Attending mass in China, what is a genuine Catholic Church?

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ante83

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I seem to have much difficulty in searching for this since it leads me to all kinds of things.

I will be staying in southern China (Shenzhen + western rural country side) for a bit and want to attend mass on sundays. But given that there seems to be a bit of an uneasy relationship with the vatican; I want to know how I can tell if a “Catholic” church is a “real” Catholic church or as close as humanly possible.

Is there a registry somewhere I can search to find an official church or is there just no such thing? I presume an official catholic church must be lead by priests who are in communion with the universal (one) Catholic Church?

Thanks in advance!
 
PRC China has a government run “Catholic” Church and an underground Church in communion with Rome. Some of the government Church bishops and priests are validly ordained and some are not. There are negotiations underway between the PRC government and the Vatican. We should all pray that this schism can be healed. You should not try to identify the underground Church, out of concern for their safety.

More at:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_China

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Patriotic_Catholic_Association

catholic.com/magazine/articles/the-cost-of-discipleship

Can a Catholic attend Mass at a PRC government sponsored Church? Short answer is Yes.

catholic.com/quickquestions/may-i-attend-a-state-approved-mass-in-china-to-fulfill-my-sunday-obligation
 
I was in China for several weeks and faced the same problem, I ended not going to mass. There is an “official” Catholic church that is run by the Chinese government. Even their bishops are made bishops by the communist government. I wouldn’t go to mass at one of their churches. There is an underground Catholic church. If a foreigner like yourself sought it out and went to mass it would draw special attention to them and could cause trouble with the government, their being illegal in the first place. So I didn’t try to seek out a mass at a genuine Catholic church, since it would be good for me but could be bad for them.
 
Hey thanks guys it’s much appreciated!

As you both suggest, I will not try to find an underground Church, I do not want to place anyone in danger for selfish reasons. I will opt for not even going if that was my only option.

From those links I have also gathered that it seems that sunday obligation is lifted while in China.

What would be an argument for not attending a state approved/sponsored church as it seems the sacrament is still valid?
Is it mainly that one must be on guard and take everything with a grain of salt if they start going on about the virtues of their political system. Or more so that by attending, one is lending them credibility/status and maybe even legitimacy?

I’m leaning towards not even going now, and do something special on my own to mark the day; like pray the rosary a few times or something.

I will indeed also pray for the “sino-vatican” schism to be healed!
 
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