HONG KONG (UCAN): Shandong’s Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and provincial Church Affairs Committee (CAC) organised a symposium to explain Sinicisation themed, Catholic theological thought in a new era. However, not everyone is happy.
Father Peter, a local priest, said that he does not know the details of the event, such as the date and venue, but he expects it to be in Jinan like previous events.
A notice sent to all nine dioceses in Shandong by the organisers on July 17 asked priests to write lectures in line with the Sinicisation of religion, interpreting faith and Catholic thought in line with Chinese traditions and culture.
“After all, we are Chinese, not foreigners, and our country is different, so it has to be in line with our national conditions,” the notice said.
“Our social situation is to accept the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. In order to do a good job, we have to integrate faith in traditional Chinese culture and follow faith in line with the Chinese people,” it said.
But Father Peter said those attending the programme would be betraying the Church. “I cannot accept the leadership of an atheist party—this is absurd,” he said.
He said urging priests to present the Catholic faith as part of Chinese culture is a tactic to make the Church a puppet of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
He said Christians can accept Chinese painting, architecture and literature as expressions of faith. However, accepting traditional culture as a tool to interpret Christian faith aims to make the Church submissive to the party.
Father Peter pointed out that traditional Chinese culture is a mixture of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. The teachings of Confucius and Lao Tzu are ways of making people submissive to rulers.
“Can we use such a thing to explain Christian faith that stands for justice and democracy and faith sharing?” he asked.
Father Peter explained that Shandong is the hometown of Confucius and added that the Church “will be harmed if traditional culture, represented by the teachings of Confucius, is now used to explain the Catholic faith.”
Father Joseph, another priest in the province, said he is upset because of the symposium’s organisers. “The CCPA is not at all a bridge between the government and the Church. It is a puppet of the government,” he said.
Father Joseph explained that before the communist regime was established, the Franciscans and the Society of the Divine Word ran the Church in Shandong. They managed seminaries, schools and orphanages but also published books and newspapers and had great social influence.
However, the current bishops have been made obedient to the centralised power of the government, even participating in CCP activities and wearing red clothes for photographs.
Father Paul Chang of Hebei province, said that ever since the CCP came to power, the Church in Shandong has bribed Catholics to be accomplices of state agents in oppressing the Church.
Two of the most famous are Anthony Liu Bainian, former vice chairperson of the CCPA who become known as the mainland pope, and Bishop Fang Xingyao of Linyi.
Father Chang said the two have followed the orders of the party and betrayed the Church, especially by presiding over and participating in many illicit ordinations.
Zhang Qiang, from Shandong, said the number of Catholics is dwindling in the region “because the priests are not evangelising. Each death means one less Catholic. Even the number of priests is falling.”
