Western media outlets are prone to report on the relationships between the Chinese state and Christianity as if it was some kind of boxing competition. But other perspectives can help those outside China to appreciate the real dynamics of the country’s churches and their specific contribution to world Christianity.
Rather than embarking on a strategic analysis of church-state relationships, let us try to discern how Catholic communities are presently living their faith in a specific context: the city of Shanghai. Shanghai is, of course, far from being the whole of China. Each region has distinctive social characteristics and historical memories. But the size and energy of Shanghai makes this metropolis of 24 million inhabitants a kind of laboratory in which the future of China is being crystallised.
The city can be legitimately described as the cradle of Chinese Catholicism – thanks to the efforts of the first Chinese Christians rather than as a result of missionary work proper. The role played by Chinese converts is vividly illustrated by the great statesman and scientist Xu Guangqi, who met the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci in Beijing. He returned home to Shanghai in 1608 for the prescribed period of mourning following the his father’s death, and asked another Jesuit, Lazzaro Cattaneo, to instruct his household in the faith. In 1609, Xu presented 60 candidates for baptism. His properties became the headquarters of the Catholic mission.
Ricci records that Xu was always a central figure during religious celebrations. “He was so attentive to the converts of the lower social classes that he always invited some of them to come and sit with him,” Ricci wrote, “whereas on state occasions, they had so much respect for the dignity of his high position that they would scarcely dare to look at him.”
By 1665, missionaries had built 66 churches in Songjiang Prefecture (greater Shanghai) and the converts numbered as many as 50,000. But in the last decades of the 18th century, edicts from Rome and imperial persecution chased away the missionaries and forced the Chinese Church underground.
When the Jesuits returned to Shanghai after 1842, some of Xu’s descendants were still practising their faith. They had built a small house alongside the river to use as their chapel. Out of respect for Xu, the Jesuits decided to establish their mission there. Until the Chinese Revolution in 1949, the continuous growth of the Shanghai Church made it the centre of Chinese Catholicism.
The period between 1950 and 1980 was especially taxing for Shanghai Catholicism. Several leading foreign priests advocated resistance against the new regime. A few others favoured accommodation. The Jesuit Beda Zhang Zhengming, the intellectual leader of Catholic Shanghai, had pleaded for an intermediate solution. But in August 1951 he was arrested, presumably to make him accept the role of spokesman of the “independent” Church of Shanghai. He died during interrogation.
Thereafter, with the exception of the most chaotic period of the Cultural Revolution, the regime carefully avoided creating martyrs. Its strategy was to obtain confessions, imprison opponents and pursue re-education through labour.
The decisive blow was dealt on September 8, 1955, when Bishop Gong Pinmei of Shanghai and 14 Chinese Jesuit priests, along with seminarians, Religious and 300 influential lay people, were arrested. By the end of that month around 1,200 Shanghainese Catholics had been imprisoned. Their handwritten or tape-recorded confessions were part of the “evidence” used in 1960 during the final trial of the Bishop of Shanghai and 14 other defendants.
In 1966, at the start of the Cultural Revolution, Red Guards from Beijing vandalised St Ignatius Cathedral, smashing all its stained-glass windows. For the next 10 years the cathedral served as a grain warehouse. The adjacent house that hosted the Jesuit community became a parasol-handle factory. All those who had been priests and nuns worked there during the Cultural Revolution.
After 1980, the strategy for reconstructing the Church placed the official Jesuit bishop Jin Luxian in opposition to his confrère, the underground bishop Fan Zhongliang. Yet their respective positions could be interpreted as a kind of division of labour. Both contributed in different ways to the rebuilding of Catholic communities. Bishop Jin’s position, however, enabled him to create and nurture institutions. Sheshan Basilica and seminary, more than 100 church buildings, a diocesan retreat house and a cluster of social and cultural works were all restored or created during his 30-year tenure.
The agreement reached by the two bishops on the name of their successor – an agreement ratified by the local government, as well as the Holy See – could have normalised the situation within the Shanghai Church. But the burdens and contradictions of the past weighed heavily on the shoulders of the chosen candidate. On July 7, 2012, the day of his episcopal ordination, Ma Daqin announced his resignation from the Patriotic Catholic Association. This was seen by officials as a betrayal of the agreement and he has been under house arrest ever since, mostly at Sheshan seminary. Though his freedom has gradually increased, management of Shanghai diocese is still entrusted to a committee of five priests. Important decisions have been postponed and accusations have arisen about external interference with Church finances.
The ongoing cross-demolition campaign in the adjacent coastal Zhejiang province may have further increased pressure on Shanghai Catholics. Though the campaign has largely remained limited to one province, it is generally seen as a kind of experiment aimed at limiting the imprint of Christianity on the social and architectural landscape of China.
Zhejiang has now banned rooftop crosses altogether, and adopted rules according to which crosses should be fully fixed to a building’s façade and be no more than a 10th of the façade’s height. The campaign has not directly affected Shanghai but has generated rumours about such forthcoming controls on parish councils.
On the other hand, an episcopal ordination in Henan province last August was negotiated and carried out to the satisfaction of the local Church, the Vatican and the state authorities, signalling improved communication between Beijing and Rome. It was a sign that both church and state are still muddling through, trying to reconcile diverging interests within their own internal structures, as well as find common ground. This may not be a win-win game, but neither is it a zero-sum game. Checks and balances can be found to mutual satisfaction.
In this context, which can be described as confused at best, how do Shanghai Catholics develop their practices and communities? Mostly by sticking to the task and ignoring the underlying questions. Liturgy remains central to their practices, and Masses are generally celebrated with a sense of decorum typical of Chinese tradition. Prayer groups are flourishing, with a youth network celebrating Taizé-style prayer evenings from one parish to another.
Even the old Shanghai custom of undertaking local pilgrimages has somehow been renewed. Sheshan Basilica, dedicated to Mary, Help of Christians, is visited not merely during the Marian month of May.
For a few years now, small groups of students have undertaken their own, smaller-sized pilgrimages in October. A second local pilgrimage centre, the Lourdes Basilica in Pudong district, is a magnet for youth-centred activities such as Marriage Encounter days, pursued in a relaxed, friendly environment.
Although parish-based groups remain prevalent, many believers are now anxious to develop activities with wider social relevance (and possibly influence). Some have launched foot massage training programmes, which aim to provide both healthcare and work for migrants from poorer regions of the country.
Another feature of Shanghai Catholic life is its diversity. Each parish nurtures specific memories and liturgical traditions, which reflect the social, cultural and architectural variety of the numerous areas that have joined together to form a world metropolis unified by a gigantic metro system. If Pudong parishes and other neighbourhoods reflect the communal spirit typical of Chinese popular religion, city centre parishes stress a sense of sacredness and the preservation of Catholic traditions. One of them even specialises in celebrations according to the Tridentine Rite.
All in all, Shanghai Catholics are more preoccupied with the Church’s inner transformation than with political issues. They are deeply conscious of the latter, of course, but they prefer to concentrate on areas where they can make a difference. When it comes to diagnosis and solutions, they differ along lines also found in other countries.
Shanghai Catholics also show a strong appetite for interaction with overseas Catholic communities. Chinese faithful are decidedly part of the Universal Church, and share their experience of light and darkness in the pilgrimage that unites local communities into one body.
Fr Benoît Vermander is a French Jesuit who has worked and lived in the Chinese world since 1992. He is professor of religious studies at Fudan University, Shanghai
Liz Hingley, whose photograph accompanies this piece, is a British photographer and anthropologist. She is a visiting scholar of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
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