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May 17, 2006
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Arrangement of the Christ
I am sure we are all aware of the massive friction that has arisen between the Vatican and China on the issue of the appointment of Bishops in China. Obviously, a 2,000 year old organization has always appointed its own bishops and metropolitans, and sees no reason to change. The Communist Party of China, although far younger but more confident and feeling the weight of 6,000 years of history on its side, sees no reason to budge and allow a foreign power outside of their control to choose leading members of an important non-governmental organization (the Catholic Church either). Typical of comments from Beijing are those of Liu Bainian, whose quote below gives you some idea of my choice of title: "The current prosperous development of the Chinese Catholic church owes totally to China's long-term practice of selecting and ordaining its own bishops and independently managing the churches, " said Liu Bainian, vice-president of the China Patriotic Catholic Association, during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Tuesday.But Mr. Liu is only partly correct. The Pope and the Vatican in Rome has always had control and some say in the appointment and approval of every bishop and archbishop. As flawed as the Catholic system has proven itself over the past two millennia, the idea is that the Popes represent an unbroken line of authority stretching back to St. Peter and to 'the Christ' Himself. Their approval is therefore a necessary part of a church that considers itself Catholic, rather than Anglican where Henry VIII of England, for instance, considered himself the head of the Church of England, and had to fully break with the Vatican as a result. Naturally, this debate boils right down to control over Chinese civil society, and whether the Chinese government will tolerate any form of civil pluralism or alternate authority hierarchies in the country, or whether the corporatist model it has adopted will dominate social and even religious life in China, in all its aspects, for the forseeable future. Maybe China should just break with the Vatican officially and form its own 'Sinican' (as opposed to Anglican Church) since it appoints its own bishops anyway. Or should we call it the Cynical Church? posted by HK Dave on 05.17.06 at 04:11 PM in the China people category.
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"the idea is that the Popes represent an unbroken line of authority stretching back to St. Peter and to 'the Christ' Himself." Thats the idea, but the Vatican is essentially trying to maintain a myth. There have been numerous instances where mundane authorities have inject themselves into the perogatives of the Church. In one case, raising their own pontiff and having multiple popes excommunicate one another. Maybe China should try that. Create their own college of cardinals, elect their own pope, and excommunicate the one in Rome. It would be carrying on a fine French tradition. :P Anyways, I'm not too partial to "Sinican" church. I think they would should simply be Episcopalians, the quasi-papists. :D posted by: Jing on 05.17.06 at 11:38 PM [permalink]Yes Jing, I quite agree that the Papal system is far from infallible, but I would actually argue that it is less fallible today in an era where there are 1 billion devotees (in large part thanks to the ban on rubbers etc) and more public scrutiny exists of the church from media, society, and both believers and outsiders. Even with the evidence of widespread pedophilia in the American Catholic church, as you mention the amount of abuse in the past was far greater. But as you also seem to have rightly noted, my support for the institutions of the church itself, as a deist, are never much more than tepid. Episcopalians are basically Anglicans that got a divorce from the Church of England in the American Revolution. I would like it if Chinese Catholics became Episcopalian too - the trouble seems to be that the CCP would simply not tolerate any outgrowth of civil society free from their control. That is, really, my main point with the comment... Hope you're doing well! posted by: HK Dave on 05.19.06 at 02:54 PM [permalink] |
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