Beijing’s Holy Savior Cathedral has been restored to its original
glory and as the center of life for the Catholic community in the
Chinese capital.
According to Chinese agencies report, the restoration of the complex
(about 7,000 square meters) of the largest church in Beijing, also a
National Monument, lasted two years and formally ended October 23, 2010,
with an investment of 30 million yuan (US$8 million), Fides reports.
The origin of the cathedral dates back to the 1600s, when Emperor
Kang Xi, cured of malaria thanks to Western medicine offered by Jesuit
missionaries Father Jean de Fontaney (1643-1710) and Father Claude de
Visdelou (1665-1737), in gratitude gave them land near the Forbidden
City to build the church and other buildings.
Opened December 9, 1703, it was dedicated to the Holy Savior with an
Observatory and a Library. With the dissolution of the Jesuits, the
church passed into the hands of the Lazzarist Fathers in 1773.
During the persecution of 1827, it was destroyed and later rebuilt in
1860, also near the Forbidden City, and from that moment it also became
the cathedral.
With the expansion of the imperial palace, the church and the whole
complex (Bishop’s Residence, seminary, orphanage, and convent) were
moved a few inches to the west, but with a larger space.
During the Boxer Revolution, the steeple was destroyed, but the
cathedral was the refuge of more than 3,000 Catholics thanks to the
courageous Catholic Bishop Pierre Marie Alphonse Favier, CM.
Until 1949, eight diocesan bishops lived there, including the first
Chinese Cardinal Thomas Tian Geng Xin (1946-1949). During the Chinese
Cultural Revolution, the cathedral was severely affected, as was the
entire Catholic community in China.
It was rebuilt beginning February 12, 1985 and opened on Christmas of that year.
Two years ago, it began its most extensive renovation in the last century with an unprecedented investment of money.
SIC: CTH/ASIA