The Activity of the Catholic Mission Sui Iuris in Afghanistan in the 20th and Early 21st Centuries

Abstract

This article examines the main stages in the formation and development of the Catholic Mission sui iuris in Afghanistan. It demonstrates that the establishment of the Catholic chapel was closely associated with the evolution of Afghan–Italian relations and the processes of technical modernization of the country during the reigns of Amanullah Khan and Zahir Shah in the 20th century. The article identifies and describes the key milestones in the construction of the buildings of the Italian Embassy and the Catholic chapel in Kabul and reconstructs the activities of chaplains from the Barnabites order, who were entrusted with the mission in Afghanistan beginning in 1933. The article shows that the Catholic mission suspended its work during the pro-Soviet regime of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan government (1979–1989), the first Taliban regime (1996–2001), and again after August 15, 2021, yet was never formally expelled from the country. The author concludes that the activities of the Catholic mission were confined to charitable and humanitarian work among the Afghan population. The chaplains carried out their spiritual and pastoral duties primarily among foreign Catholics, while all forms of proselytism were prohibited from the very foundation of the mission.