Ad Sinarum gentem

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Ad sinarum gentem is an encyclical from Pope Pius XII. , with which he took a position on October 7, 1954 "on the situation of the Church in China ". The Pope addressed the Chinese episcopate and the Chinese people. Pope Pius XII explicitly warned against a Chinese state church in his encyclical .

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Initially, Pius XII appealed. on his apostolic letter Cupimus Imprimis of January 18, 1952 and stated that that letter was not only an expression of sympathy , but also an exhortation to fulfill all the duties of the Christian religion with resolute fidelity, which sometimes demand heroic strength. With this circular he now addresses, with the help of God, to those who want to live in peace and unity , as the suffering and disturbances of the Christian life are increasing .

The Chinese regime is trying to build a national church among the Catholics of China, which is no longer Catholic, declared Pius XII. This national church is the negation of universality, or rather of catholicity, through which the community established by Jesus Christ stands above and embraces all nations. The Pope made himself clear by saying that a Catholic could not recognize the communist rules in any way ; and these can never be reconciled with the Catholic faith.

With clear words he admonished the Catholic bishops and priests not to join the communist patriotic community because, he writes, “we” - he and his confreres - are responsible for the gospel . It is also unthinkable and not willed by God that priests and bishops ultimately follow Christ and cannot be appointed arbitrarily.

Conclusion

The Pope warned and pointed out that in reality the communists want to create a national church that could no longer be Catholic because it represented the negation of the Catholic faith. He also stated that the primacy of the Pope was not recognized and that the commitment of the Patriotic Association tried to manipulate the mass of the Catholic population in order to integrate them into the socialist revolutionary movement and communist party.

See also

Web links

Text of the encyclical

Individual evidence

  1. Text of Cupimus Imprimis (Italian)