Since 1949 when China became a People’s Republic, according with Communist ideology, religion was discouraged by the state and Christian Missionaries were pushed to leave the country.
Persecution of Christians in China has been sporadic. From 1966 to 1976 Mao Zedong's cultural revolution banned all forms of religion so Believers were arrested and imprisoned, churches were closed, and Christians were hardly persecuted.
All religious activity was forced underground, giving birth to the house-church movement. Further persecution seemed only to encourage further growth, despite horrendous cruelties inflicted on many thousands of church leaders.
In 1978, After the cultural revolution, realizing the potential dangers of such uncontrolled practices, restrictions were eased, and the Chinese Communist Party formed the China Christian Council as the formal registered organization of Chinese Protestants, as well as the Catholic equivalent – the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which has no formal links with the Vatican. This organizations were and are still used to regain governmental influence over religious expression.
Christian churches in China come in two groups: those that are registered and officially recognized by the government, and those that are unregistered, technically illegal though widely tolerated, and therefore extremely difficult to count. Most of the growth has occurred in the latter group.
Now the Chinese government estimate a risible 20 million Christians in China, but according to many different human rights group, the number of Christians in China has increased 100 fold since 1949. Current estimates range from 80 million to 130 million active members, with some 70 million in unregistered churches. Representing over 9% of the total population of 1.3 billion. That number will doubling or even tripling in the next twenty years.
This estimate, if correct, would constitute one of the most spectacular explosions in religious history and many experts say that an explosive growth in Christianity may be transforming the officially atheist regime.
Today The relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese government remains tense especially because the Holy See's position is that bishops can only be appointed by the Pope, while often they are named by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, even in direct opposition to the Vatican wishes.
However nothing can actually stop this impressive rise of Christianity and even the president Hu Jintao is forced to assume positions of openness that were unthinkable a few years ago, announcing "the knowledge of religious people must be harnessed to build a prosperous society".
Just as David Aikman, author of "Jesus in Beijing" thinks, by about 2030, Christianity will have achieved cultural and maybe political hegemony in China.
Text and photos by Fabio Scapaticci
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