Taiwan, The Catholic Church in

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TAIWAN, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN

Located in East Asia on the Tropic of Cancer, off the southeastern coast of China and to the north of the Philippines, Taiwan is surrounded by the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. More than three-fourths of the population are Hokkien and Hakka Chinese who migrated over the centuries, while some 14 percent are Mandarin-speaking nationalist Chinese who arrived in the aftermath of the 1949 communist victory in mainland China. About two percent are Malayo-Polynesian aboriginal, comprising some 70 tribes, the largest of which are the Ami, Atayal, and Paiwan.

Taiwan gained notoriety as a shelter and base for Chinese and Japanese pirates. In the 15th century Hakkas from central China emigrated to the island. Portuguese seafarers visited the island in 1590 and named it "Ilha Formosa" (Beautiful Island), but failed to leave any lasting imprint on the island. The Dutch established a settlement at An-p'ing (1624) in the southwest, while the Spaniards set up one at Chi-lung (1626) in the north. In 1646, the Dutch overran the Spaniards and gained control of the whole island. They, in turn, were expelled by the notorious Chinese-Japanese pirate Cheng Ch'eng-kung (Koxinga) in 1661, who used it as a base for launching attacks on the Manchurian Ch'ing dynasty. In 1683, the Ch'ing Dynasty captured Taiwan and made it part of Fujien (Fukien) province. The population of Taiwan swelled with an influx of mainland Hokkien Chinese fleeing famine in the Fujien (Fukien) province. In 1895, having lost the Sino-Japanese War, China ceded Taiwan and

the Pescadores Islands to Japan under the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Taiwan remained a colony of Japan until the end of World War II, when it was returned to the Chinese Nationalist (Kuomintang) government. Following the fall of mainland China to communist hands in 1949, Taiwan received a huge wave of mainland nationalist emigrants and ordinary Chinese refugees. Taiwan became the seat of the nationalist government of China, with Taipei as its provisional capital.

History. The first Catholic missionaries, Bartólome Martínez and five Dominicans from Manila in 1626, and their successors, working in the north of the island, baptized about 4,500 aborigines but in 1642 were forced to leave when the Spanish garrison withdrew before the Dutch, who were holding the south of the island. Spanish Dominicans from the Philippines tried without success to restore their mission in 1673 and 1694 but could not return until 1859–60, when the Chinese, according to the Treaties of Tientsin, opened An-p'ing and other ports to foreign commerce and missionaries. Francisco Sainz, OP, opened a mission near Kaohsiung in the south, and new missions were opened in the north, including Tainan, the ancient capital. When the Japanese occupied Taiwan in 1895, after the Sino-Japanese War, the Taiwanese mission suffered from rebellions and Japanese reprisals.

Taiwan was part of the apostolic vicariate of Amoy until 1913, when it became an independent prefecture with its seat at Taipei. In 1938 there were 15 Dominican missionaries and 9,000 Catholics. In 1949 there was a great influx of foreign missionaries expelled by the Communists from the mainland, and two prefectures were established: Taipei in the north under the Chinese Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord, and Kaohsiung in the south under Dominicans. In 1950 Taichung was made a prefecture under the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, as were Chiayi (under Chinese secular clergy) and Hwalien (under the Paris Foreign Mission Society) in 1952, when Taipei became an archdiocese and metropolitan see. In 1961 Hsinchu, Tainan, and Kaohsiung became

dioceses with Chinese bishops. Taichung and Chiayi became dioceses in 1962, and Hwalien in 1963. The regional Chinese Bishops Conference was formally established in 1967.

The Church in Taiwan experienced a boom of conversions in the late 1950s and the 1960s. Since the 1970s, growth of the Church has become more qualitative than quantitative. In the wake of Vatican II, the laity has become more active in Church life. The first National Pastoral Workshop, held in 1969 in two sessions, first in Chinese in Tainan, and then in English in Taichung, sought to assess the new situation of the Taiwanese Church in the light of Vatican II, reflecting on the Church as a living community of the People of God. In 1971 the National Council for the Lay Apostolate was established. Each diocese has established its own Diocesan Council for the Lay Apostolate, which coordinates the various lay associations within the diocese. Most parishes have founded parish pastoral councils. The Fons Vitae Catechetical and Social Training Center, set up in 1962 in Taipei and transferred to Hsinchu in 1980, has trained more than 300 lay catechists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and published more than a dozen catechetical and liturgical books in Chinese. Established in 1970 with its seat in Taipei, The Taiwan Pastoral Center has a two-year lay ministry course for men and women. Its monthly publication, Witness Magazine, responds to the signs of the times with the voice of Christian faith. The National Conference on "Building the Local Church" in 1976 added further momentum to the process of growth.

Originally founded as Fujen Catholic University of Peking, Oct. 1, 1925, and reopened in Taipei on Oct. 21, 1963, Fujen Catholic University remains a premier institution of higher learning in Taiwan. The Fujen Theological Faculty, a faculty with pontifical rights, was founded in 1929 in Shanghai for the education of Jesuit missionaries. Due to communist pressure it was transferred to Baguio, Philippines, in 1952. In 1967 it returned to Chinese soil in Taiwan, beside Fujen Catholic University, Taipei. In 1968 it opened its doors to non-Jesuit students. It publishes the theological quarterly Collectanea Theologica Universitatis Fujen, started in 1969, and a series of theological books, numbering some 37 volumes. The Fujen Theological Faculty also publishes various theological dictionaries, contributing to the process of developing a contextualized theology for the Taiwanese Church.

Since the death of President Chiang Kai Shek in 1975 and especially the abolition of martial law in 1987, Taiwan has entered a new phase of its history. To cope with the rapidly changing situation, the Catholic Church convoked a National Symposium on Evangelization, held at Fujen Catholic University from Feb. 8–13, 1988. The 230 delegates (among them a few representatives of Chinese overseas communities) drafted a declaration, which, among other practical directives, gave due attention to social realities: the movement for democratization, freedom, and modernization. While the declaration acknowledged the presence of Catholic leaders in the fields of education, economics, and social communications, it deplored the absence of Catholic leaders on the political platform.

The "industrial miracle" of Taiwan has created social problems characteristic of a rapidly changing industrial society. Statements of the Bishops Conference have repeatedly called upon Catholics to become a more visible and prophetic sign in modern Taiwan. The Commission for Social Development (with its sub-bureaus for justice and peace and for concern for migrant workers) has initiated programs to address the problems of migrant workers, rampant prostitution, wage inequality, corruption and environmental destruction. The Rerum Novarum Center for Social Studies and Action concentrates on the issue of capital-labor relations.

Ecumenical and interreligious dialogue . Much progress has been made more on the level of education and research, including the ecumenical Common Bible Translation Project; the research on economic development and quality of life in Taiwan (1978–1983) and its follow-up research on the quality of life in the bioregion of Taiwan (1990–1993); a Catholic-Buddhist workshop for priests and religious in 1992; and study seminars for high school teachers and university professors and employees (1993) and for thirty married couples, half Catholic and half Buddhist (1994). The Commission for Interreligious and Ecumenical Cooperation plays an active role in organizing these activities. Fujen Catholic University's Graduate School of Religious Studies (est. 1988) and Department of Religion (est. 1992) are also engaged in an ongoing dialogue and cooperation with other religions.

Bibliography: p. fernandes, One Hundred Years of Dominican Apostolate in Formosa (Quezon City 1959). h. k. tong, Christianity in Taiwan: A History (Taipei 1961). m. k. chang, A History of Christianity in Taiwan (Tainan 1984). cheung ka-hing, Let Your Heart Be Bold (Hong Kong 1989). chinese catholic bishops conference, The Catholic Church in Taiwan Republic of China (Taipei 1992). r. gagnon, The Chinese Family in Taiwan Today (Taipei 1985). d. a. humphrey, ed., Sinicization. The Church as a Living Community. The Gospel of Christ in Modern China (Taipei 1971). h. and f. schreider, "Taiwan: The Watchful Dragon," National Geographic 135:1 (January 1969). secretariat of the chinese bishops conference, Building Up the Chinese Local Church (Taipei 1976).