Chinese clergy faced decades of discrimination within Church, Cardinal Tagle recalls at conference

Cardinal Tagle speaking at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Nativity in Macau on October 31.

(LiCAS News): Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the dean of the College of Cardinals recalled decades of discrimination against Chinese clergy within the Catholic Church, stressing the need for forgiveness and healing from past divisions and injustices. He made the remarks on November 5 at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome during an international conference marking the centenary of the ordination of the first six Chinese bishops in modern times by Pope Pius XI in 1926, according to Fides.

“Before that moment, and for many decades, there had been resistance, hostility and even acts of sabotage, including within the Church itself, on the part of those who, for various reasons, opposed the episcopal ordination of Chinese Bishops or regarded it as ‘premature’,” Cardinal Tagle noted.

The pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, lamented that Chinese priests had faced unequal treatment within the Church.

“In everyday life, there were those who continued to treat Chinese priests as ‘second-class clergy’, in some cases subjecting them to outright discrimination,” he observed.

The cardinal said this treatment failed to recognise the universal nature of the Church and confined Catholicism to a single culture and civilisation.

He called 1926 consecrations a milestone in the Church’s efforts to develop local leadership and distance missionary activities from Western colonial interests.

Cardinal Tagle said the Holy See had long recognised that the relationship between missionary work and the colonial strategies of Western powers had harmed the Church’s mission.

The cardinal said that the appointment of bishops from local communities was not simply a response to changing political circumstances but reflected the Church’s universal character.

Reflecting on the divisions that had marked the Church’s history, the cardinal acknowledged the failures of Church members and the suffering they had caused.

“The Church’s journey is marked by human frailty, external pressures, mistakes and old and new forms of clericalism. It is marked by compromises and falls. Yet there is always the possibility of a new beginning, of receiving forgiveness, and, through merciful forgiveness, of experiencing the pain for our own sins and betrayals,” he said.

Cardinal Tagle said forgiveness remained essential to healing wounds within the Church. “This experience of freely giving and receiving forgiveness can heal wounds even today. It can strengthen hearts and bring them joy amid the hardships and obstacles encountered along the way,” he said.

The cardinal said the Catholic Church in China could fully express its Chinese identity while maintaining communion with Rome and the wider Church. He cited Pope Leo XIV’s message to the conference, which emphasised that unity within the Church did not require uniformity.

He welcomed the growing participation of Chinese bishops in international Church gatherings, describing such encounters as opportunities to build trust and strengthen relationships.

“What, until a few years ago, could not take place is now becoming increasingly common: Chinese Bishops are participating in synods, in meetings convened by the pope, and also in conferences organised by our dicastery,” he said.

He said the Church in China had gifts to share with Catholic communities worldwide and urged a move away from missionary relationships that treat some churches only as providers of assistance and others as recipients.