Abstract
The Chinese government has regulated all religious activity in the public domain for many years. The state has generally considered religious groups as representing a potential challenge to the authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which sees one of its basic roles as making sure religion neither interferes with the state’s exercise of power nor harms its citizens. A revised Regulation on Religious Affairs (Zongjiao shiwu tiaoli 宗教事务条例) took effect in 2018, updating the regulation of 2005. This paper aims to introduce and explore the content of the regulation, especially how it differs from its predecessor, how any changes are likely to affect religious groups in China, and whether the implications will be greater for some groups than for others. For example, the Catholic church in China has historical links to the worldwide Catholic church, so articles in the new regulation which seek to curb foreign influence on Chinese religious groups may have more of an effect on Chinese Catholics than on other groups. The research is based on textual analysis of the relevant legal documents and on field research conducted in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The fieldwork consisted of open interviews with several church members and official representatives of the church conducted in Zhejiang Province between March and May 2018, and in May and June 2019. The paper thus aims to analyze contemporary Chinese religious legislation in light of anthropological research in order to fully comprehend the lived experience of Catholics in China, and to address two main questions: How is the new regulation affecting the Catholic church? What are the possible outcomes of the new regulation for the Catholic church in China?
Highlights
In 2005, after 56 years of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the State Council published the Regulation on Religious Affairs 2018 (Zongjiao shiwu tiaoli 宗教事务条例), providing the first detailed legal document to manage and regulate religion
Catholic church in order to comply with the regulation? The research is based on textual analysis of the relevant legal documents and on field research conducted in the People Republic of China (PRC)
Yang (2006) proposed a system of ‘red’, ‘black’, and ‘grey’ markets with respect to religion: in this scheme, the open Catholic church represents the red market as it has status as a legal religious organization; but in its everyday life, it is closer to the grey market, as church members are often involved in illegal activities
Summary
In 2005, after 56 years of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the State Council published the Regulation on Religious Affairs 2018 (Zongjiao shiwu tiaoli 宗教事务条例), providing the first detailed legal document to manage and regulate religion. The question of a foreign influence might be crucial for some religious groups; for example, Christian groups have faced accused of foreign influence more often than other religious groups in China With this in mind, the focus of this article is the Catholic church in China (Tianzhujiao, 天主教). There were slightly different attendants in different churches This situation is similar to other selected cities, which face the problem of an insufficient number of clergies. Priests and nuns, as local representatives of religious specialists and church officials, described the current situation of the church, the relationship between the Catholic church and the PRC, and relationships with the foreign Catholic community. Since 1957, there have been two distinct Catholic groups within the PRC: the (official) CCPA under the control of the Communist Party, and the underground church (dixia 地下) loyal to the Vatican. The assumption of their passivity is mostly focusing on the issues connected to their involvement with managing the church
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