China: No Let Up of Political Pressure on the Church

“Sinicization is a matter of orientation: like a billboard that points in the right direction in order to integrate into a socialist-type society; it is also an inherent rule and a fundamental requirement for the survival and development of the Catholic Church in China.”

The Bishop of Shanghai does not mince words. His words, spoken on November 8, 2023, send a clear message: the survival of the Church is conditioned on the implementation of the “Sinicization” of religion desired by Xi Jinping. It is a policy which aims to insert the fundamental values of socialism into the life of the Church and to accept the supremacy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

This is not the first time that Bishop Joseph Shen Bin has encouraged Chinese Catholics to apply the directives of the government, but rarely in such clear and urgent terms.

This is nothing surprising in itself, since the new Bishop of Shanghai was imposed by Beijing on the Holy See. The Vatican judged that, as it had been presented with a fait accompli, it had no other option but to accept the appointment in order to save the provisional agreement signed with China concerning the appointment of bishops in the country.

The most critical voices of the Sino-Vatican agreement believe that it is too high a price to pay. They are not likely to be reassured by Bishop Shen Bin’s recent remarks. The prelate indeed goes into the details of this Sinicization, which does not to be going fast enough, and which involves, according to him, “aligning the teachings of the Church with the ideology of the CCP.”

Thus, the Chinese Catholic priest of the future will have the mission of “providing the classic explanations of theology while harmonizing them with the requirements of the fundamental values of socialism. Thanks to this cultural fertilization, the Church is integrating the most characteristic elements of Chinese culture into the liturgy, art, etc. . . .With the mission of establishing a theological framework with its own Chinese characteristics.”

From this perspective, it is natural to wonder what will differentiate the figure of the priest from that of a CCP lackey. To illustrate what it concretely expects from people consecrated to God, the communist power has decided to honor its best students in the Sinicization of religion. Thus, in the diocese of Nanjing, the communist authorities awarded a religious sister – Sister Yuequin – the “good person award,” because of the “initiatives taken to actively promote the fundamental values of socialism” within her rehabilitation center for young people with disabilities.

To date, the Vatican has remained silent. While, on the banks of the Yangtze, nothing seems to indicate a change of course by the most authoritarian Chinese leader since Mao.