The last of the conferences that once again proposed the topicality of the Council of 1924, promoted by the then apostolic delegate Mons. Celso Costantini, was held at the Fujen Catholic University, which was born the following year as one of the fruits of that event. historic for the Church in China. In Taiwan, the issue of inculturation and dialogue between religions is carried out in a concrete and free manner, animated by ecclesiastical and missionary purposes.
Taipei () – The numerous initiatives in 2024 dedicated to the centenary of the First Chinese Council, a fundamental event in the history of the Church in China that took place in Shanghai in 1924, concluded with a congress at the Fujen Catholic University in Taipei. Organized by the Taiwanese section of the Verbiest Foundation, the congress – in which eighty people participated, with seven speakers and as many commentators – was almost a synthesis, academic and pastoral, of the reflection that has developed throughout the entire year on the topic of the inculturation of Catholicism in China. Previous occasions had been in Milan and the Vatican (May), in Macau in June and a simpler time in Beijing. The Taipei meeting was opened by Bishop John Baptist Lee Keh-mien, president of the Episcopal Conference of Taiwan, and Bishop Stefano Mazzotti, chargé d’affaires of the Vatican Nunciature.
The speakers, and their respective commentators, reiterated the centrality of the figure of Bishop Celso Costantini, confirmed by the report of Fr. Sun Zheng, of the Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord, which the apostolic delegate had founded precisely to promote inculturation. Another contribution was dedicated to the renewal of liturgical music and evoked the prophetic figure of the missionary Vincent Lebbe; the speech of prof. Ku Wei-ying focused on the impact of the Chinese Catholic intellectual Ma Xianbo on Costantini’s thought and, consequently, on the issue of academic training, which later led to the founding of the Catholic University, one of the most lasting fruits of his mission. Historian Chen Fang-chung placed the Chinese Council in the historical context of China’s great renewal, which began with the May Fourth Movement of 1919 and was followed by the spread of communist ideas. They were years of great turmoil not only for the Church, but for all of Chinese society.
It seems significant to me that the reflection that took place this year on the First Chinese Council has closed precisely in Taiwan, where some realities born from that ecclesial event still exist. Starting with the Fujin Catholic University, which in the coming years will celebrate the first centenary of its foundation; and then the exclusive Congregation for Chinese religious, whose specific contribution Costantini tenaciously wanted to value. The theme of inculturation and dialogue between religions is carried out in Taiwan in a concrete and free way, animated by ecclesiastical and missionary purposes.
On this occasion I was able to return to the island where, back in 1991, I began my “missionary career.” I met old friends and made new ones. At this moment Taiwan is at the center not only of ecclesiastical attention, but also diplomatic and strategic. People do not seem to be worried, because they have always lived with the possibility of reunification action by Beijing. Nobody knows for sure what can happen. The tensions exist, but they are absorbed – by the people – within the scheme of what has already been seen. But there are other regional tensions, such as those between China and the Philippines, that could get out of control and create an incident with unforeseeable consequences.
While Taiwan, at least apparently, is not experiencing an alarmist climate, it is surprising that on the mainland the rhetoric of Taiwan unification is growing in intensity, perhaps as a distraction from the serious social and economic problems that China has to face. , such as the unrest of the youth, the pressing demographic desert, the endless war in Ukraine involving its Russian ally and the enigmatic return of Trump to the international scene. Can the propaganda campaign directed against Taiwan remain a mere rhetorical exercise? For how long? No person with a sense of humanity can imagine an act of force with catastrophic consequences, no matter how horribly cruel the violence and wars that this world of ours shows us every day.
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