CATHOLICISM

[kə`θɔlɪsɪzm]

католицизм, католичество

Catholicism: translation

Throughout its turbulent history, the Catholic Church in China has survived many movements of persecution because of the persistent faith of rural Catholic communities. In good times, the Chinese Catholic Church flourishes politically and intellectually in the cities; but in bad times, which have been frequent since the Franciscans first arrived during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1321 CE), the Catholic Church has maintained a presence in China through its rural strongholds. The earliest evidence of Roman Catholicism in China (not including the Nestorian Christians) is John of Montecorvino’s mission during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1321) and the creation of the Archdiocese of Beijing in 1307. By the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the Jesuits and other missionary organizations arrived in China, establishing a Catholic presence that has continued up to the present.

Unlike other Catholic mission groups such as the Franciscans or Dominicans, the Jesuits sought to spread Catholicism through the Chinese political and intellectual elites, a strategy initiated in China by Matteo Ricci (1552–1610). The Jesuits grounded themselves in the Confucian classics, used Confucian-style philosophical debates to present Christianity, and introduced Western science and technology to win the support of the Chinese literati; for example, Jesuits Adam Schall (1591–1666) and Ferdinand Verbiest (1623–88) wrote definitive treatises on gunnery and designed cannons for both the Ming and Qing (1644–1911) imperial courts. An important legacy of Ricci was his translation of the word ‘God’ as ‘Master of Heaven’ (tianzhu) in an attempt to distinguish the Catholic notion of God from other Chinese concepts. Catholics still use the term today, and Catholicism is called ‘the teachings of the Master of Heaven’ (Tianzhu jiao) as distinct from Protestant Christianity, which is known as ‘the teachings of Jesus’ (Jidu jiao). The Jesuits also tried to reconcile Catholic doctrine with Confucianism by accommodating Chinese funerary and Confucian rituals as civil rituals.However, the Vatican rejected this mission strategy in the ‘Rites Controversy’, which resulted in the Kangxi emperor’s proscription of foreign missionary activity and the worldwide disbanding of the Jesuit order in 1773.

A resurgence of Catholic missionary activity in China accompanied the concessions granted to Western imperialist powers through the unequal treaties of the Opium War (1839–42). With the strong support of the French government, Catholic missionaries expanded their activities throughout China. Because of extraterritoriality for Catholic missionaries and Western imperialist expansion in China, Catholic missionaries (and through missionary patronage, their converts) had strong political influence in both city and countryside. In south China, many Han Chinese who had converted to Catholicism after emigrating to various parts of southeast Asia returned to their villages and invited Catholic mission orders to send missionaries and support (financial and political) to the Chinese countryside. In north China, these Catholic communities became targets for rebels during the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1900). With the fall of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China (1911–45, in the mainland), the Catholic Church in China continued to expand and achieved strong linkages to the ruling Nationalist Party (Guomindang) through the continued support of foreign missionaries (backed by foreign states) and the Church’s institutional expansion (schools, universities and hospitals) in Chinese society.

Because of the dominance of foreign missionaries in the Chinese Catholic Church when the People’s Republic of China was established, the Church was targeted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) first for co-optation through a United Front, and then later for nationalization due to the worldwide Catholic Church’s anti-Communist stance. In 1957, the CCP established the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association as the official institution of the Chinese Catholic Church, forcing many Catholic communities who retained allegiance to the Vatican to go underground. With the ‘reform and opening’ (gaige kaifang) of Deng Xiaoping starting in 1979, CCP restrictions over religion were loosened, and in 1982 through a directive called Document 19, a new religious policy promoting state tolerance for officially recognized religions (including Catholicism) allowed for the resurgence of the Chinese Catholic Church. In 1992, the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference was established as the highest Catholic organization in China (superseding the Patriotic Association), thus aligning the structure of the Chinese Catholic Church to the structure of the worldwide Catholic Church. In 2002, some underground churches have resurfaced, and others continue to remain underground because of historical infighting, while the worldwide Catholic Church fosters its relationships with the above-ground Church. One of the main obstacles to full reconciliation of the Chinese Catholic Church with the Vatican is the lack of normalized relations between the Vatican and the PRC; in 2002, the Vatican still had diplomatic relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan. Although it is impossible to get precise numbers of Catholics, in 2002 there were probably around 10 million Chinese Catholics (the CCP claims there are 4 million Chinese Catholics, while the Vatican says 12 million). Catholicism continues to grow in an increasingly open and globalized China.

See also: Catholic villages; house churches; Document 19 (1982)

Lozada, Eriberto P. (2001). God Aboveground: Catholic Church, Postsocialist State, and Transnational Processes in a Chinese Village. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Madsen, Richard (1998). China’s Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society. Berkeley: University of California Press.

——(2003). ‘Catholic Revival during the Reform Era’. In Daniel Overmyer (ed.), Religion in China Today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 162–83.

Tang, Edmond and Wiest, Jean-Paul (eds) (1993). The Catholic Church in Modern China: Perspectives. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

Catholicism: translation

   There can be few countries in which the influence of organized religion is as pervasive as Italy, and although Italians have adopted modern patterns of social behavior (the use of contraception, divorce, and abortion) disapproved of by the Church, most Italians still describe themselves as practicing Catholics. Almost all children are baptized and confirmed, and the number of nonreligious funerals is negligible. This is true even in the “red,” former communist regions such as Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. The Church follows “Roman” rites everywhere except Milan, where rites initiated by Saint Ambrose are followed, and two small dioceses in Apulia, where the Byzantine rites traditional for the area’s Albanian minority are celebrated.

   The Church is organized hierarchically, with the pope, who is also bishop of Rome, as the spiritual and effective head of the Church in Italy, as well as of the Church worldwide.Beneath the pope are nine cardinals (who have the right to vote in the papal conclave), over 20 archbishops, approximately 250 bishops, and about 34,000 parish priests—approximately one for every 1,200 inhabitants. Nearly 5,000 young Italian men are studying for the priesthood—far fewer than in the early decades of this century, but still higher than in the 1970s and 1980s, when there was an authentic crisis of vocation. In addition, there are about 125,000 nuns in the various orders. All told, there are about 200,000 “religious figures” in Italy.

   The Catholic Church is an active promoter of social and youth associations through the various organizations coordinated by Azione Cattolica Italiana/Catholic Action (ACI). More than four million people are members of one Catholic association or another. Seven percent of Italian schoolchildren go to the 1,600 Catholic schools; parish priests provide religious instruction in state schools; and nuns are frequently employed in preschool care, nursing, old people’s homes, and charitable foundations for drug and alcohol addicts. Italians may give 8 euro for every 1,000 that they pay in taxation to help religious organizations in their charitable activities. Other religious faiths are growing in strength, however, not least because of immigration from North Africa. As a result of immigration, there are approximately 500,000 Muslims resident in Italy. Italy’s Jewish community numbers about 35,000. Protestant churches of all denominations have about 200,000 members. In recent years, Buddhism has excited an increasing interest among young Italians.

   See also Lateran Pacts; Papacy.

пол., рел. католицизм (одно из основных направлений в христианстве; католики составляют большую часть верующих в Италии, Испании, Португалии, Франции, Бельгии, Австрии, латиноамериканских государствах, Польше, Литве, Венгрии, Чехии, Словакии, Хорватии; разделение христианской церкви на католическую и православную произошло в 1054-1204 гг.; в 16 в. в ходе Реформации от католичества откололся протестантизм; организация католической церкви отличается строгой централизацией, иерархическим характером; монархический центр — папство, глава — римский папа, резиденцией которого является Ватикан; источники вероучения — Священное писание и Священное предание; к особенностям католицизма, по сравнению, в первую очередь, с православием, является: добавление к "символу веры" (в догмат Троицы) филиокве (добавления об исхождении святого духа не только от бога-отца, но и от сына); характеризуется наличием догматов о непорочном зачатии девы Марии и ее телесном вознесении, о непогрешимости папы; резкое разграничение между клиром и мирянами, целибат (безбрачие духовенства))

Catholicism: translation

▪ ardent, fervent

▪ Roman

▪ liberal, modern

▪ traditional

▪ convert to

католицизм; одно из направлений в христианскойвере.

* * *

1. католичество, католицизм

2. поступок, достойный доброго католика

Catholicism [kəˊθɒləˏsɪzǝm] n

католи́чество, католици́зм

Catholicism: translation

   See Roman catholic church.