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The Catholic Patriotic Association (),
abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
CPA, is a state-sanctioned organization of Catholicism in the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It was established in 1957 after a group of Chinese Catholics met in Beijing with officials from the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
(CCP) and the Religious Affairs Bureau. It is the main organizational body of Catholics in China officially recognized by the Chinese government. It is not recognized by the Vatican. The organization is overseen by the CCP's United Front Work Department (UFWD) following the
State Administration for Religious Affairs The State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) was an executive agency directly under the State Council of the People's Republic of China which oversaw religious affairs in the country. Originally created in 1951 as the Religious Affairs ...
' absorption into the UFWD in 2018. The CPA does not oversee Catholics in
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
.


History

After the establishment of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1949, the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
sought for ways to bring religions in alignment with the communist cause. While all religions were seen as superstitious, Christianity had the added challenge of being foreign. Efforts were made by Chinese Protestants in May 1950 in a meeting with Premier
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
. This resulted in the penning of the " Christian Manifesto" that condemned foreign imperialism and argued for building a Chinese Protestant church apart from foreign control. This was based in part on earlier Protestant missiological strategy of creating an indigenous church based on the so-called "
three-self principles The three-self formula or three-self principle is a missiological strategy to establish indigenous churches. Its principles are: self-governance, self-support (i.e., financial independence from foreigners), and self-propagation (i.e., indigenous ...
": self-government, self-support, and self-propagation. In December 1950, Chinese Catholics followed suit, with Father Wang Liangzuo in north
Sichuan province Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
, penning the "Guangyuan Manifesto" and signed by some 500 Catholics. It declared: Other Catholic manifestos followed, such as the "Chongqing Manifesto" published in January 1951 with over 700 signatures. Similar to the Protestant "Christian Manifesto," the Catholic manifestos spoke of the need for a "three-self" or "three-autonomies" (as it was translated into English), even though this was previously only part of the Protestant missiological literature and not discussed among Catholic missionaries. Premier
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
met with Chinese Catholics and spoke of his appreciation for the sacrifices of the Catholic Church and its missionaries, and the need to remain united with Rome on spiritual matters. But he also encouraged the development of the "three-self." Pope Pius XII issued ''Cupimus Imprimis'' (1952) and ''Ad Sinarum Gentes'' (1954) praising Chinese Catholics for their loyalty and underscoring the importance of martyrdom. ''Ad Sinarum Gentes'' additionally spoke out against the "three-self," arguing that independence would make a church no longer "Catholic." In July 1957, 241 Chinese Catholics from all parts of China, including laity, priests, and bishops, convened a meeting in Beijing with officials from the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
and the Religious Affairs Bureau. They approved the creation of the Catholic Patriotic Association with Archbishop Ignatius Pi Shushi of Shenyang elected as president. By early 1958, the first Catholic bishops were illicitly appointed without reference to Rome or the Pope. In June 1958, Pope Pius XII issued ''Ad Apostolorum Principis'', refusing to recognize any consecrations performed without prior Vatican approval. The question of consecrating bishops would be a major sticking point in Sino-Vatican relations ever since. With the rise of the
Anti-Rightist Campaign The Anti-Rightist Campaign () in the People's Republic of China, which lasted from 1957 to roughly 1959, was a political campaign to purge alleged " Rightists" within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the country as a whole. The campaign was ...
and the
Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
, all public religious activities came to an end and organizations like the CPA were shutdown. However, as
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
's reforms enabled a restoration of religions in the 1980s, the CPA once again became the official state-sanctioned organization for Catholicism in China. A sizable population of Chinese Catholics remain as part of the so-called " underground church," seen as "Vatican loyalists," and who boycotting masses said by CPA priests. The CPA does not recognize the proclamation of the
dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...
of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
by Pope Pius XII in 1950, canonizations from 1949 onward (e.g. the canonization of Pope Pius X), Vatican declarations on even well-established devotional piety (e.g. on the Sacred Heart of Jesus or on Mary as Queen), and the
Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...
(1962–1965). In practice, however, the Catholic Church in China uses Chinese translations of the documents of the Second Vatican Council, of the
1983 Code of Canon Law The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title ''Codex Iuris Canonici''), also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the second and current comp ...
, of the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church (revised in 1997) and of the 1970
Roman Missal The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of th ...
. These had at first to be imported from
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, but have been printed locally for some years. In 2018, the CPA's parent organization, the State Administration for Religious Affairs, was absorbed into the CCP's United Front Work Department.


Appointment of bishops

In 1978,
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
offered a special faculty that opened up the possibility of bishops in the underground church to appoint new bishops. This was particularly important during a time when the last Vatican-approved bishops occurred in the 1950s three decades earlier.
Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan Bishop Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan (December 29, 1907 – April 13, 1992) was a Chinese Roman Catholic priest and bishop who lived in China during the 20th century. He was bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Baoding. Early life He was born in S ...
, the Bishop of Baoding, in 1981 became the first to make use of this special faculty and consecrated three bishops without any prior approval from the Holy See. The
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
retrospectively gave approval for Fan's actions, and gave further authority to Fan to consecrate more bishops without prior consent. However, given the dire situation of the Catholic Church in China,
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
gave permission to five bishops belonging to the underground church and four bishops connected to the CPA, all of whom were consecrated bishop between 1949 and 1955, the authority to appoint new bishops without prior approval. It was precisely in that period that bishops ordained according to CPA rules began to request and obtain recognition from the Holy See. In June 2007, fifty years after the establishment of the Catholic Patriotic Association,
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
made publicly available a letter to the Church in China underscoring the importance of unity and outlining a willingness to engage in “respectful and constructive dialogue” with Chinese bishops and government authorities. Following the letter, five new bishops associated with the Catholic Patriotic Association were ordained in 2007, all with papal and Chinese government approval. In September 2018, a provisional agreement was signed between the Vatican and the Chinese government that stipulated China would recommend bishops for papal approval and that the pope had the ability to veto any recommendations.
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
also recognized seven bishops of the Catholic Patriotic Association who were previously not in communion with the Vatican. Some have raised concerns that the agreement would divide Catholics across China because it offers more control to the Chinese government. Among the most outspoken critics has been the Hong Kong Cardinal
Joseph Zen Joseph Zen Ze-kiun SDB (, born 13 January 1932) is a cardinal of the Catholic Church from Hong Kong, who served as the sixth Bishop of Hong Kong. He was appointed cardinal in 2006, and has been outspoken on issues regarding human rights, ...
who published an opinion piece in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' entitled “The Pope Doesn’t Understand China,” and asserting that this attempt at unifying the Chinese church will instead lead to the “annihilation of the real Church in China.” While the agreement has generally been recognized as far from perfect, it is also seen by Pope Francis as a step towards healing and the task of evangelization. In October 2022, the agreement was renewed for another two years. In November 2022, the Vatican accused the Chinese government of violating the terms of the agreement.


Other state-sanctioned religious organizations

The CPA is one of five state-sanctioned religious organizations set up in China after 1949. The others are the Protestant
Three-Self Patriotic Movement The Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM; ) is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church (). The National Committee of the Three-Self Patriot ...
, the
Chinese Taoist Association Chinese Taoist Association (CTA ; ), founded in April 1957, is the official government supervisory organ of Taoism in the People's Republic of China. It is overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since th ...
, the
Buddhist Association of China The Buddhist Association of China (BCA; ) is the official government supervisory organ of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China. The association has been overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since ...
, and the
Islamic Association of China The Islamic Association of China () is the official government supervisory organ for Islam in the People's Republic of China. The association is overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following the ...
.


See also

* Underground church *
Religion in China The People's Republic of China is officially an atheist state, but the government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism are recognised separately), and Islam. In the early 21st c ...
*
Christianity in China Christianity in China has been present since at least the 3rd century, and it has gained a significant amount of influence during the last 200 years. While Christianity may have existed in China before the 3rd century, evidence of its exist ...
* Catholic Church in China *
Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference of Taiwan The Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference (CRBC; ), is the episcopal conference of Taiwan and is the highest organ of the Roman Catholic Church in Greater China. Catholics in the independent jurisdictions of Hong Kong, Macau and Mongolia are rep ...
* Catholic Church in Macau and
Catholic Church in Hong Kong The Catholic Church in Hong Kong (), established in 1841, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. All Catholics in Hong Kong are under the Diocese of Hong Kong, which is a ''de jure'' suffraga ...
*
Separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

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External links

* {{Authority control Christian organizations established in 1957 Catholicism in China Christianity in China Patriotism 1957 establishments in China Organizations associated with the Chinese Communist Party