Beatrice Leung - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Beatrice Leung

Catholicism in China, 1900-Present, 2014

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2002

The classical works of Troelsch and Niebuhr suggested that sect movements had been the origin of ... more The classical works of Troelsch and Niebuhr suggested that sect movements had been the origin of reform and revitalization of the church. More recently, Finke and Wittberg supplemented that thesis by suggesting that the Catholic Church was able to reform itself not through the sect development, but through the establishment of religious orders within the Catholic Church itself. This article suggests, from historical and contemporary archival sources, that the revitalization of the Catholic Church in China was through indigenization of the Church. The vitalization has been achieved despite tensions between the underground church committed to Rome and the national church, which advocated self-government without political and financial ties to the Catholic hierarchies outside China. Both the Chinese government's accommodation of the ecclesiastical authority of the papacy, and the Vatican's silence in response to the underground church's pleas to disregard the national church, had helped the indigenization process and the growth of the church without a possible schism.

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2000

Considering China's history of unfavorable treatment of mainland Chinese Christians, the authors ... more Considering China's history of unfavorable treatment of mainland Chinese Christians, the authors hypothesize that Christians in Hong Kong reflected their concern over the future protection of religious freedom during the 1995 Legislative Council election, the last election before the handover of the British colony to Chinese sovereignty. We have looked at the relative contributions of individual disposition, the China factor and church influence on the presence of Hong Kong Christians at the polling booth on election day. Our analysis found that Hong Kong Christians are subjected more to the influence of the latter two factors. The influence of socioeconomic status is relatively unimportant in determining the voting propensity of Hong Kong Christians. While both Catholics and Protestants are influenced by general church teachings, this research found that Catholic voters are more subject to their church's organizational mobilization than Protestant voters. Nearly all denominations of Christianity are essentially undemocratic. Regarding religious belief, Christian churches choose not to make decisions based on the will of the majority but according to the will of God as outlined in Biblical teachings. In terms of organizational structure, the Vatican, as the administrative center of the Roman Catholic Church, is a theocratic state under authoritarian rule. Paradoxically, Christianity in Asia is attracted to democracy and accepts democracy as the political system most likely to ensure the survival of Christianity (Goodstadt 1996). The active involvement of Christian churches in the democratization of Eastern Europe also exemplifies the paradox between democracy and Christianity (Neilsen 1991; Weigel 1992). What influence then does Christianity have in countries with a long tradition of democracy? Research revealed that religion has continuously played its eminent role in determining many Americans' political orientation into the 1990s (Hammond, Shibley and Solow 1994; Kellstedt, Green, Guth and Smidt 1994; Leege and Kellstedt 1993). However, research in Western Europe has provided a different yet mixed picture. Religious affiliation and practice have a declining influence in shaping people's pattern of political participation in Western Europe, largely due to the increasing effect of secularization and individualization (Dogan 1995; Need and De Graaf 1996). But there are exceptions such as France. Religion, even stronger than other factors of individual disposition, still exerts significant influence on party support and voting behavior in that country (Boy and Mayer, 1993). Religion plays an important role in mass political participation in the emerging democracies. Both Birch (1995) and Gee (1995) illustrated that religious affiliation differs along geographic and ethnic lines within Ukraine, and in turn reflects the divisive voting behavior observed in the national elections and referendums there. In post-communist Hungary, religiosity is a key to the differences in partisanship and voting pattern (Evans and Whitefield 1995). Here differences in the religious influence affecting political orientation can be observed. In industrialized countries

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2004

Although sociologists have argued that religious orders fulfill the same creative functions withi... more Although sociologists have argued that religious orders fulfill the same creative functions within Catholicism that sectarian groups perform for Protestantism, no research has examined whether the orders can serve this function in non‐Western societies where Catholics are a minority. This article examines Catholic religious orders of women in mainland China today. Both internal and external factors prevent Chinese sisters from gaining the power and autonomy they would need to serve as change agents in the Chinese Catholic Church. The effectiveness of external attempts to ameliorate the sisters' difficulties is evaluated.

Citizenship Studies, 2001

... Soon after the reversion of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, the dilemma of the Hong Kong church wa... more ... Soon after the reversion of Hong Kong to Chinese rule, the dilemma of the Hong Kong church was exposed at the Asian Bishops' Synod held in Rome ... Since the formation of the HKSAR in July 1997, the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee hua, has tried to offer a new vision of Hong ...

The China Quarterly, 2005

This article examines how the policy of “religious freedom” has been used to enable the CCP to re... more This article examines how the policy of “religious freedom” has been used to enable the CCP to retain institutional and ideological control over the religious sector of Chinese society. In particular, it looks at how the clash between religious and communist ideologies has evolved, first in the Maoist period and then in the context of reform and openness with the attendant growth of materialism and social change since 1978. A softening in the control of religion to encourage national reconstruction and foreign investment led to a proliferation of religious activity that alarmed Party leaders and triggered a tightening of ideological control and important changes in religious policy. The new policy of “accommodation” and emphasis on “legality” became the watchwords of the Jiang Zemin era. With further development they remain important in the new regime of Hu Jintao.

Contemporary Chinese Political Economy and Strategic Relations: An International Journal, 2018

The Catholic Church in Taiwan, 2018

In the context of Chinese tradition, Chinese higher education is described in this chapter. The m... more In the context of Chinese tradition, Chinese higher education is described in this chapter. The modern Chinese higher educational system was the gift of foreign missionaries to China. In 1950, there were three Catholic universities in China. Due to Bolshevik tradition under the Communist regime, no Catholic university has been allowed in the Mainland even until today. Evidence proves that Taiwan is the only location in the Greater China Region to provide genuine Catholic tertiary education according to the teaching of the Catholic Church. The difficulties and prospects of Taiwan Catholic higher education are discussed in the context of Taiwan’s rapid societal change and the fact that leadership of higher education has moved into the hands of the laity from professed religious personnel.

Religion, State and Society, 1998

Journal of Contemporary China, 2016

Wenzao ursuline university of foreign languages, taiwan The Sino-Vatican negotiations: background... more Wenzao ursuline university of foreign languages, taiwan The Sino-Vatican negotiations: background Sino-Vatican diplomatic relations were established in 1942 under the Nationalist government and the relationship was broken in 1951. Since then, the nature of Sino-Vatican relations has been a disputed relationship stemming from the competing claims of state sovereignty, expressed in their teaching authorities between religious idealism and the atheist dialectic of Marxist-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. Negotiations were initiated in 1987 aimed at re-establishing Sino-Vatican diplomatic relations through a concordat. In the course of 27 years (1987-2014) no fruit has been reaped from the formal negotiations. The Vatican's principal aim in negotiating the normalization of its diplomatic relations with China is to obtain warmer relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the normal development of the Chinese Catholic Church. Beijing's aim, originally, was to further isolate Taiwan in the international community by demanding the severing of Taiwan-Vatican diplomatic relations, thus inflicting a heavy blow on this island state, aimed at drawing Taiwan to the negotiation table for unification. However, at the turn of the twenty-first century, Beijing's main aim in taking part in the negotiation has shifted to improving its international image, through establishing diplomatic relations with the Holy See. This is because Taiwan, under Ma Ying Jeow's leadership, has been drifting closer to the Mainland than at any time in the past without the involvement of the Vatican. The purpose of this study is to examine the problems and issues arising in the negotiations from the international relations' perspective during the Hu-Xi era in the twenty-first century, and to identify if the source of the problem in the negotiation is the clash of sovereign rights. Increasing social unrest would provide an environment within Chinese society which, due to national security concerns, would attract the tightening of Beijing's political-ideological control, a position which does not favor Sino-Vatican

China Information, 2004

This article aims to explore the contributions of Chinese Catholic sisters in the Deng-Jiang era ... more This article aims to explore the contributions of Chinese Catholic sisters in the Deng-Jiang era by examining their way of life and the problems they face within and outside the church structure. In the course of this discussion, we look at the history of Chinese Catholic sisters and the harassment they experienced in Maoist China. In discussing the sisters’ way of life, we discover that they face important problems: difficulties with recruitment stemming from the sociopolitical situation in China, and inadequate training, both religiously and professionally, which hamper the sisters’ development. We therefore conclude that leadership and institutional norm-building within the sister congregations are matters calling for immediate attention.

Religion, State and Society, 2000

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2012

Two motivational processes affect choice between actions: (1) changes in the reward value of the ... more Two motivational processes affect choice between actions: (1) changes in the reward value of the goal or outcome of an action and (2) changes in the predicted value of an action based on outcome-related stimuli. Here, we evaluated the role of μ-opioid receptor (MOR) and δ-opioid receptor (DOR) in the nucleus accumbens in the way these motivational processes influence choice using outcome revaluation and pavlovian-instrumental transfer tests. We first examined the effect of genetic deletion of MOR and DOR in specific knock-out mice. We then assessed the effect of infusing the MOR antagonist d-Phe-Cys-Tyr-d-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH(2) (CTAP) or the DOR antagonist naltrindole into the core or shell subregions of the nucleus accumbens on these tests in rats. We found that, whereas MOR knock-outs showed normal transfer, they failed to show a selective outcome revaluation effect. Conversely, DOR knock-outs showed normal revaluation but were insensitive to the influence of outcome-related cu...

Journal for The Scientific Study of Religion, 2001

The Catholic Church could not compromise with Communist states due to ideological incompatibility... more The Catholic Church could not compromise with Communist states due to ideological incompatibility between atheist Marxism-Leninism and religious beliefs. Christianity, in the perception of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), had been closely linked with "foreign cultural imperialism." This study examines the clash of authority between the CCP and Catholic Church over seminary training, elucidating the CCP's desire to retain institutional and ideological control over this particular sector of Chinese society. The findings highlight the ideological conflict between the dialectic materialism of the CCP, combined with the economic materialism (i.e., to get rich is glorious) mentality of the Deng Xiaoping-Jiang Zemin era, and religious idealism. A SILHOUETTE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN CHINA Following the 1949 Revolution, the Messianism of Mao changed China into a politicized society where Marxism-Leninism became the only ideology acceptable (Ding 1994:17-31). Religion, in the perception of Chinese leaders, had been closely linked to "foreign cultural imperialism"