The Vatican and China
There's been a very interesting conflict going on between the Catholic Church and China over the last few years. There was the Chinese appointment of bishops without Vatican approval and continued pressure by the Vatican to alter the Chinese government's policies.
The latest is open criticism of the Tiananmen crackdown by the highest Catholic official in the country.
The reason I find this interesting is that I see some echo of the Vatican's efforts against the Soviet Union in the Eastern Bloc states. I don't know if it will develop to that level, but it does appear that the Catholic Church seems to be acting as one of the west's lever points on the Chinese government.
The latest is open criticism of the Tiananmen crackdown by the highest Catholic official in the country.
The reason I find this interesting is that I see some echo of the Vatican's efforts against the Soviet Union in the Eastern Bloc states. I don't know if it will develop to that level, but it does appear that the Catholic Church seems to be acting as one of the west's lever points on the Chinese government.
posted by mikevotes at
1:41 PM
4 Comments:
To all intents and purposes China is still a communist country, with a Marxist bent, which makes acceptance of any religion an anomaly.
Religion does represent, after all, a potential alternative power structure. That it is tolerated at all suggests it is tolerated under fairly strict controls.
I can’t really see how the Vatican can hope to make any great impression on the Communist leadership. Sure they can align predominantly Catholic countries against China, but just as surely trade and the dollar will override allegiance to the Vatican.
By
Cartledge, at 3:03 PM
You're right, they really can't act as a major impact, but they can create lots of agitations by preaching freedoms and asking questions from the pulpit. They can highlight issues of religious freedom which shines a light on the repression of the Falun Gong.
In the end, it's just talk, but if you look at the example of Poland, the Catholic church played a significant role working with the solidarity movement, and then there was "Liberation Theology" in Latin America.
They're power to impact China lies not at the top, but instead at the bottom as an agitating and organizing influence. But, we can't really see if that's going on. All we really see are the major moves at the top. And, you're right, those will have very little impact.
That's just my argument. I may be wrong. As is often the case, I just posted this because I thought it had interesting possible implications and might bear watching.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 3:11 PM
I think it is a relevant post and an interesting argument.
I don't see a correlation with Poland, which was a strong Catholic country, even under communism. Too strong for the communists to smother.
Catholisism, or Cheistianity per se, is not strong in China.
Still, if the Catholics can stir things up, history shows us that they will.
By
Cartledge, at 4:53 PM
I think you're right about the differences with Poland and China, I just use Poland because it is the example for which we have the most direct support. They were active elsewhere, but that has the best documentation.
And again, they're not going to overthrow the Chinese, the most they can do is agitate, but with the apparent unrest in the countryside demonstrated by the periodic massive rioting, any threat to stability must be taken seriously by the Chinese gov't.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 6:01 PM
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