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Resistance And Accommodation: The Catholic Church In Post-Mao China, Anthony E. Clark

History Faculty Scholarship

The Catholic Bishop of Shanghai, Gong Pinmei, who was imprisoned from 1955-1985 for being a "counter-revolutionary," once said: "If we renounce our faith, we will disappear and there will not be a resurrection. If we are faithful, we will disappear, but there will be a resurrection." For China's Catholic Community, the knotty problem of how to faithfully retain and practice religious belief has resulted in a highly complex system of resistance and accommodation. Two communities have emerged in China's Catholic landscape, the "underground" church that navigates precariously outside of party sanction, and the "aboveground" church that operates under the watchful …