Religion and Society in the East
The periodical of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences. ISSN 2542-1530
Issues
Chinese Catholics between the Vatican and the Communist Party: A Split Church in the Realm of Unanimity
Religiia i obshchestvo na Vostoke, Issue II (2018), p. 168-187.
The article is an attempt to understand the nature of current condition of Catholic Church in China in the national and international context and to determine crucial problems for its potential unification. The author observes its two religious bodies – Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, founded in 1957 and since then administrated directly by The State Administration for Religious Affairs; and so-called “underground” church, which is loyal to the Vatican. Historically “underground” Church stays in the isolation from both Chinese society and its ecclesiastical leader in Europe. Having diplomatic intercourses with 174 countries, the Holy See still cannot establish relationships with the Communist party of China, extensively because of the question of naming bishops. The decades of mutual distrust put a number of obstacles to the incorporation of Catholic Church in Chinese society with its specific East-Asian political culture. But, as author presumes, CPC would have to revise it position toward religious freedom to avoid internal and external tensions.
Keywords: Catholicism in China, Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, “underground” Catholic Church, China-Vatican diplomatic relations, media, political culture.
Volume: 168-187
