HONG KONG (UCAN): A two-day forum held in Chengdu, capital of China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, on the sinicisation of theology has come under fire for being too political.
“The forum had a political mission. The papers read out were either too general or struck the same old tune. It had nothing to do with theology,” said one parish priest who attended, noting that were few papers on theology and plenty on matters related to politics.
About 140 people attended the November 12 to 13 gathering which featured 17 scholars from universities across China discussing how to integrate Catholicism into traditional Chinese culture.
Organised by the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC), the forum, was the sixth of its kind and was hosted by the Sichuan Catholic Patriotic Association and Catholic Administration Commission, and co-organised by the Chengdu Catholic Patriotic Association.
It was conducted by Bishop Joseph Li Jing of Ningxia, executive director of the BCCCC and the CCPA’s theological studies commission; and Bishop Xu Honggen of Suzhou, the deputy director.
Paul, another participant, recounted that in one debate on sinicisation it was mentioned that clergy should not wear vestments when raising the national flag or sing songs not related to faith in the Church.
He agreed these showed a disrespect for faith and were harmful to the sanctity of the Church but pointed out that most priests spoke up in support of the sinicisation of Catholicism. One said that as Chinese citizens Catholics should be faithful to a sinicised form of Catholicism and be proud to be sinicised clergy.
Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin, chairperson of the BCCCC, told a specially convened session on November 12 that it was their duty to convey and promote the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee (of the Communist Party.)
Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, deputy chairperson of the BCCCC and CCPA, told the forum’s closing ceremony that Bishop Ma’s message demonstrated the Church’s stance in relation to passing on the faith in China and executing sinicised Catholicism in accordance with the wishes of the government.
Paul said the forum had merely restated the stance of the BCCCC and CCPA, and was nothing more than a politicising, rather than sinicising, of religion. “Sinicisation is just an artificial covering of the poison inside the jar, aiming to turn Catholic faith on the mainland into communist Catholicism, not the Catholicism of the Church,” he said.
He remarked that some scholars said the forum had shown that the sinicisation advocated by the forum was not the same as inculturation because “this sinicisation is mixed with too many political factors.”
On the special topic, Harmony and Symbiosis—Convergence of Catholicism and Chinese Culture, Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang of Zhoucun, in Shandong province, spoke about “incorporating Chinese traditional culture to promote the gospel of Christ,” according to a report published on the WeChat public account of the government’s State Administration for Religious Affairs.
Bishop Yang said that everyone dreamed of rejuvenating the Chinese nation and preaching the gospel at the same time. “How to integrate excellent Chinese traditional culture to preach the gospel and let the gospel of Christ take seed and grow in China is our responsibility and our mission,” he said.
Du Xiao’an, a professor in the school of history and culture at Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, also discussed ways of integrating Catholicism and traditional Chinese culture, saying that adhering to a “Chinese orientation of Catholicism” needed to integrate the gospel of Christ into Chinese culture so that the majority of religious believers could better adapt to the development of Chinese society and serve the masses.
He said the Catholic Church in China should inherit and promote “Matteo Ricci’s rule … consistently integrating patriotism with faith, adhering to the principle of independence, autonomy and self-management in governing the Church and education.”
Du also called for priests to actively guide Catholicism and socialism in line with the integration of evangelisation and sinicisation, promoting the era of Catholicism, popularisation and life, thus realising the integration of Catholic doctrines into traditional Chinese culture.
