Christianity in China

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foxnews.com/world/2011/01/20/christianity-china/

"While religion in China may not be a big topic for discussion during President Hu Jintao’s meeting with President Obama this week, many experts say that an explosive growth in Christianity may be transforming the officially atheist regime.

According to China Aid, a Texas-based human rights group, the number of Christians in China has increased 100-fold since 1949. Current estimates range from 80 million to 130 million active members. And one startling estimate from a Chinese Christian businessman has that number doubling or even tripling in the next generation.

Christianity could become one of the macro forces shaping Chinese culture, say experts like Dr. David Aikman, author of "Jesus in Beijing."‬‪

… "
 
Dakota_Roberts said:
Religion isn’t illegal in China, Christianity in China is the government’s puppet…
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ahhh.
Letter of the law.
Spirit of the law.

Mao insists “religion is poison”
All Chinese are indeed “free” to take poison.
As they are free to have one child per couple.

No biggie.
 
catharina said:
ahhh.
Letter of the law.
Spirit of the law.

Mao insists “religion is poison”
All Chinese are indeed “free” to take poison.
As they are free to have one child per couple.

No biggie.
Click to expand...
Well, Mao would be turning in his grave to see how much China has abandoned his legacy in the past few decades. I don’t think religion (even Christianity) is still even nominally illegal in the PRC. However, the Chinese state controls the “official” Christian churches, which are of course required to obey the government.This is a problem especially for Catholicism, since Catholics are supposed to be ultimately answerable to the Church and the Pope, not to executive of the state. Nonetheless, I think there is a Chinese puppet “Catholic Church”; I’m not entirely sure what the actual Catholic Church views this, whether it recognizes its members as Catholics or not. I know the Vatican objected to the government’s appointment of bishps recently though (I think that was what the conflict was about, at least). Strangely, the Church’s relationship with China may become increasingly reminiscent of the Middle Ages, with Pope and Emperor quarreling over the investiture of prelates.
 
Raskolnikov said:
Well, Mao would be turning in his grave to see how much China has abandoned his legacy in the past few decades. I don’t think religion (even Christianity) is still even nominally illegal in the PRC. However, the Chinese state controls the “official” Christian churches, which are of course required to obey the government.This is a problem especially for Catholicism, since Catholics are supposed to be ultimately answerable to the Church and the Pope, not to executive of the state. Nonetheless, I think there is a Chinese puppet “Catholic Church”; I’m not entirely sure what the actual Catholic Church views this, whether it recognizes its members as Catholics or not. I know the Vatican objected to the government’s appointment of bishps recently though (I think that was what the conflict was about, at least). Strangely, the Church’s relationship with China may become increasingly reminiscent of the Middle Ages, with Pope and Emperor quarreling over the investiture of prelates.
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Correct. There is indeed a Chinese puppet “Catholic” Church.
It is called: the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Still as it has been since the 1950s,
the real Catholic Church is under full oppresion by China.

Brief secular reference to situation in usatoday:
“…Communist China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, and worship is allowed only in state-backed churches, although millions of Chinese belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome.”

usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-12-07-chinacatholic07_ST_N.htm

Also a Catholic voice, in existence for many years
is the Cardinal Kung Foundation.
cardinalkungfoundation.org/

For obvious reasons the Catholic Church in China
is often known as the Underground Church.

Also,

cardinalkungfoundation.org/index2.html

PS - as a Catholic faithful to the Vatican,
Cardinal Kung was a prisoner for more than 32 years in Chinese prisons.

Cardinal Kung died in exile in the USA in 2000.
He was 98 years old.
 
catharina said:
Correct. There is indeed a Chinese puppet “Catholic” Church.
It is called: the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Still as it has been since the 1950s,
the real Catholic Church is under full oppresion by China.
Click to expand...
It is a bit more complicated. In the early 2000’s the relationship between the Vatican and China improved, bishops were ordained for the Patriotic Catholic Association with the approval of Rome, bishops from the Patriotic Church were visiting Rome (together with a bishop from the underground Church). There was some official state legalizing process for the underground Church too.

Recently China ordered to consecrate a priest without the approval of Rome, (Nov 2010) this severed the relationship again.

Yes, we shall pray for them, both side; let the grace of our Lord work on them.
 
laszlo said:
It is a bit more complicated. In the early 2000’s the relationship between the Vatican and China improved, bishops were ordained for the Patriotic Catholic Association with the approval of Rome, bishops from the Patriotic Church were visiting Rome (together with a bishop from the underground Church). There was some official state legalizing process for the underground Church too.

Recently China ordered to consecrate a priest without the approval of Rome, (Nov 2010) this severed the relationship again.

Yes, we shall pray for them, both side; let the grace of our Lord work on them.
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Of course, you report is correct - so, in the end, nothing has changed.

As I said, the real Catholic Church remains
under complete oppression in China
as has been the case since the 1950s.

A tiny blip does not make for a real change …
esp when those promising change are Communist.
 
catharina said:
Of course, you report is correct - so, in the end, nothing has changed.
Click to expand...
We are still in the process.

I lived in similar situation in Hungary. The government did not went so far as China now, and no bishops were consecrated w/o the permit from Rome; but from 1949 there was a strong underground Church and a Church which cooperated with the government.

In 1974 Vatican made a concordat with the government, Cardinal Mindszenty was deceived (bt pope Paul VI) to leave the country, and the nominee of the government was appointed by Rome as his successor.

In other hand the underground Church flourished until it was suppressed. After 1990 when they became free to practice their faith, their strength significantly diminished. Also during the time of the suppression more than half of the underground priests married and left the priesthood.

For me the moral is that there is no life outside the root , and the connector to the root is the hierarchy and the hierarchy only; even if the hierarchy is imperfect.
 
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