Crossroads of Faith and Politics: Understanding Vatican-China Relations in the 21st Century (original) (raw)
Related papers
Vatican's Rapprochement with China, Three Years On
CHOICE, 2021
From a political point of view, the agreement on the appointment of bishops is for the Vatican a tool to maintain or expand the scope of the institutional presence in China and control over the local Catholics and clergy. However, given the ongoing sinicization of religion in China, it is difficult to consider a scenario in which the communist authorities grant the Catholic Church a license to create a breach in an otherwise strict policy of societal control.
The Red Flag and the Ring: The Dances Surrounding Sino‐Vatican Ties
Asian Politics & Policy, 2009
This article examines the possibilities of re-established diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Vatican, or the Holy See. It presents this diplomatic dance in historical context and discusses the potential benefits and trade-offs as seen from both sides. The complex relations between multiple Catholic communities within China, especially the "registered" and the "unregistered" church communities, as well as the contentious positions of clerical leadership in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, are discussed. Special attention is given to recent events during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, including the Papal Letter to Chinese Catholics of 2007. Both major actors, the Roman Catholic Church and the People's Republic of China, are treated as dominantly political players attempting to strengthen their hand in a rapidly changing political, social, and economic climate.
Sino Vatican Relations since 1949
Catholic Christianity is one of the officially approved religions in the PRC. As in the case of religious beliefs generally, the communist state sets strict rules for regulating and controlling the functioning of the Catholic Church in China. This has also some interesting international implications, because as the result of mutual disagreements over religious policy of the Communist government there is still no official Sino-Vatican diplomatic relations. On the other hand, Vatican's insistence on naming bishops is seen by the PRC as an interference in its domestic affairs and therefore unacceptable. With the new leadership in Vatican and the PRC – general secretary and president Xi Jinping and Pope Francis – there are some signs of hope for future bilateral relations. However, some signs of better Sino-Vatican relations are paralleled by last year's widespread crackdown on various dissident groups, including underground Christians. This paper analyses the relation between inner and outer PRC's policies toward the Catholic Church. The paper will try to elucidate how particular foreign policy preferences shape the ongoing stalemate in Sino-Vatican see relations and the author will argue that China's attitude towards the Holy See is to large extent determined by its domestic political agenda.
The Impact of the Finalization of the China-Holy See Deal in 2018 to the Catholic Community in China
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR2020), 2020
In Catholic tradition, the ordinations of clergy have to be approved by the Pope. However, many early ordinations in China had been supervised by the government. How could these ordinations and Masses be valid? This had concerned many Chinese Catholics before the 2018 China-Holy See Deal, which provided a solution, but still provoked debates. This essay studies if the 2018 Deal will de facto benefit the ordinary Chinese Catholics. An analytical study and a comparative study was conducted in this essay, which included the reference of sources quoted from the various sides of the debate and analysis of the key published resources regarding to this topic. Also, interviews with the witnesses of this issue, including the members of the underground church in China and the state church priests who were studying abroad, were referred in this study. This essay sought to predict a potential future of the Catholic community in China, and through this particular case, offers an alternative to t...
The role of successive popes in the process of unification of the Church in China
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 2019
After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the Communist Party of China sought to break all ties between the Church in China and Western powers. Since 1957, there have been two distinct Catholic groups within the PRC: the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, and the underground church loyal to the Vatican. This may be about to change, however, as in September 2018, the Vatican and the PRC signed a new provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops, which could lead to efforts towards reunification of the Catholic Church in China after more than sixty years of division. This paper introduces the changing position of the popes with respect to the PRC. The article argues that the new agreement should not be considered an initiative solely of Pope Francis, but rather the result of numerous changes within the Vatican instigated during the papacy of Pope John XXIII.
China-Vatican Talks: Covert Negotiations Aim to End Decades of Severed Relations
Rome, IAI, July 2018, 4 p. (IAI Commentaries ; 18|43), 2018
Far from the headlines, a hesitant rapprochement between the Vatican and Beijing is slowly taking form. The Holy See and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have intensified bilateral talks, with a number of meetings taking place as the parties seek to navigate the multiple complexities of an agreement for the appointment of Catholic bishops in Chinese territory. A deal would end 70 years of troublesome relations since ties were severed following the Communist takeover of China. If successful, the agreement would represent the first time modern China establishes formal relations with a spiritual guide.
Religions, 2019
The Chinese government has regulated all religious activity in the public domain for many years. The state has generally considered religious groups as representing a potential challenge to the authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which sees one of its basic roles as making sure religion neither interferes with the state's exercise of power nor harms its citizens. A revised Regulation on Religious Affairs (Zongjiao shiwu tiaoli 宗教事务条例) took effect in 2018, updating the regulation of 2005. This paper aims to introduce and examine the content of the regulation, especially how it differs from its predecessor and how the changes are likely to affect religious groups in China. The Catholic church in China has historical links to the worldwide Catholic church, so articles in the new regulation which seek to curb foreign influence on Chinese religious groups may have more of an effect on Chinese Catholics than on other groups. The paper addresses two main questions: How dose the new regulation affect the Catholic church and what strategies are employed by the Catholic church in order to comply with the regulation? The research is based on textual analysis of the relevant legal documents and on field research conducted in the People Republic of China (PRC). The fieldwork consisted of open interviews with several church members and official representatives of the church conducted in Zhejiang Province between March and May 2018, and in May and June 2019. The paper thus aims to analyze contemporary Chinese religious legislation with respect to the lived experience of Catholics in China.
Mission Studies 39 , 2022
After the political reforms that followed the death of Mao Zedong, Chinese Catholics were gradually allowed to reestablish their churches and resume public gatherings. Yet this opened serious challenges. After decades of persecution and isolation, which reshaped the ways Chinese Catholics worshipped and perceived themselves, they needed to redefine Chinese Catholicism. Is performing specific rituals in both Latin and a local dialect, at home and in secret, enough to be Catholic? Who holds the religious authority to effectively administer the sacraments? To what extent is a formal relationship with the Pope necessary to remain Catholic? This article explores how Chinese Catholics have searched for support from outside their family circles and the People's Republic of China to answer their questions. This paper argues that in a rapidly changing politico-economic context marked by strict administrative control, Chinese Catholics have reestablished contacts with Global Catholicism through networking with missionary societies. More specifically, I look at collaborations which Chinese Catholics have established with the Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) to reassess the missiology of Chinese Catholicism. Discussing the evolving nature of these relationships after 1978, I show that the reconstruction of Catholicism in China has been a multilateral enterprise in which local Catholics have had to navigate political adversity, socio-cultural changes, and the Post-Vatican II reformation of worldwide Catholicism. In so doing, Chinese Catholics gradually moved outside of the intimacy of kinship groups and pre-defined rituals to engage actively with modernizing Chinese society and transforming world Catholicism.