left foot forward

This is as much Splinty’s turf as mine, especially these days, but here’s some news of the progress of Catholicism in China. We have, it seems, a reconciliation of sorts. 

But even before the papal letter, things had been quietly changing for China's Catholics. A reconciliation of sorts has been going on unnoticed, as the vast majority of Beijing's patriotic bishops have secretly contacted the Vatican and received Rome's approval. 

Beijing, after the manner of Henry VIII and his followers, insists on appointing its own Bishops. But it’s the usual story. The Chinese market is just too big to let little things like that get in the way. The main problem right now is the fact that the Vatican recognizes Taiwan, but I suppose that one’s up for negotiation too. 

Disclosure. I was once bought an incredibly long lunch by the head of the Taiwan Representative Office in Brussels, on the occasion of his appointment as Ambassador to the Vatican. We didn’t do anything so vulgar as talk about religion. I wonder what happened to Benjy Lu. I’ve never seen a man with such a vast expense account at his command who so few people were willing to meet. It was like witnessing a violation of a basic law of nature, or at least of politics. 

Relatedly, here’s a good piece on Chinese Hui Muslims: 

China has an estimated 21 million Muslims, who have developed their own set of Islamic practices with Chinese characteristics. The biggest difference is the development of independent women's mosques with female imams, something scholars who have researched the issue say is unique to China.

Comments

[Chris Williams]

" I’ve never seen a man with such a vast expense account at his command who so few people were willing to meet. "

I'll bet you, though, that of the top twenty contenders for that title, the majority are also ROC diplomats.

[jamie]

Yeah, and the rest work for the Vatican.

[Splintered Sunrise]

See also. From a distance, the relationship between the Patriotic Association and the underground church is a bit difficult to unpick.

There's also an interesting story going on in re the Holy See's discussions with Vietnam over normalising relations. Things seem to have sped up since an archbishop was cajoled into early retirement at Hanoi's request. And the way most nuncios go native, I don't think the VCP have much to worry about.