CHINA In Macau, Chinese Catholics reflect on the legacy of the Shanghai Council

A hundred participants from all over “Greater China” met at the University of Saint Joseph for a reflection with a strongly ecclesial character. Mgr. Savio Hon praised the encounter with local culture that Celso Costantini worked for exactly a century ago. Professor Wang Meixiu expressed her concern about the current restrictions on access to places of worship for children and minors: “Are the number of Catholics in China decreasing?”

Macao () – The international symposium on the history and significance of the 1924 Council of Shanghai opened this morning in Macao, one of the most significant events in the celebrations for this centenary, so important for the history of the Church in China. After the conferences held in recent weeks in Rome and Milan, this time the symposium is taking place at a Chinese Catholic university – St. Joseph’s University – and in a city like Macao, which for centuries has been a crucial centre for the missionary movement.

The symposium, which will run until Saturday 29 June, will be attended by nearly 100 people, mostly Chinese scholars, almost all Catholics, who come from “Greater China” (the People’s Republic), but also from Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as from Macao itself. The non-Chinese present are mostly long-standing missionaries-scholars who have dedicated their lives to China. Also present are the two Holy See diplomats stationed in Hong Kong. This Macao symposium has a strongly academic approach, with detailed reports focusing on specific aspects of the history of the Council of Shanghai and the journey of the Church in China in the years that followed. It has an essentially ecclesial and missionary profile.

The symposium opened this morning with two video messages sent by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and by Cardinal John Tong, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, which were accompanied by a greeting to those present from the bishop of Macao, Mgr. Stephen Lee Bun Sang. Then Mgr. Savio Hon Tai Fai – apostolic nuncio in Malta originally from Hong Kong and former secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples – spoke about the example given to the Church in China by the then apostolic delegate Mgr. Celso Costantini (1876-1958) in the sense of “learning to listen to the local culture”. He took up some phrases from his memoirs – starting from the motto “May China be for the Chinese and the Chinese for Christ” – Mgr. Hon reviewed the prophetic intuitions of the Vatican diplomat, beginning with his desire to heal wounds. He recalled that as early as 1923 he had urged not to ask for compensation from the colonial powers for the blood of missionaries killed by militias and bandits. “Faced with the threat of attack,” explained Bishop Hon, “the missions did not need a protectorate, but prudence, trust in God and even the willingness of pastors to face the possibility of dying for their sheep.”

He also recalled that the priority he applied to the Chinese Council “was the double objective of every mission: to spread the Gospel and to establish the Church administered by the local clergy”, preferring “the method of planting to transplanting trees from Europe.” He also invited foreign missionaries to “learn and seriously appreciate the local language and culture”, promote the native clergy in training, office and dignity, opening themselves to Chinese architecture, local music, the arts and even to Chinese clothing for the clergy.

On the first day, the editorial director of , Fr. Gianni Criveller, a PIME missionary, also spoke. He compared the figure of Msgr. Costantini to that of Blessed Paolo Manna and his courageous “Observations on the modern method of evangelization,” which he wrote in 1929, precisely with the Chinese context in mind. This is a sign of how, even in colonial times, there were voices in the missionary world who understood well that “the Gospel is synonymous with freedom.” At the Symposium, Fr. Criveller also raised the question of the possibility of holding a second Chinese Council. “It would be very necessary,” he explained, “because there are urgent challenges that require action by the people of God. One question, for example, could concern interculturality: there is little creative fusion between today’s Chinese cultures, manifestations of faith and liturgy. There is a need for theological and pastoral reflection that would lead to facilitating the expression of their faith by the faithful in a way that is in keeping with their daily lives.”

Regarding the Catholic Church in China at this time, Professor Wang Meixiu, professor emeritus of the Institute of World Religions of the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, also expressed serious concerns in the afternoon. “In recent years, due to a series of regulations and laws, children and adolescents under 18 years of age cannot participate in catechism classes or enter places of worship,” she recalled. “And the number of people who can enter churches has decreased compared to what was the case before.”

This restriction particularly affects the life of the Catholic Church. “In the past,” Professor Wang continued, “children could easily be seen in pictures on various Church websites. Now, only adults are seen. I remember that in the 1980s and 1990s, some used the term “Christian fever” to describe the phenomenon of the increase in the number of Christians, and there were even those who said that the growth in the number of people in that period tended to be exaggerated. In recent years, due to the lack of statistics, the decrease in the number of elderly believers due to the impact of the epidemic, and the continued decrease in the number of newborns, the opportunities for children and young people to receive the faith have been greatly reduced. Is it correct to think that the number of Catholics is decreasing? In recent years, she concluded, new terms have often been invented in the field of continental economics, such as reduced development, reduced resources, etc. Will similar terms also be used to describe the trend in the number of Catholics in China?”