Dhaka: Catholics in Bangladesh are struggling to recover the land where the country’s first Catholic church once stood, saying an important part of their religious and cultural history has slowly disappeared.
The church was built in 1600 at Iswaripur in the present day Satkhira district of southern Bangladesh. Known as the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, it was established by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries with the support of a local ruler. Historians say it was the earliest organised Christian place of worship in the region.
Today, there is no sign of the church. The land is now occupied by a private family and is used as a garden. Local Catholics say there is not even a plaque or marker to show that the site once played a key role in the history of Christianity in the area.
Church officials say efforts to recover the land have continued for years but have made little progress. The local diocese has explored the possibility of buying back the property, but a lack of funds has made this difficult. Church leaders say support from the government or international donors would be needed to move the process forward.
Members of the Catholic community say the loss is deeply painful. Many younger Catholics say they have only read about the church in books and have never seen any physical reminder of their early history in the country.
Christians make up less than one percent of Bangladesh’s population, and Catholics are a small minority within that group. Community leaders say this makes it harder to protect historical sites, especially when no original structures remain.
Local Catholics are now calling for at least a small memorial or chapel to be built on the site if full recovery is not possible. They say such a step would help preserve a forgotten chapter of Bangladesh’s religious history and give future generations a visible connection to their past.