{"id":1180062,"date":"2022-01-02T11:34:11","date_gmt":"2022-01-02T16:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1180062"},"modified":"2022-01-02T11:34:14","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T16:34:14","slug":"beijing-pressures-hong-kong-catholic-church-to-sinicize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/beijing-pressures-hong-kong-catholic-church-to-sinicize\/","title":{"rendered":"Beijing Pressures Hong Kong Catholic Church to \u2018Sinicize\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbeijing-pressures-hong-kong-catholic-church-to-sinicize%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1180062&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">ROME \u2014 Chinese bishops and religious leaders arranged a meeting with senior Hong Kong Catholic clergy to urge them to \u201cSinicize\u201d the Church in Hong Kong, Reuters reported this week.<\/p>\n<p>The private October 31 meeting, which was never publicized until now, was \u201cBeijing\u2019s most assertive move yet in its attempts to influence Hong Kong\u2019s diocese,\u201d Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/exclusive-historic-conclave-chinese-bishops-priests-brief-hong-kong-clerics-xis-2021-12-30\/\">stated<\/a>, citing a member of the Hong Kong clergy present at the encounter.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>During the meeting, the Chinese prelates laid out President Xi Jinping\u2019s view of Sinicized religion with \u201cChinese characteristics,\u201d meaning conforming to the vision of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), of which Xi is chairman.<\/p>\n<p>At least one top Vatican official has eagerly embraced Beijing\u2019s campaign to Sinicize the Catholic Church in China.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2018, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican\u2019s Foreign Minister, <a href=\"https:\/\/press.vatican.va\/content\/salastampa\/en\/bollettino\/pubblico\/2018\/03\/26\/180326c.html\">said<\/a> in an address at the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome that the two principles of \u201cSinicization\u201d and \u201cinculturation\u201d are the key to the future of Christianity in China.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_19330330\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1038230652.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19330330\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1038230652-1024x684-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"990\" height=\"661\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>A general view shows the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Hong Kong on September 23, 2018. (PHILIP FONG\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Gallagher said that \u201ctwo expressions or, more precisely, two principles stand out, which should interact with each other, namely \u2018Sinicization\u2019 and \u2018inculturation.\u2019 I am convinced that an important intellectual and pastoral challenge arises in an almost natural way from the bringing together of these two terms, which indicate two real visions of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom these two visions, it should be possible to work out the coordinates of an authentic Christian presence in China, which could present the special nature and the newness of the Gospel in a context deeply rooted in the specific identity of the age-old Chinese culture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In late 2016, the CCP asserted the absolute independence of the nationalized Catholic Church from Rome, insisting that the Church in China adhere to a program of \u201cself-governance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an official statement <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globaltimes.cn\/content\/1026399.shtml\">released<\/a> after the 2016 National Congress of Chinese Catholic Representatives in Beijing, participants reasserted the autonomy of the Chinese Catholic Church from Rome.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cSticking to the principle of independence and self-governance as well as a system of national congresses embodies the self-esteem and confidence of the Catholic Church in China. They are the foundation of the church\u2019s existence,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2018, the Holy See signed a secret accord with the CCP on the naming of Catholic bishops in China, ceding to Beijing some of its authority to appoint bishops. In 2020, the two parties renewed the agreement, which senior Catholic prelates have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/national-security\/2018\/10\/22\/cardinal-burke-vatican-china-deal-betrayal-chinese-catholics\/\">described<\/a> as a \u201cbetrayal\u201d of Chinese Catholics.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19330346\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1038230648.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-19330346\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1038230648-1024x683-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"990\" height=\"660\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>A Catholic mass in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Hong Kong. (PHILIP FONG\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In its article this week, Reuters reported that the fall meeting between Chinese and Hong Kong clergy was monitored via Zoom by Beijing\u2019s Central Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese prelates and other speakers \u201cdescribed how Xi\u2019s policy of \u2018Sinicization\u2019 aligned with long-term Vatican policies of inculturation \u2014 adapting Christianity in traditional, non-Christian cultures,\u201d Reuters stated, citing two of the clerics who participated in the meeting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all know the word Sinicization carries a political agenda behind it, and they didn\u2019t have to spell that out,\u201d one of the priests said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe pressure is building on us in Hong Kong,\u201d another of the participating priests reportedly said. \u201cSome of us see (Sinicization) as code for Xi-nification. We are going to have to be clever to resist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tdwilliamsrome?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-show-count=\"false\">Follow @tdwilliamsrome<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ROME \u2014 Chinese bishops and religious leaders arranged a meeting with senior Hong Kong Catholic clergy to urge them to \u201cSinicize\u201d the Church in Hong Kong, Reuters reported this week. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1180062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1180062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1180062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1180062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1180062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1180062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}