Chinese Scholarship

In today's South China Morning Post (paid subscription only), an article ran on the initiation of scholarships for mainland Catholics to the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture.

Mainland parishioners need to be brought up-to-date with the latest teachings on social affairs because many still believe faith just means praying in a church, said a mainland Catholic scholar.

To that end, the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture - the first and only state-approved Catholic research institute on the mainland - has launched a religious studies scholarship.

Institute director Father Peter Zhao Jianmin said there was a serious lack of expertise in the church's social teachings among the clergy and the lay faithful.

"At present, many Catholics, especially among the older generation, still believe that faith is mainly devotional. So when they learn about the church's latest social teachings, they undergo serious inner conflicts," Father Zhao said.

"Also, some people in society still think the Catholic faith is superstitious and obsolete. In fact, it is much closer to modern society than they believe."

Father Zhao founded the institute in 2002 and the organisation aims to become a platform for the clergy, faithful and non-Catholics to research deeper into how Catholicism relates to society.

Father Zhao obtained a doctorate in canon law from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and is one of the few mainland priests with overseas academic training. In October, he was named assistant to the influential Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan , 75, leader of the Beijing Diocese and chairman of the state-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Bishop Fu has been delegating more of his workload because of ill health.