.
1885: the Nazareth print is built in Hong Kong.
1886 : Mgr Chatagnon (沙德隆) is put in charge of the Meridonial Sichuan mission, for an episopate that will last for 33 years. This mission is comprised of 25 missionaries administering 18 000 christians.
1891 : Mgr Chouvellon (舒福隆) becomes apostolic vicar of the Oriental Sichuan mission for 33 years. He builds a hospital in Chongqing and establishes the newsletter “La Vérité”.
1898: P. Mathieu Bertolet (蘇安寧) is killed in the Guangxi province.
1900: Boxer Rebellion, 11 MEP missionaries die between 1900 and 1905.
1919-1933: attempts to transfer offices to a local clergy, an effort lead notably by Mgr de Guébriant.
1937-1945: Sino-Japanese war, 8 MEP fathers are killed.
Février 1946 : Mgr Thomas Tian is named cardinal by pope Pie XII, during a process of transition between a missionary clergy and a local clergy
April 1946: the pope officially establishes the diocesan hierarchy in China. For 5,788 active priests in China, 2,698 are Chinese and 313 missionaries are officially affiliated with the MEP.
1st of October 1949: Mao Zedong proclaims the People’s Republic of China.
1949-1955: deportation of all the missionaries from China (5,000 priests and clergymen).
