While one in 14 Chinese are reported to be Christian, many are connected with home churches which are not recognised by the Communist government.

Father Grant said Pope Francis has refused to release the "details" of the agreement. Read more

The institute says it gathered the data from 104 Catholic dioceses recognised by the Chinese authorities.

These dioceses are scattered in over 30 national provincial divisions.

In common with previous years, the research found the largest number of new Catholics baptised (almost 13,000) was concentrated in the Chinese province of Hebei.

The institute points out, however, that the data on the baptisms are partial and approximate.

The data do not manage to take into account baptisms celebrated in Catholic communities in the most isolated regions.

Nor do the data cover the baptisms administered in the Chinese-called "underground" communities (ie those not registered with the Chinese apparatus that applies the governmental religious policy).

In addition, the institute reported on baptisms celebrated in Catholic communities in regions where Muslim populations and ethnic minority groups are found. Tibet, for example, had just eight baptisms last year.

The data from the institute has provided a year-by-year record since 2000.

This shows a fluctuating trend, with a growth recorded until 2010, and a significant decline that would have marked the years from 2010 to 2015.

These numbers have since picked up, with nearly 50,000 baptisms being recorded in 2017 as well as 2018.

This indicates a new trend reversal when compared to the declining trend of the five-year period 2010-2015.

Commenting on the numbers collected on the new Catholics baptised in 2017, the institute's leaders described the proclamation of the Gospel in China as "a long and difficult path to carry out ".

To get around this, they have invited all communities to improve the collection of data on the sacraments celebrated and to keep their archives and parish registers up to date.

Source

• LaStampa
• Image: Catholic World Report

The deal will end a long struggle between Beijing's Communist rulers and the pope over who chooses the leaders of Catholicism in China.

"It is a baby step by China toward recognising some of the framework of the Western world," said Francesco Sisci, an Italian who teaches international relations at China Renmin University in Beijing.

"It doesn't go as far as recognizing what we in the West call religious freedom but it is a degree of religious autonomy."

Not everyone is in favour of the deal, however.

Some U.S. diplomats, for example, are concerned Francis is conceding a strong influence over church leadership to an avowedly atheist authoritarian regime.

"This is a strange step backward on terrain over which the church has fought, not for centuries but millennia," said Sandro Magister, a Vatican expert who writes for Italy's L'Espresso magazine.

"The church has managed to free itself from control of sovereigns and governments on ecclesiastical matters such as the naming of bishops, but now this achievement is clamorously contradicted by the agreement with China."

Beijing and the Vatican are close to signing the deal, even though the Chinese government has recently intensified a crackdown on Christians and other religious groups. It has been closing churches and removing religious symbols such as crosses and the domes of mosques.

China's estimated 10 million Catholics are legally supposed to worship only in churches approved by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, a state-controlled body not recognised by the Vatican. Many Catholics attend unregistered churches in underground communities led by bishops loyal only to Rome.

Nonetheless, Beijing is eager for the publicity boost that mending ties with the Vatican would bring.

Source

• The Wall Street Journal
• Forbes
• Image: Tibetan Review

Last week, Pope Francis called on Chinese Catholics to attach themselves to "the rock of Peter on which the Church was built".

This means giving allegiance to Rome, rather than the government-sanctioned Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

There are an estimated 12 million Catholics in China, but the state officially tolerates only government-appointed bishops and churches.

The Pope's call came after President Xi Jinping said in a speech that religion in China must be "Chinese" and free from any "foreign influence".

But Notre Dame East Asian language and culture academic Lionel Jensen didn't the latest tit-for-tat as a setback to improved relations between the Holy See and Beijing.

Such remarks by the Pope are just the latest in a verbal sparring match that may sound inflammatory, but still ultimately aims to work out some type of relationship, Dr Jensen said.

"This is some of the tit-for-tat we see with both sides trying to establish what their ground rules are going to be."

"The movement toward a rapprochement began in earnest last August when Pope Francis urged Asian area bishops, who met with him before his departure from Korea, to assist in facilitating a warmer relationship with China," Dr Jensen said.

He said Francis showed an inclination to further engage with China when he opted not to meet the Dalai Lama when he was in Rome.

"This was really quite strange. But it makes sense to me because this is the kind of behaviour that China expects out of high-level people when they are in some kind of negotiations with China."

But Dr Jensen acknowledged that the path ahead would not be easy.

There have been no formal diplomatic relations between China and the Holy See since 1951, when China cut off ties with the Vatican.

The Holy See's ongoing diplomatic relations with Taiwan are problematic for Beijing.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has started a "subdued" visit to China amid the worst persecution against Christians there in a generation.

Sources

• International Business Times
• Asia News
• National Catholic Reporter
• Breitbart
• UCAnews
• Image: The Guardian

A report by UCA News said the Vatican-approved bishop, who escaped house arrest and lived in hiding for the last 16 years of his life, was buried in secret by priests and laypeople.

An underground priest, who spoke to UCA News on condition of anonymity, said Bishop Liu was "a key figure" in the establishment of the bishops' conference in 1989, which "contributed to the continual existence in China of a Church that is loyal to the Holy See."

Born in 1919, Bishop Liu entered the seminary in 1935 and was ordained a priest in 1945. In 1955, he was arrested and imprisoned for two years for opposing the independent Church movement.

In 1958, he was arrested again and received a life sentence for opposing the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, a government-sanctioned body that promotes an independent Church. When he was eventually released in 1981, he began to evangelize across China.

Liu was consecrated coadjutor bishop of Yixian in 1982 and became the ordinary four years later. After suffering a stroke in 1994, he resigned from all his posts, but was placed under house arrest in Weigezhuang, his hometown.

Source

UCA News

Image: UCA News