Roman Catholic Church in Thailand

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Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok

The Roman Catholic Church in Thailand is a small diaspora community with an old tradition.

overview

The ten Catholic dioceses (including two archdioceses) in Thailand numbered a total of about 270,000 Catholics, which corresponds to 0.44% of the total population. This means that the Roman Catholic Church has the largest number of members in Thailand (0.75% of the Thai population are Christians). In addition to the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists , the Church of Christ in Thailand and the Evangelical Community of Thailand are officially recognized by the Department of Religion in the Ministry of Culture of Thailand.

In Bangkok there is the German-speaking Catholic parish of St. Marien. Other German-language church services are offered in Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Phuket.

history

Father Guy Tachard

Its origins can be found in the colonization period of the early 16th century , but the first missionaries who came to the country were largely unsuccessful. In 1662 a Vicariate Apostolic was established in Siam on the farm of Portuguese and French priests . Initially, the French bishop Pierre Lambert de la Motte (1624–1679) and the Society of the Paris Missionary Seminary worked in Thailand. Bishop Louis Laneau was named the first Vicar Apostolic of Siam in 1669. During the late phase of Narais' reign (r. 1656–88), who made Constantine Phaulkon the Greek, who had converted to Catholicism, chancellor around 1683 and maintained intensive diplomatic relations with France, the missionaries raised serious hopes that the king might convert to the Catholic faith and make Siam a Catholic country. Sections of the conservative elite feared this too, which was one reason for overthrowing Narai in 1688. The Jesuit Father Guy Tachard (1651–1712), who traveled to Siam three times between 1685 and 1699, is responsible for one of the oldest detailed western travel reports about this country. Under Narai's successor Phetracha (r. 1688-1703) the missionary activity was then severely restricted.

King Rama IV (Mongkut; r. 1851–68) showed again, although he was a staunch Buddhist, greater interest in exchanges with Christianity and maintained, among other things, intensive correspondence with the French missionary and apostolic vicar in Siam Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix . Mongkut's son Rama V (Chulalongkorn; r. 1868-1910) also officially declared freedom of belief. Later on, immigrants from China, Vietnam, the Philippines or the surrounding countries of Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia shaped the Catholic Church. Ethnic Thai , on the other hand, rarely convert to Catholicism.

Memorial relief for the martyrs of Thailand, Song Kham (Mukdahan Province)

During the ultra-nationalist military rule of Plaek Phibunsongkhram , there was a wave of anti-Catholic persecution between 1940 and 1944. Catholicism was labeled “foreign” and ran counter to the homogeneous definition of “being Thai ”, which may also be related to the fact that many Thai Catholics were descendants of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants. Especially Catholics in northeast Thailand were suspected of working as the “ fifth column ” for France during the Franco-Thai war . In December 1940, police shot and killed seven Thai Catholics (a catechist , two Sisters of the Love of the Holy Cross and four lay women, including three underage girls) in the village of Song Khon, Wan Yai District , Mukdahan Province . They were beatified in 1989 as the seven “martyrs of Thailand” by Pope John Paul II .

Dioceses

Nuncio in Thailand

  1. John Gordon (1962–1965), later Apostolic Delegate in North Africa
  2. Angelo Pedroni (1965–1967), later official in the Vatican State Secretariat
  3. Jean Jadot (1969–1971), later Apostolic Delegate in Equestrian Guinea
  4. Giovanni Moretti (1971–1978), later Apostolic Pro-Nuncio in Sudan
  5. Silvio Luoni (1978–1980), later retired
  6. Renato Raffaele Martino (1980–1986), later permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations in New York
  7. Alberto Tricarico (1987–1993), later official in the Vatican State Secretariat
  8. Luigi Bressan (1993–1999), later Archbishop of Trento
  9. Adriano Bernardini (1999–2003), later Apostolic Nuncio in Argentina
  10. Salvatore Pennacchio (2003–2010), later Apostolic Nuncio in India
  11. Giovanni d'Aniello (2010–2012), later Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil
  12. Paul Tschang In-Nam , since 2012

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Micro Church in Thailand , Schweizerische Kirchenzeitung, 50/2014, accessed on December 9, 2014
  2. ↑ Religion in Thailand ( Memento of the original from August 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 9, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thailand.chainat.ch
  3. ↑ Religion in Thailand: Christianity ( Memento of the original from August 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 9, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.thailand.chainat.ch
  4. ↑ Give your longing a home! German-speaking Catholic parish of St. Marien in Bangkok / Thailand , accessed on December 9, 2014
  5. ↑ German congregations abroad in Thailand ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , German Embassy in Bangkok, accessed December 9, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bangkok.diplo.de
  6. ↑ Shane Strate: An uncivil state of affairs. Fascism and anti-Catholicism in Thailand, 1940-1944. In: Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 42, No. 1, 2011, pp. 59-87, doi : 10.1017 / S0022463410000548