10 - On Chinese Rites and Rights

Summary

This chapter examines the Vatican’s decision in 1939 to end its opposition to Chinese Catholic participation in Chinese rites, a position it had held since 1704. The historiography has traditionally interpreted the end of the Chinese rites as a progressive move by the Vatican to support calls for indigenization in China. Focusing on the career of Celso Costantini, the first apostolic delegate to China, this chapter argues that the decision to end the Chinese rites controversy must be understood as part of the Vatican’s geopolitical strategy to expand its influence in China. Revising its position on Chinese rites was a way to curry favor with the Chinese Nationalists; it also belonged to the Vatican’s anti-Communist outlook. This chapter argues that the end of the Chinese rites controversy must be read and understood within the context of the moment when the Catholic Church was also reconceptualizing its relationship to human rights.