However, he continued, “the requisite and courageous safeguarding of the deposit of faith and of sacramental and hierarchical communion is not of itself opposed to dialogue with the authorities concerning those aspects of the life of the ecclesial community that fall within the civil sphere.”
Benedict expressed a hope that the Vatican and China may someday establish diplomatic relations, stressing that “the Holy See always remains open to negotiations, so necessary if the difficulties of the present time are to be overcome.”
The Church is not tied to a political system, he noted: “Therefore, the Catholic Church which is in China does not have a mission to change the structure or administration of the state; rather, her mission is to proclaim Christ to men and women, as the Savior of the world, basing herself — in carrying out her proper apostolate — on the power of God.”
“The civil authorities are well aware that the Church in her teaching invites the faithful to be good citizens, respectful and active contributors to the common good in their country, but it is likewise clear that she asks the state to guarantee to those same Catholic citizens the full exercise of their faith, with respect for authentic religious freedom,” Benedict wrote.
Christians in China
China has long been a difficult place to be a Christian. The Chinese government technically recognizes Catholicism as one of five “official” religions in the country, but there also exists an underground Catholic Church, which is persecuted and loyal to the pope.
Government-approved Catholic churches, on the other hand, have comparatively more freedom of worship but face other challenges, including pressure from the government to censor parts of Catholic teaching, while including Chinese nationalism and love for the party in preaching.
Religious believers of all stripes are surveilled in China, and China has also cracked down on religious freedom in other areas, such as its special administrative region of Hong Kong. (Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, speaking to EWTN in 2017, suggested that Pope Benedict’s 2007 letter, which Zen helped to draft, may have been mistranslated into Chinese in a way that limited its effectiveness.)
Since coming to power in 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has mandated the “sinicization” of all religions in China, a move the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called “a far-reaching strategy to control, govern, and manipulate all aspects of faith into a socialist mold infused with ‘Chinese characteristics.’”
Presently in China, Catholic priests are only allowed to minister in recognized places of worship in which minors under the age of 18 are not allowed to enter. Religious groups in China have been barred from conducting any religious activities online without first applying and receiving approval from the provincial Department of Religious Affairs.
The Holy See first entered into a provisional two-year agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops in 2018, which has since been renewed twice and is again up for renewal this fall. China has repeatedly violated the agreement by installing its own bishops without the Vatican’s approval, but Vatican officials have said that the Holy See is “determined” to continue dialogue with China.
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Spring 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of a Church council that took place in Shanghai in 1924 — the first, and so far only, Council of the Chinese Catholic Church. The council, which took place 25 years before the Chinese Communist Revolution, brought together 105 Catholic missionaries, bishops, and Chinese Catholics to establish a framework for a native Chinese hierarchy.
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