What happened in China between the Communists and Nationalists during the revolution isn’t the reason China is blocking the Pope from having the same level of control of China’s Catholics that he has over the rest of the world’s Catholics.
The Vatican is a sovereign nation. Of 195 countries in the world, three are not members of the UN and the Vatican City/The Holy See is one of those three nations.
The independent papal state of less than 1,000 people chose not to join the UN.
Instead, the Vatican is a Permanent Observer in the UN and the Holy See enjoys, among other things, the right to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly; the right of reply; the right to have its communications issued and circulated directly as official documents of the UN assembly; and the right to co-sponsor draft resolutions and decisions that make reference to the Holy See. Source: Holy See Mission.org
The Vatican is listed as the smallest nation with the smallest population on the globe, yet the Pope rules over about a billion Catholics scattered throughout the world as if he were a world leader and they were the citizens of his nation.
In fact, since nations have banks, the Associated Press recently reported that the Vatican’s bank was mired in a laundering scandal.
The Pope is elected for life by the Church’s bishops as if he were a religious dictator. The Pope decides if it is wrong to divorce, have abortions, etc. He even prescribes dietary laws such as only eating fish on Friday.
Allowing the Pope to lead China’s Catholics would be the same as letting the US President lead all American expatriates living and working in China regardless of China’s laws.
In Part 3, we shall see how the Catholic Church waged war against all who threatened its existence.
Return to Religion’s “Cold War” with China – Part 1
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.
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Note: Tom, an American living/doing business in China, requested that I remove his comments from this Blog, which I did but I’m leaving my responses to his comment.
You may be interested to know that the U.S. Department of State has an Office of International Religious Freedom with the mission of promoting religious freedom as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. This office releases a report each year on the global state of religious freedom with information on every country on the globe and goals to bring about the same level of religious freedom the US has to the world.
In 1998, the US passed legislation titled the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (H.R. 2431) and its amendment of 1999 (Public Law 106-55). Nations so designated are subject to further actions, including economic sanctions, by the United States.
What happened to the separation of church and state? I had no idea the US government had gone into the business of spreading religions to other countries.
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Here is my original response to Tom.
Tom, as an American living in China, it is best if you follow the Chinese laws even if the leader of your country (or religion such as the Pope) tells you to violate them. If caught, you may end up in court then jail and maybe even be executed as any alien in the US would be if he or she broke US laws that led to a life sentence or a death penalty.
If you broke the law in China and were caught, you would be lucky if they just sent you home and never let you return, which I have heard they have done to others that acted as if they had the right to violate Chinese law.
There is an old saying that covers this situation: “When in Rome do as the Romans do”, which may also mean “When in China do as the Chinese do.”
Note: Tom, an American living/doing business in China, requested that I remove his comments from this Blog, which I did but I’m leaving my responses to his comment.
You may be interested to know that the U.S. Department of State has an Office of International Religious Freedom with the mission of promoting religious freedom as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy. This office releases a report each year on the global state of religious freedom with information on every country on the globe and goals to bring about the same level of religious freedom the US has to the world.
In 1998, the US passed legislation titled the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (H.R. 2431) and its amendment of 1999 (Public Law 106-55). Nations so designated are subject to further actions, including economic sanctions, by the United States.
What happened to the separation of church and state? I had no idea the US government had gone into the business of spreading religions to other countries.
_______________________
Here is my original response to Tom.
Tom,
China does not offer “religious freedom” as we see it in the West. It offers the citizens of China the “freedom of religious belief”. There is a difference. China also sees a difference between a religious cult such as the Falun Gong and Catholics. The Falun Gong crossed the line and violated Chinese law. For that, the Falun Gong was banned from China, but Catholics are still allowed to enjoy “freedom of religious belief” (as long as they do not cross the same line that the Falun Gong did).
The key word is “belief”.
China’s Constitution does not say China cannot pass laws to restrict religions as the US Constitution does. The mistake most Americans make is to read the word “freedom” as if it means the same thing it does in the US.
In fact, the Chinese Constitution says, “Article 36. Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.”
Also notice “the state protects normal religous activites.” How do you think the Chinese interpret “normal” from a Chinese point-of-view?
Compare what the Chinese Constitution says with what the US Constitution says about religion: “(The US) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
How many religions have someone like the Catholic Pope? To the Chinese, allowing religions a political voice is unacceptable and that is written into their constitution, which is their right as China is their country.
Unlike America, China does have restrictions on religions. However, in the US, religions are part of the political process in ways that would violate the clause I highlighted in Article 36.
China and most Chinese “do not” have to accept our concept of freedom of religion.
However, the US has always had a strong Christian influence. The PEW Forum on Religion & Public Life reports that 78.4% of all adults in the US are Christians and other religions are only 4.7%. Unaffiliated people (meaning atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular) make up 16.1%.
Then look at the numbers in China going back five thousand years. Between 70 to 80% of Chinese do not belong to any organized religion but many do exercise the right of “spiritual belief” in a God and in heaven.
I was baptized a Catholic as a child, went to Catholic grade school, was brainwashed by being made to attend catechism. Believe me, the Catholic Church is a part of the political process of many nations and always has been. Popes started wars. How many other religious leaders of major churches have bone that besides Islamic clerics?
The Chinese have drawn a line in the sand with articles in the Chinese Constitution, which says you may enjoy “freedom of religious belief” but that is it. If that religious belief leads to actions that violate Chinese law, it is illegal and the Chinese Constitution says so.