Of the 10 million Catholics living in China, six million belong to their government’s version of Catholicism, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA). The rest live off the grid, without access to the sacraments and often without the fellowship of fellow Catholics.
Any Catholic found worshiping outside the confines of the CCPA is subject to legal sanctions of fines and/or imprisonment. Any priests or bishops serving their fellow exiles are subject to immediate detainment, imprisonment, torture, and even death.
While statistics coming out of China should be taken with a shaker of salt, there are said to be 343 Catholic churches in 147 dioceses, served by 93 bishops and perhaps 4,000 priests.[1] That there are Catholics at all in China is credit to the Franciscan and Jesuit orders, who evangelized Asia centuries ago.
Full Article: https://substack.com/home/post/p-206168394
