The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church?
The Chinese government has regulated all religious activity in the public domain for many years. The state has generally considered religious groups as representing a potential challenge to the authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which sees one of its basic roles as making sure religion...
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doaj-368f405aacee4d5f989ad7187c3d8f782020-11-24T22:17:50ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442019-07-0110744610.3390/rel10070446rel10070446The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church?Magdaléna Masláková0Anežka Satorová1China Studies Seminar, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, 602 00 Brno, Czech RepublicChina Studies Seminar, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, 602 00 Brno, Czech RepublicThe Chinese government has regulated all religious activity in the public domain for many years. The state has generally considered religious groups as representing a potential challenge to the authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which sees one of its basic roles as making sure religion neither interferes with the state’s exercise of power nor harms its citizens. A revised Regulation on Religious Affairs (Zongjiao shiwu tiaoli 宗教事务条例) took effect in 2018, updating the regulation of 2005. This paper aims to introduce and examine the content of the regulation, especially how it differs from its predecessor and how the changes are likely to affect religious groups in China. The Catholic church in China has historical links to the worldwide Catholic church, so articles in the new regulation which seek to curb foreign influence on Chinese religious groups may have more of an effect on Chinese Catholics than on other groups. The paper addresses two main questions: How does the new regulation affect the Catholic church and what strategies are employed by the Catholic church in order to comply with the regulation? The research is based on textual analysis of the relevant legal documents and on field research conducted in the People Republic of China (PRC). The fieldwork consisted of open interviews with several church members and official representatives of the church conducted in Zhejiang Province between March and May 2018, and in May and June 2019. The paper thus aims to analyze contemporary Chinese religious legislation with respect to the lived experience of Catholics in China.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/7/446ChinaCatholic churchRegulation on Religious AffairsChinese legislationsinicizationpatriotism |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Magdaléna Masláková Anežka Satorová |
spellingShingle |
Magdaléna Masláková Anežka Satorová The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church? Religions China Catholic church Regulation on Religious Affairs Chinese legislation sinicization patriotism |
author_facet |
Magdaléna Masláková Anežka Satorová |
author_sort |
Magdaléna Masláková |
title |
The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church? |
title_short |
The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church? |
title_full |
The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church? |
title_fullStr |
The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church? |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Catholic Church in Contemporary China: How Does the New Regulation on Religious Affairs Influence the Catholic Church? |
title_sort |
catholic church in contemporary china: how does the new regulation on religious affairs influence the catholic church? |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Religions |
issn |
2077-1444 |
publishDate |
2019-07-01 |
description |
The Chinese government has regulated all religious activity in the public domain for many years. The state has generally considered religious groups as representing a potential challenge to the authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which sees one of its basic roles as making sure religion neither interferes with the state’s exercise of power nor harms its citizens. A revised Regulation on Religious Affairs (Zongjiao shiwu tiaoli 宗教事务条例) took effect in 2018, updating the regulation of 2005. This paper aims to introduce and examine the content of the regulation, especially how it differs from its predecessor and how the changes are likely to affect religious groups in China. The Catholic church in China has historical links to the worldwide Catholic church, so articles in the new regulation which seek to curb foreign influence on Chinese religious groups may have more of an effect on Chinese Catholics than on other groups. The paper addresses two main questions: How does the new regulation affect the Catholic church and what strategies are employed by the Catholic church in order to comply with the regulation? The research is based on textual analysis of the relevant legal documents and on field research conducted in the People Republic of China (PRC). The fieldwork consisted of open interviews with several church members and official representatives of the church conducted in Zhejiang Province between March and May 2018, and in May and June 2019. The paper thus aims to analyze contemporary Chinese religious legislation with respect to the lived experience of Catholics in China. |
topic |
China Catholic church Regulation on Religious Affairs Chinese legislation sinicization patriotism |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/7/446 |
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