Our Lady of Divine Providence Chapel, Kabul
Roman Catholic embassy chapel in Kabul
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The Our Lady of Divine Providence Chapel, also known as the Chapel of the Italian Embassy in Kabul, was a Roman Catholic chapel located inside the compound of the Italian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. It served as the principal base of the Mission sui iuris of Afghanistan, a Latin Catholic jurisdiction erected by the Holy See on 16 May 2002. Contemporary sources described it as the only Catholic church in Afghanistan and, in missionary accounts, as the country's only officially recognized Christian place of worship.[1][2]
| Our Lady of Divine Providence Chapel | |
|---|---|
| Chapel of the Italian Embassy in Kabul | |
 Our Lady of Divine Providence Chapel | |
| 34.5302°N 69.1777°E | |
| Location | Embassy of Italy, Great Massoud Road, Shash Darak, Kabul |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Churchmanship | Latin Church |
| History | |
| Status | Chapel |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Dedication | Our Lady of Divine Providence |
| Architecture | |
Functional status | Inactive since 2021 |
| Completed | 1960 |
| Closed | 2021 |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Mission sui iuris of Afghanistan |
The chapel's origins lay in early twentieth-century Italian–Afghan diplomatic relations. A 1921 treaty gave Italy the right to maintain a Catholic chapel within its diplomatic mission; regular pastoral work began on 1 January 1933, when Father Egidio Caspani, a Barnabite priest chosen by Pope Pius XI, inaugurated the chapel after arriving in Kabul on Christmas Day 1932. The Barnabites, formally the Clerics Regular of St. Paul, held the mission continuously from that date. The present building was completed in 1960.[3][4][5]
A small white building inside the embassy compound, the chapel contained paintings by Ulisse Salvini and a modern fresco depicting Saint Catherine and Saint Francis. Its congregation comprised foreign diplomats, military personnel, and aid workers; the mission confined its activities to the spiritual care of foreign Catholics and humanitarian work among Afghans, without proselytization.[2][1]
Regular activity ended after the Taliban captured Kabul on 15 August 2021. Father Giovanni Scalese, the mission's superior, was evacuated to Rome on 25 August 2021 together with five Missionaries of Charity sisters and fourteen children and young adults in their care. As of 2024, Scalese remained in Italy and was described by Vatican News as the last Catholic priest to have been present in Afghanistan.[6][7]
Background
Afghanistan has historically had only a small Catholic presence, composed of foreign diplomats, aid workers, military personnel, and other expatriates. Open Christian evangelization was not permitted, and the Catholic mission operated under restrictions that confined its ministry to foreign Catholics and humanitarian work.[1][6]
Embassy chapels, situated within sovereign diplomatic premises, allow minority faith services to be conducted without host-government endorsement. In Kabul, where Afghan law restricted public Christian worship, the Italian Embassy compound was the only setting in which Catholic services could take place openly.[3][1]
History
Diplomatic origins and early chapel
Italy recognized Afghanistan's independence in 1919. King Amanullah Khan of Afghanistan, described by the Italian Embassy as grateful to Italy for being the first western country to formally recognize that independence, agreed to allow a Catholic chaplain within the Italian diplomatic mission. The Italian government asked not for a commercial concession but for permission to provide spiritual assistance to foreign Catholics in Kabul; that permission was included in the Italian–Afghan treaty of 1921.[3][5]
Although the diplomatic basis dates to 1921, pastoral work began in 1933, when a chapel was established at the request of foreign technicians then resident in Kabul. The Barnabites, formally the Clerics Regular of St. Paul, were entrusted with the mission from 1933. The present building was completed in 1960. GCatholic records the chapel as a Roman-Rite chapel under the jurisdiction of the Mission sui iuris of Afghanistan at the Embassy of Italy in Kabul.[3][8][4]
Mission sui iuris
On 16 May 2002, the Holy See erected the Mission sui iuris of Afghanistan, a Catholic jurisdiction covering the whole country. Catholic-Hierarchy records the mission as a Latin-Rite mission dependent on the Dicastery for Evangelization, with its mailing address at the Catholic Mission in care of the Embassy of Italy in Kabul.[9]
Father Giuseppe Moretti, a Barnabite priest, was appointed superior in 2002 and served until 2014. He had lived in Afghanistan for many years before the mission was formally erected and maintained the chapel's function through the Soviet occupation, the civil war, and the first Taliban period. A 2009 profile in America described him as the only Catholic priest in Afghanistan and the chapel as the center of a small, quiet ministry to expatriates.[9][1][10][11]
Moretti was succeeded by Father Giovanni Scalese, also a Barnabite, appointed superior on 4 November 2014.[9][8]
Building and interior
The chapel was a small white building inside the Italian Embassy compound. A 2019 Comboni missionary account described it as approximately fifteen to twenty metres long and dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Providence. The same account noted two paintings by Ulisse Salvini, The Annunciation and The Baptism of John, a modern fresco depicting Saint Catherine and Saint Francis, and a crucifix above the altar.[2]
Christian symbols were confined to the interior. Contemporary reports described the chapel as indistinguishable from other embassy buildings when viewed from outside the compound's security perimeter.[1]
Worship and pastoral life
The chapel served a small and shifting Catholic population in Kabul. Reuters reported in 2013 that the congregation comprised exclusively foreigners, including diplomats, military personnel, and aid workers. Moretti was then the only Catholic priest in the country; the chapel stood behind blast walls and security barriers inside the Italian Embassy compound.[1]
The mission did not proselytize among Afghans. Catholic News Service reported in 2021 that its work was limited to charitable and humanitarian activities and that spiritual responsibilities were directed to foreign Catholics. Scalese stated that the mission had not baptized Afghans because of the agreements and restrictions under which it operated.[6]
In earlier years, Sunday Masses had been celebrated in several languages and priests could move more freely around Kabul. By the 2010s, security restrictions made it difficult for the priest to leave the embassy and for worshippers from other diplomatic or aid compounds to reach the chapel.[8][7]
The COVID-19 pandemic reduced activity further. Scalese stated that the Italian Embassy lockdown forced him to celebrate Mass alone for a period; from October 2020, sisters were readmitted for Sunday liturgy, while lay faithful could generally attend only on major feast days.[8]
Humanitarian organizations
The chapel functioned as a point of contact for Catholic religious communities and humanitarian organizations working in Afghanistan, including the Missionaries of Charity, the Jesuit Refugee Service, and Pro Bambini di Kabul, which supported children with disabilities. Scalese stated in 2021 that such groups operated as recognized humanitarian workers rather than as public religious missionaries.[8]
A 2019 missionary account also noted that the Little Sisters of Jesus, inspired by Charles de Foucauld, had maintained a presence in Kabul for several decades before leaving in 2017.[2]
Closure
The chapel's regular activity ended after the Taliban captured Kabul on 15 August 2021. Scalese was evacuated from Afghanistan and arrived in Rome on 25 August 2021 with five Missionaries of Charity sisters and fourteen orphaned or disabled children and young adults in their care.[6][8]
Catholic News Service reported that the chapel, identified as the sole parish in Afghanistan, was located at the Italian Embassy and that the pontifical mission was housed there. Scalese said he would not have left while any of the small Catholic community remained in his pastoral care, but that once the remaining staff had departed, there was no reason for him to stay.[6][8]
In 2024, Vatican News identified Scalese as the last superior of the Mission sui iuris and the only Catholic priest present in Afghanistan before the 2021 evacuation. He described the mission as based inside the Italian Embassy, with movement around Kabul too dangerous for most of his tenure.[7]
The Barnabites had held the Catholic mission in Afghanistan since 1933; after the evacuation in August 2021, there was no longer a Catholic community in the country and the chapel stood empty.[8][7]
Human Rights Watch stated in 2025 that Christians in Afghanistan generally practiced in secret or had gone into hiding after the Taliban's return to power. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported that Taliban authorities had imposed strict religious edicts affecting religious minorities including Christians.[12][13]