The Catholic Church in Taiwan: Birth, Growth and Development

278 Pages·2018·4.114 MB·English

by  Francis K.H. So, Beatrice K.F. Leung, Ellen Mary Mylod (eds.)

CHRISTIANITY IN MODERN CHINA
The Catholic Church in Taiwan
Birth, Growth and Development
EDITED BY FRANCIS K.H. SO;
BEATRICE K.F. LEUNG;
ELLEN MARY MYLOD
Christianity in Modern China
Series Editor
Cindy Yik-yi Chu
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
This series addresses Christianity in China from the time of the late
Ming and early Qing dynasties to the present.It includes a number of
disciplines—history, political science, theology, religious studies, gender
studies and sociology. Not only is the series inter-disciplinary, it also
encourages inter- religious dialogue. It covers the presence of the Catholic
Church, the Protestant Churches and the Orthodox Church in China.
While Chinese Protestant Churches have attracted much scholarly and
journalistic attention, there is much unknown about the Catholic Church
and the Orthodox Church in China. There is an enormous demand for
monographs on the Chinese Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
This series captures the breathtaking phenomenon of the rapid expansion
of Chinese Christianity on the one hand, and the long awaited need to
reveal the reality and the development of Chinese Catholicism and the
Orthodox religion on the other. Christianity in China reflects on the tre-
mendous importance of Chinese-foreign relations. The series touches on
many levels of research—the life of a single Christian in a village, a city
parish, the conflicts between converts in a province, the policy of the pro-
vincial authority and state-to-state relations. It concerns the influence of
different cultures on Chinese soil—the American, the French, the Italian,
the Portuguese and so on. Contributors of the series include not only
people from the academia but journalists and professional writers as well.
The series would stand out as a collective effort of authors from different
countries and back grounds. Under the influence of globalization, it is
entirely necessary to emphasize the inter-cultural dimension of the mono-
graphs of the series. With Christianity being questioned in the Western
world, as witnessed in the popularity of Dan Brown’s books since some
time ago, the Chinese have surprised the world by their embracement of
this foreign religion.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/series/14895
Francis K.H. So • Beatrice K.F. Leung
Ellen Mary Mylod
Editors
The Catholic Church
in Taiwan
Birth, Growth and Development
Editors
Francis K.H. So Beatrice K.F. Leung
Kaohsiung Medical University Wenzao Ursuline University
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC of Languages
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC
Ellen Mary Mylod
Wenzao Ursuline University
of Languages
Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC
Christianity in Modern China
ISBN 978-981-10-6664-1 ISBN 978-981-10-6665-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6665-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017962868
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
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To the Catholic Community of the faithful in Taiwan
P
reface
The book is a must read for anyone who wishes to know about the Catholic
Church in Taiwan. It offers very rich information about the trajectory of
its growth or decline, tracing its distant origin in the seventeenth century
before focusing on its eventful path after 1949 when the national govern-
ment under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek retreated from the Mainland
to Taiwan after its defeat in the Civil War by the Chinese Communist
Party. The major themes of the book as highlighted by the volume’s editor
refer to the historical events, achievements and complex relationships
domestically as well as externally. In the latter, both relationships within
the Greater China Area and relations between Taiwan and other sovereign
states such as the Vatican, Japan and Mainland China are intertwined.
The claim that this book is the result of groundbreaking research in
English is well justified. It breaks with the tradition of theological and
biblical studies. It also breaks, albeit to a lesser degree, with the pattern of
single disciplinary treatment, by adopting multiple perspectives, for exam-
ple, international relations, sociology, law and tourism. This methodologi-
cal break is necessary giving the tensions inherent in the change experienced
by the Church in Taiwan over the years.
Like many other multiauthors’ works, the style of individual chapters in
this volume varies much from author to author. Some readers may find
particularly interesting chapters that give thorough details in the descrip-
tions of events or about the contributions of key figures, like pioneering
priests. The best example is Chap. 3 on “Catholic Church in Taiwan
During the Japanese Occupation.” It is the best since it offers, apart from
historical details, a succinct and insightful conclusion at the end.
vii
viii PREFACE
There are good analytical chapters for a different type of readers.
Wang Chaoli’s chapter on “Wanjin’s Basilica: Church Evangelization
Encoun tering Government’s Tourism,” compared to other chapters,
covers a much shorter time, that is, from 2011 to 2015. Its research
question is very good—“whether the peace and religious spirit of Wanjin
Basilica will be affected by commercialism and secularism arising from
the escalating demands of tourism.” To guarantee reliable findings to the
question, the author triangulates the analysis by transcribing, coding and
cross-examining multiple sources of the data. Even more impressive is
the acknowledgment whereby the author declares that given her mem-
bership in the Church under study and a field researcher, there may be
possible bias with respect to his conclusions.
Finally, one can regard this volume as a mountain of treasures, as build-
ing blocks to weave interesting hypotheses or theories about complex reli-
gious or sociopolitically religious relationship centered around the Church
of Taiwan. Michael Chuan-sheng Chang, author of Chap. 4 “External
Influences on the Emergence of the Catholic Church in Taiwan
(1950–1960s),” has employed the concept “kaleidoscopic religious orga-
nization” to describe the Church. One can indeed go several steps further,
to better recognize the changing nature of the Church under the cross-
pressures at several levels, that is, at home, within the region as well as in
the world. At the domestic level, the issue pertains to the planting of a
foreign religion by the people in a hostile soil. How has the Church been
related to society, government and other religions? Alternatively, when
and how has the Church succeeded to become a respected, religious insti-
tution of the people of Taiwan. Within the parameter of the Asian Pacific
region, the pattern of relationship between the Church on the one hand
and Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines and the United
States is no less complicated. At the world level, this book has also pro-
vided its readers plenty food for thought. The membership issue in the
United Nations, the geopolitical and strategic value of Taiwan to the
national interest of the United States as a world power with global respon-
sibility, and the status of Taiwan in the evolving Sino-Vatican détente are
by no means stand-alone characteristics, but complicated, ever-changing,
co-emerging patterns of relationships. In fact, this defining characteristic
of the Catholic Church in Taiwan has never waned. One can indeed go
further and imagine a total system consisting of all interactions among
these partial, complicate (sub-)systems as a mind-boggling aspect of
Taiwan’s life-world, thereby realizing how exciting a scholarly pursuit to
PREFAC E ix
better understand it must be. In other words, complex systems theory may
be the best method to understand the ever-changing Catholic Church in
Taiwan. The greatest contribution of the book may lie in its stimulation to
nurture meaningful research agenda by other scholars.
The Pontifical Academy KUAN, Hsin-chi
of Social Sciences, the Vatican
a
cknowledgments
These two volumes The Catholic Church in Taiwan: Birth, Growth and
Development and The Catholic Church in Taiwan: Problems and Prospects
are the research project of the Catholic Church of Taiwan. The editors
would like to thank Professor Cindy Chu, Professor of History, the Baptist
University of Hong Kong, the series editor of Christianity in Modern
China, for her invitation to contribute to her series.
Further special thanks are due to Mr. Leo F. Goodstadt who, all through
the process of writing (2014–2017), advised and enriched the chapters
written by Beatrice Leung with his unique opinions and suggestions.
We thank Sister Fidelis Wang Xiao-feng, OSU, who made valuable con-
tributions regarding the addition of Indigenization of Theology and
Eastern Spirituality to the research plan and by making the Wenzao con-
vent library available for the writing of research papers. Two more Sisters,
Angela Chen, OSU, and Agnes Lee Chunjuan, SMIC, made available the
rich fruit of their experience in the Taiwan Church: the one regarding the
Bridging Endeavor and the other regarding the Inculturation of Spirituality.
Their constant support was indeed an encouragement.
Finally our sincere thanks are due to the Cardinal Yupin’s Formation
Foundation, Fu Jen Catholic University, which donated a grant to cover
the minimum expenses of translation and reviewing fees.
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