Embassy Chapel
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An embassy chapel is a
place of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is s ...
within a foreign mission. Historically, embassy chapels have sometimes acted as
clandestine church A clandestine church (), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition that it is discr ...
es, tolerated by the authorities to operate discreetly. Since
embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes a ...
are exempt from the host country's laws, which is a form of
extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality or exterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdict ...
, these chapels were able to provide services to prohibited and persecuted religious groups. For example,
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
embassy chapels in
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
provided services while Catholicism was banned under the
Penal Laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...
. A similar role was filled for
Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
by the Prussian embassy chapel in Rome, where Protestantism was unlawful until 1871. With the adoption of laws granting
freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...
, these embassy chapels have often become regularized churches and parishes, such as that of the Dutch embassy chapel to the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, now
The Union Church of Istanbul The Union Church of Istanbul (UCI) is an international, Protestant and evangelical church, in Istanbul.The church began around the year 1831 when families of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions arrived in Constantinople, making ...
.


History

Early modern embassy staff, who commonly lived in the ambassadorial residence, were permitted to have in-house chapels and chaplains, especially where, in the wake of the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, they lived in a country that banned their religious faith. These soon drew members of the same faith to join the worship services in the embassy. The
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
sponsored chapels in twelve of its embassies, which acted as churches for local
Reformed Protestants Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...
.
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; ; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia, and List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Rom ...
sponsored chapels wherever he could, "that Catholic services might be held to comfort the Catholics of the area, and to promote the further growth of this religion." By the late eighteenth century, a new legal principle had come into being,
extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality or exterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdict ...
, according to which "the ambassador and the precincts of the embassy stood as if on the soil of his homeland, subject only to its laws." As
religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...
advanced with time, many of the embassy chapels lost their function as safe havens and were converted into churches proper or dismissed.


Catholic embassies in London

During the reign of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
, Catholicism was gradually outlawed in England, and Catholic masses and worship were prohibited, particularly after the
Oath of Supremacy The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in the Kingdom of England, or in its subordinate Kingdom of Ireland, to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church. Failure to do so was to be trea ...
of 1559. With the "Act to retain the Queen's Majesty's subjects in their obedience", passed in 1581, the celebration of Mass was prohibited under penalty of a fine of two hundred
marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...
and imprisonment for one year for the celebrant, and a fine of one hundred marks and the same imprisonment for those who heard the Mass. The reign of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
(1625–49) saw a small revival of Catholicism in England, especially among the upper classes. As part of their royal
marriage settlement A marriage settlement in England and Wales was a historical arrangement whereby, most commonly and in its simplest form, a trust of land or other assets was established jointly by the parents of a bride and bridegroom. The trustees were establish ...
, Charles's Catholic wife,
Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria of France (French language, French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to K ...
, was permitted her own
royal chapel A royal chapel is a chapel associated with a monarch, a royal court, or in a royal palace. A royal chapel may also be a body of clergy or musicians serving at a royal court or employed by a monarch. Commonwealth countries Both the United Kin ...
(the
Queen's Chapel The Queen's Chapel (officially, ''The Queen's Chapel St. James Palace'' and previously the German Chapel) is a chapel in central London, England. Designed by Inigo Jones, it was built between 1623 and 1625 as an adjunct to St. James's Palace, ini ...
in London, as well as a chapel at
Somerset House Somerset House is a large neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building complex situated on the south side of the Strand, London, Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadran ...
) and chaplain. Ambassadors of Catholic nations sought to provide relief for persecuted English Catholics by protecting worship at their chapels with
diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.
. The English government attempted unsuccessfully several times to dissuade such use of the Spanish and Portuguese embassies between 1563 and 1611. In 1610,
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334 ...
asked foreign ambassadors not to allow English priests to celebrate at, or English Catholics to attend, their chapels, but only the Venetian ambassador complied. Starting in 1624, several arrests of English Catholics leaving these embassy chapels were made, which irritated the French ambassador, the Marquis of Blainville. On March 10, 1630, an order in council forbade Catholics to hear Mass at the embassies. The next Sunday, as reported by the Venetian ambassador, guards were placed in front of the French, Venetian and Spanish embassies, and Catholics were arrested as they left the premises; afterwards the Spanish ambassador, Don
Carlos Coloma Don Carlos II Coloma y de Saa, knight of Santiago, 1st Marquess of Espinar (Alicante, 9 February 1566 – 23 November 1637, Madrid) was a Spanish military commander, diplomat and author. He is also known as a translator of Tacitus. Family Col ...
, unsuccessfully tried to obtain their release. Coloma diffused the issue by taking residence in the countryside, and demanding that the English government punish those who had violated his diplomatic immunity. Five years later, on April 12, 1635, the council directed Sir
John Coke Sir John Coke MP JP PC (5 March 1563 – 8 September 1644) was an English civil servant and naval administrator, described by one commentator as "the Samuel Pepys of his day". He was MP for various constituencies in the House of Commons bet ...
to inform the ambassadors that their diplomatic rights would not be infringed upon, but that penal laws against Catholics would be pursued. When a priest who had said Mass was captured and escaped to the house of the French ambassador Henri de Saint-Nectaire, where he was then recaptured, he was set free because of the right of extraterritoriality, and his pursuers were punished. Over time, enforcement of the law became lenient; Venetian ambassador Anzolo Corer wrote in 1636 that Mass at the chapel of the Queen and at the embassies was "frequented with freedom." In 1637, large crowds attended Mass daily at the Spanish embassy. In eighteenth-century London, there were chapels in the French, Spanish, Florentine, Venetian (in the Haymarket), Portuguese (originally in Golden Square, then in South Street, Grosvenor Square), Austrian (on Hanover Street), Neapolitan (in Soho Square), Bavarian (on Warwick Street) and Sardinian embassies. In London, the streets outside the houses and house chapels of the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
,
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
and Venetian embassies were the scenes of public protests, sometimes violent. The police sometimes attempted to detain British people who attended Catholic services in the embassy chapels. Embassy chapels led to diplomatic tension between the English government and the Catholic governments who operated the embassies between 1625 and 1660. In the eighteenth century, English subjects ceased to be harassed for attending services at the Sardinian embassy. On Easter Sunday 1772
James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...
and
Pasquale Paoli Filippo Antonio Pasquale de' Paoli (; or ; ; 6 April 1725 – 5 February 1807) was a Corsican patriot, statesman, and military leader who was at the forefront of resistance movements against the Republic of Genoa, Genoese and later Kingd ...
"worshipped together at the Sardinian Chapel." When Catholic worship became allowed in London in 1791 with the Roman Catholic Relief Act, the Bavarian, Sardinian and Spanish embassy churches were converted into churches, while the others (Venetian, Neapolitan, Imperial, French and Florentine) were dismissed.


List


In London

*
Sardinian Embassy Chapel The Sardinian Embassy Chapel was an important Catholic church and embassy chapel attached to the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia in the Lincoln's Inn area of London. It was demolished in 1909. History The cha ...
*Spanish Embassy Chapel, now
St James's, Spanish Place St James' Church is a large English Gothic Catholic church in George Street, Marylebone, London. Although currently situated in George Street, the church maintains its connection with Spanish Place, the road opposite the current church, becau ...
* Royal Bavarian Chapel ( Portuguese and then Bavarian embassy) * French, Florentine, Neapolitan, Venetian, and Austrian embassies (non extant today) * Russian Orthodox Chapel, former Russian Embassy in
Welbeck Street Welbeck Street is a street in the West End of London, West End, central London. It has historically been associated with the medical profession. Former resident Andrew Berry was one of the men to have successfully deployed a parachute at altitu ...
*
St Etheldreda's Church Saint/St/St. Etheldreda's Church or the Church of Saint/St/St. Etheldreda may refer to any church dedicated to Æthelthryth or Etheldreda. These churches include: England (A-Z by English county) *St Etheldreda's Church, Ely, Cambridgeshire *St Et ...


British chapels abroad

*St George's chapel in the British Embassy in Madrid, today St George's Anglican Church *Chapel and English Cemetery in the British Consulate in
Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...
* British Embassy Chapel in Paris *
Christ Church, Jerusalem Christ Church, Jerusalem (), is an Anglican church located inside the Old City of Jerusalem, established in 1849 by the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. It was the original seat of the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem un ...
, the seat of the
Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem () is the Anglican jurisdiction for Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is a part of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and has diocesan offices at St. George's Cathedral, Jerusa ...
, located on the site of the British Consulate until World War 1


Other

*Prussian Embassy chapel in the Cottarelli Palace in Rome *Prussian embassy chapel in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
, which hosted the Waldensian community before it was legalized in 1848 *
The Union Church of Istanbul The Union Church of Istanbul (UCI) is an international, Protestant and evangelical church, in Istanbul.The church began around the year 1831 when families of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions arrived in Constantinople, making ...
, which started as the Dutch embassy chapel in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
*
Our Lady of Divine Providence Chapel, Kabul The Our Lady of Divine Providence Chapel or Chapel of the Italian Embassy in Kabul, was a religious building that was affiliated with the Catholic Church and is located in Street Great Massoud, in the city of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. The cha ...
, the chapel of the Italian Embassy *
Chapel of the Transfiguration, Ashgabat The Chapel of the Transfiguration or the Chapel of the Transfiguration of the Lord, is a religious building that is part of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See in the city of Ashkhabad, the capital of the Asian country of Turkmenistan. The ch ...
(
Apostolic nunciature An apostolic nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See that is equivalent to an embassy. However, it neither issues visas nor has consul (representative), consulates. The head of the apostolic nunciature is called a ''nuncio ...
in Turkmenistan) * Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos Church in Beijing (Russian Embassy) * Orthodox church of Saint Catherine in Rome (Russian Embassy) * Church of the Metamorphosis (Kottakis) (Russian embassy in
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
) * Church of Saint Benoit, Istanbul and St Louis of the French chapels in Istanbul (French embassy) * Spanish embassy chapel in Istanbul *Orthodox chapel in the Russian embassy in Turin


See also

*
House church A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that se ...
*
Clandestine church A clandestine church (), defined by historian Benjamin J. Kaplan as a "semi-clandestine church", is a house of worship used by religious minorities whose communal worship is tolerated by those of the majority faith on condition that it is discr ...


References

{{Reflist


Further reading

*Harting, Johanna H. ''History of the Sardinian Chapel, Lincoln's Inn Fields''. London: R. & T. Washbourne, 1905. *Kaplan, Benjamin J., Religious Conflict and the Practice of Toleration in Early Modern Europe, Harvard University Press, 2007 *Trimble, William Raleigh. “The Embassy Chapel Question, 1625–1660.” The Journal of Modern History, vol. 18, no. 2, 1946, pp. 97–107. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1872115. * Religious persecution Diplomatic immunity and protection