New Crosses in the 21st Century: A Report on the Church in China

New Crosses in the 21st Century: A Report on the Church in China | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D. | Catholic World Report | June 2011

China has an old adage: "The closer you are to the emperor, the closer you get to the dragon's claws." This is as true today in Communist China as it was in imperial China. In a 1724 imperial edict, Emperor Yongzheng stated, "The Catholic religion from the West is not to be regarded as orthodox…and our laws cannot tolerate it." And 216 years later, Chairman Mao Zedong declared, "In the field of political action Communists may form an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal united front with some idealists and even religious people, but we can never approve their idealism or religious doctrines." Whenever Mao became displeased with China's Catholic bishops, he labeled them "counter-revolutionaries," which was convenient, for in 1951 he exclaimed, "Please make certain that you strike surely, accurately, and relentlessly in suppressing the counter-revolutionaries."

China's rulers, throughout the Church's long history in the Middle Kingdom,  have often struck out at the Catholic faithful who have grown steadily since Matteo Ricci first founded his Chinese mission 400 years ago. The Church of the 21st century, now only a decade old, has encountered new crosses under China's leadership, and recent months have ushered in renewed restrictions on the fragile Catholic community. Two bishops in particular have become the authoritative voices to speak to, and about, the Church in China today—Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian and Cardinal Joseph Zen.

I spoke with Bishop Aloysius Jin in Shanghai, and asked the Catholic prelate who is perhaps the most intimately involved with China's authorities how someone in such close proximity to an officially anti-religious government manages to navigate. Bishop Jin smiled and quoted Matthew 10:16, wherein Jesus exhorts his disciples: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."

"The government thinks I'm too close to the Vatican," he said, "and the Vatican thinks I'm too close to the government." Jin, who is now more than 95 years old, was consecrated a bishop in 1985 without the Pope's mandate; he has been called "the government's bishop," though since then the Vatican has recognized his return into full communion with Rome.

Read the entire article on www.CatholicWorldReport.com.

More articles about Catholicism and China by Dr. Clark on Ignatius Insight:

• No Easy Answers: An Interview with Shanghai's Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, S.J. | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• A Visit to China's Largest Catholic Village | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D
• "Weaving a Profound Dialogue between West and East": On Matteo Ricci, S.J. | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• China, Catholicism, and Buddhism | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D. and Carl E. Olson
• The Church in China: Complexity and Community | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• China's Catholics of Guizhou: Three Days with Three Bishops | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• China's Struggling Catholics: A Second Report on the Church in Beijing | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• China's Thriving Catholics: A Report From Beijing's South Cathedral | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• Two Chinese Churches? Or One? | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• Two Weeks in the Eternal City: From the Vatican Secret Archives to the Basilica of St. Charles Borromeo | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
• Catholicism and Buddhism | Anthony E. Clark and Carl E. Olson