This recent conflict between Beijing and the Vatican is, however, not the first such conflict between the Catholic Church and the Chinese state. Approximately 300 years ago, the Papacy and China's rulers were at odds as a result of what is known as the "Rites Controversy." As Chan Kei Thong tells us in his book Faith of Our Fathers: God in Ancient China, in 1692, "Emperor Kang Xi issued an edict granting all Christians throughout China the right to preach, teach, and convert. The only caveat was that those who held government offices had to accept Confucian principles and perform the rites and ceremonies connected with their offices" (p. 205). Among those "rites and ceremonies" were those honoring the ancient philosopher Confucius, whose teachings constituted the ideological basis of the Chinese state at that time. The emperor's edict would eventually lead to controversy among Catholic missionaries in China. Most missionaries from the Jesuit order had no problem with the requirement that government officials had to participate in the Confucian rites, since from their perspective, these rites were simply a way of showing respect to the memory of Confucius and were not religious in character. However, a few Jesuits, as well as missionaries from the Franciscan and Dominican orders, disagreed, viewing the Confucian rites as a form of worship. Consequently, from their perspective, any Chinese Catholic participating in these rites would be guilty of engaging in idolatry. For some time, the Pope stayed out of this controversy. However, in 1704, Pope Clement XI issued "a papal bull [decree] barring [Catholics] from holding to Confucian beliefs or performing Confucian rites" (Thong, p. 206). Another papal bull in 1714 "reconfirmed the decision banning Confucian rites" (Thong, p. 207). Yet another papal bull was issued in 1724, and "in response to this bull, Christianity was banned" (Thong, p. 207). The Rites Controversy would not be resolved until 1939, "when, after the Chinese government explicitly confirmed that the Confucian rites were civil rather than religious in nature, [the Vatican] finally lifted the papal bull" (Thong, p. 207).
Arguably, despite their apparent differences, these two conflicts between the Catholic Church and the Chinese state--one in the 18th century and the other in the 20th and early 21st centuries--were basically the same. They both involved a question of loyalty--to whom, ultimately, would Chinese Catholics owe their allegiance: to their own country's government or to the foreign head of their Church? Chinese emperors and their Communist successors have found it unacceptable that their citizens should hold a higher allegiance to a foreigner than to them. Whether this newest accommodation between the Vatican and Beijing will be able to avoid this fundamental problem remains to be seen.
Image of the Kang Xi Emperor from Wikimedia Commons