“It has become a model for many other missionary countries,” Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said at the International Conference on the Centenary of the First Council of Sinense.
Salvatore Cernuzio
“The Pope is the spiritual leader of all Catholics around the world, regardless of their nationality. But obedience to this Pope not only does not undermine the love that each person should have for his country; It will cleanse and revitalize the country.”
These words spoken more than 100 years ago by Archbishop Celso Costantini, the first Apostolic Nuncio to China, are still highly relevant today.
The late archbishop declared that “such communion is the best way to guarantee a faith protected from external political interests and firmly rooted in local culture and society.”
Despite difficulties, delays and resistance, Archbishop Costantini worked tirelessly to ensure that the Gospel of Christ took root in Chinese soil and adapted to local society and culture.
Archbishop Costantini also organized and promoted the Synod of Sinense, the first and so far only Catholic Synod in China, whose 100th anniversary was celebrated on Tuesday, May 21. The anniversary was commemorated with an important international conference promoted by the Pontifical Urban University, in collaboration with the Fidesz News Agency and the China Pastoral Committee.
Among the main speakers in the morning session was Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
good believer, good citizen
As Rector Vincenzo Buonomo said in his opening remarks, preceding Pope Francis’ video message, the conference was “academic, not celebratory.” It was not a “historical reenactment” of the event, but a reflection on how the synod event itself “can be a foundation and a benchmark for the cultural integration that the Christian message brings, ensuring the existence of good believers and good citizens.”
This is a concept Pope Francis emphasized in his greeting to the Chinese people at the final Mass of his visit to Mongolia, and one that Cardinal Parolin reiterated in his speech.
He recalled that Archbishop Costantini had written clear words on this more than a century ago. “The Pope wants Chinese Catholics to love their country and be first among its people. The Pope loves all nations as God, and the Pope is their representative. I love China, a noble and great country, and I will never put it below any other country.”
The value of Concilium Sinense today
Looking back at history, Cardinal Parolin stressed that although the Council of Shanghai was an “extraordinary council”, it had a “wider ecclesiastical significance”.
The China General Conference “will serve as a model for many other missionary countries, setting the stage for holding national conferences in those countries in the coming years.”
Cardinal Parolin said remembering what happened was of “great value” in our own day, when the Church, at the invitation of Pope Francis, is reflecting on synods and calling on the People of God to “take responsibility and become actors in the life of the Church.”
This was the same experience the Synod Fathers had in Shanghai from May 15 to June 12. “We are like humble workers building a cathedral,” Archbishop Costantini said. “The architect gives the design, but each one brings his own brick to this great edifice. For us, the architect is the Pope. The workers leave, but the cathedral remains.”
From “overseas missions” to “missionary churches”
The cardinal affirmed these ideas, attributing them both to “the almost exclusive presence of foreign clergy” and “a certain attachment of some missionary circles to the patronage established by the Western powers and pastoral methods.” It was expressed in a context characterized not only by aspects but also by imbalances. It depends on that. ”
In this regard, Archbishop Costantini put forward a missionary and diplomatic “strategy” inspired by the teachings of Pope Benedict XV. Maximum IlludeThis led him to become “convinced” that a general meeting of the church should be held in China.
But first, while acknowledging the work of the many foreign missionaries who, with their charity and dedication, “brought the Gospel to China,” Archbishop Costantini understood that efforts needed to be made to better integrate the Catholic faith into Chinese life.
“Costantini recognized the urgency of moving from the concept of ‘foreign missions’ to the concept of a ‘missionary church,'” Cardinal Parolin emphasized.
Therefore, it was necessary to advance efforts to indigenize the clergy.
With this intention, “he supported the ordination of the first six Chinese bishops in 1926 and, for the same purpose, founded the Disciples of the Lord the following year.”
He also explicitly promoted Chinese art and architecture forms, stating that “through them the enculturation of the Catholic faith can be further realized.”
Cardinal Parolin recalled that there was no shortage of criticism and even a full-scale media campaign against him, but “he always responded to criticism with foresight.”
Contract renewal
Archbishop Costantini’s legacy has continued in our time, and since 2018, bilateral relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China have been strengthened through a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops.
It’s an agreement that “we are all interested in updating and further developing in some respects,” Cardinal Parolin said on the sidelines of the meeting.
At the same time, the cardinal expressed his desire for a “stable presence in China.”
“Even if initially it does not take the form of a papal representative or an apostolic commitment, there is still the possibility of increasing and deepening our contacts. This is our goal.”
A church steeped in culture
These words were spoken by Cardinal Parolin together with Bishop Giuseppe Shenbin of Shanghai. “We will build up the Church in China as a sacred Catholic church that follows God’s will, embraces China’s excellent traditional cultural heritage, and is welcomed by today’s Chinese society,” the bishop said.
The Chinese bishop outlined four points about the current state of the Catholic Church in his country. First, he said, “the development of the Church in China must be faithful to the Gospel of Christ” and therefore to “traditional Catholic beliefs.”
When New China was founded in 1949, the Church “sought constantly to adapt to the new political system, while always remaining faithful to the Catholic faith.”
At the time, “The religious freedom policy implemented by the Chinese government has no interest in changing the Catholic faith, but hopes that the clergy and faithful Catholics will protect the interests of the Chinese people and be free from the domination of foreign powers.” It was.”
past problems
Bishop Shen Bin recalled that then-Secretary-General of the State Council, Xi Zhongxun, had asserted that the Chinese government was not opposed to domestic Catholics having religious contacts with the Vatican, but that these were “allowed only on the conditions that they do not go against the interests of the Chinese people, do not infringe on China’s sovereignty, and the Vatican has changed its hostile policy toward China.”
The Shanghai bishop also recalled past problems between church and state in China, partly due to “a strong sense of European cultural superiority” on the part of some missionaries, who “even sought to use Christianity to change Chinese society and culture.”
This was “inevitably opposed and even hated by many Chinese” and “prevented the further spread of the gospel of love among the Chinese.”
The road to sinicization
Today, as the Chinese people pursue “the great all-round rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through modernization with Chinese style,” the Catholic Church “must move in the same direction,” Bishop Shen Bin asserted, “and walk the path of sinicization in line with today’s Chinese society and culture.”
He called on Chinese priests and laity to “love their country and the Church and to closely connect the development of the Church with the welfare of the people.” In this regard, he quoted Pope Francis’ words that “being a good Christian is not only compatible with being a good citizen, but is an essential part of it.”
two female speakers
Two women were among the speakers at the conference at the Pontifical University.
One of them is Zheng Xiaoyun, director of the Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.According to the government, today there are 98 dioceses, nine institutes, and 6,000 churches in China, with a population of 6 million people, more than 8,000 people. He pointed out that there are believers. Be religious with “full guarantees of religious freedom.”
She expressed hope for the renewal of the agreement between China and the Holy See.
Later, Professor Elisa Giunipero, lecturer in Chinese history at the Catholic University of Milan, recalled the “significant and often underestimated impact of the Catholic mission in China and in the world.”
“From the Church in China comes the impetus to transform the Church in the mission lands, helping to imagine a universal Church that is no longer the bearer of European culture,” she added. “The Holy See has confidence in the Chinese clergy for their tenacity and action in carrying out the Council.”
“This greatly helped the church endure the difficulties of the following decades,” she concluded.
