Francesco Orazio della Penna (1680 – July 20, 1745), born Luzio Olivieri, was a Capuchin

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

who became

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of the Tibetan

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

Biography

Born in

Pennabilli Pennabilli ( rgn, La Pénna) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rimini in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about south of Rimini. In 2019, the podcast '' This is Love'' spoke with Anna Bo ...

, Della Penna entered the Capuchin monastery of Pietrarubbia. While he was there, a decree by the Sacra Congregazione di Propaganda Fide declared the establishment of a Catholic mission “"in the direction of the source of the Ganges River, towards the kingdom of Tibet.” Della Penna was amongst those selected, and he arrived in

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

on June 12, 1707. He returned to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

after the penniless and starving missionaries decided to reorganize their efforts; he returned to Lhasa in 1716. Della Penna studied the

Tibetan language Tibetan language may refer to: * Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard * Lhasa Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect * Any of the other Tibetic languages See also * Old Tibetan, the languag ...

and

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at the monastery of Sera under a Lama. During his stay, Della Penna began composing a Tibetan-Italian dictionary. By 1732, the dictionary composed about 33,000 words. He also translated some important Tibetan works. He translated into Tibetan Bellarmine's ''Christian Doctrine'' and Turlot's ''Treasure of Christian Doctrine''. From Tibetan into Italian, he translated the ''History of the life and works of Shakiatuba, the restorer of Lamaism'', ''Three roads leading to perfection'', and ''On transmigration and prayer to God''. A Tibetan

printing works Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

was eventually built during Della Penna's stay. Della Penna returned to Rome in 1736 to seek help and support there. He received it from 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 Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

prelate Cardinal Belluga and Della Penna arrived in Lhasa on January 6, 1741. Della Penna was well liked in Tibet; he was called the “white head Lama” and was respected for his learning and knowledge of Tibetan culture and language. However, he ran into problems he did not foresee when the seventh

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

Kelsang Gyatso Geshe Kelsang Gyatso (; 19 July 1931 – 17 September 2022) was a Buddhist monk, meditation teacher, scholar, and author. He was the founder and spiritual director of the New Kadampa Tradition-International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU), a ...

, granted him and his fellow missionaries freedom of worship and proselytism. After twenty Tibetan men and women were converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, they refused to accept the Dalai Lama's blessing and to take part in the obligatory lamaistic prayers.The visit of the Dalai Lama - Pennabilli (PS-Italy)
After a long trial on the 22d of May 1742, five Christian Tibetans were flogged. Della Penna was given an audience with the Dalai Lama but the mission's fate was sealed. He set off for

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

in 1745, but died at Patan on July 20, 1745.

Notes

External links

Elio Marini, “The story of Father Orazio della Penna”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Della Penna, Francesco Capuchin missionaries in China Capuchin missionaries in Tibet History of Tibet Italian explorers 1680 births 1745 deaths People from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino Italian lexicographers Italian translators 18th-century translators Missionary linguists 18th-century lexicographers