Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association | |
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Classification | Catholic |
Polity | Association |
Region | China |
Founder | State Administration for Religious Affairs |
Origin | 1957 |
Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 中國天主教愛國會 | ||||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 中国天主教爱国会 | ||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Àiguó Huì |
Wade–Giles | Chūngkuó T'iēnchǔchiào Àikuó Huì |
Yale Romanization | Jūngkwó Tyānzhǔjyào Àigwó Hwèi |
The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (simplified Chinese: 中国天主教爱国会; traditional Chinese: 中國天主教愛國會; pinyin: Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Àiguó Huì), abbreviated CPA, CPCA, or CCPA, is an organization established in 1957 by the People's Republic of China's Religious Affairs Bureau to exercise state supervision over mainland China's Catholics. In his encyclical Ad Apostolorum principis of 29 July 1958, Pope Pius XII deplored the attitude and activities of the Association and declared the bishops who participated in consecrating new bishops selected by the Association to be excommunicated. Pope Benedict XVI referred to the agents of the Association as "persons who are not ordained, and sometimes not even baptized", who "control and take decisions concerning important ecclesial questions, including the appointment of Bishops".
It is the only organizational body of Catholics in China officially recognized by the government of the People's Republic of China, but is not recognized by the Vatican. Experts consider it wrong to identify this institution of political control with the part of the Church in China that accepts or tolerates its control, some of whose bishops the Holy See recognizes as in full communion with it.
Catholics in Macau and Hong Kong do not report to the CPCA and openly retain ties to the Catholic Church in Rome.
Officially, religious organizations in mainland China today must be government-recognized and approved, though many unofficial unregistered organizations do exist. The Government of China wants no organization in mainland China owing allegiance to "foreign influence", in this case, the Pope in Rome. Critics of the CPCA argue that it was created precisely to establish state control over Catholicism in mainland China.