_WORLD WATCH______________________________
______________________CHINA____________________
Catholics cool toward government ceremony
Losses for the “Patriotic Church”
Chinese Catholics reacted with indifference to ceremonies in the country’s capital marking the 50th anniversary of the Three Autonomies movement, the Fides news agency reported. “The Three Autonomies story is a chapter of China’s history which should be closed,” a girl in Beijing told Fides.
The Three Autonomies movement was begun by Father Wang Liangzuo, a priest from Sichuan; the movement was supported by the Chinese Communist Party but condemned by the bishops of that time. It was designed to establish an autonomous national Catholic Church, independent of the Vatican.
The 50th anniversary of the Three Autonomies movement was celebrated on November 29, with ceremonies in the Great Hall of the People’s Assembly in Tiananmen Square. An order to attend was issued to all the bishops of the official Church, rectors of seminaries, and representatives of men’s and women’s religious orders. Also in attendance were official representatives of Protestant, Buddhist, Taoist, and Muslim groups. The ceremony included a speech by the Patriotic Church’s bishop of Beijing, Michael Fu Tieshan, and remarks by Wang Zhaoguo, the head of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party, which controls all recognized religions in China.
Bishop Tieshan said that “autonomy” does not mean “independence regarding doctrines or rules.” He claimed that the Patriotic Church “does not mean to be unorthodox in regard to religious practices and beliefs.” But he suggested that “autonomy means that foreign powers must not interfere in China’s religious affairs.” Several of those present at the ceremony reported that the bishop’s address was “well and cleverly planned.” He urged the official bishops present at the ceremony to organize meetings at the local level to mark the 50 years of the Three Autonomies movement.
By taking part in illicit episcopal ordinations in Beijing last January 6, Bishop Tieshan had distanced himself from the majority of Catholics in the city, who were unhappy with that deliberate slap at the Holy See. Since that time, the faithful have boycotted some of the liturgical ceremonies at which the bishop has presided; in some cases they have walked out of churches when he appears. And in the local parishes, faithful Catholics have distributed copies of the statement by the Holy See warning that the unauthorized episcopal ordinations were “a serious violation of canonical discipline” which would result in “severe sanctions” including “de facto excommunication.” At the time of the ordinations, Cardinal Vincenzo Fagiolo, a canon-law expert (who died recently) spoke of a “de facto schism” in China.
During the past year, there has been a series of signs that the official Catholic Church in China is rejecting the authority of the Communist Party and of the Patriotic Association, and drawing closer to Rome.
Back to Catholic World Report January 2001 Table of Contents