Catholicism in China is opening up, but practitioners here still fear discovery, writes Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent

It could have been confusing. First there was Fr Joseph, then there was . . . Fr Joseph, and of course there was . . . Fr Joseph - but he turned out to be the Rev Joseph because, while he is a deacon, he has yet to be ordained a priest.

The Josephs all belong to a group of eight men and two nuns from China's "underground" Catholic Church who are in Ireland to study catechetics, theology, philosophy and English.

They do not want to be photographed, even in silhouette. They will not allow their Chinese names to be published. They have no dealings with the Chinese embassy in Ireland.

Their stay here is legal. They are in Ireland as students, like so many other young Chinese people. But, as priests, they should have first applied to China's Religious Affairs Bureau for permission to study catechetics and theology abroad. Had they done so, they might well have been refused.

St Joseph is patron saint of China and every Chinese boy baptised a Catholic is given the name Joseph as his Christian name. Hence Fr Joseph, Fr Joseph and Rev Joseph. At baptism, every Catholic Chinese girl is given the name Mary as her Christian name.

The first Fr Joseph, from central China, has a background that is "many generations Catholic". Catholicism came to his area through Italian Franciscans, French Jesuits and Irish Columban missionaries, all of whom were expelled after the Communists came to power in 1949.

He "inherited" his Catholicism through his family, especially his grandmother, and agrees that to be Catholic in China is seen as "non-Chinese . . . foreign". He trained in a state-recognised seminary of the "official" Catholic Church in China (Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, or CCPA, which does not recognise the authority of the Pope over that of the state), but then joined China's "underground" Catholic Church, which does recognise the authority of the Pope over that of the state.

He was ordained five years ago and served in a parish for two years before coming to Ireland. He hopes to return to pastoral ministry on his return to China.

The second Fr Joseph has been a priest for 10 years and hopes to teach in a seminary when he returns to China. He comes from a part of China where Catholics have lived for more than 400 years, mainly due to the work of Jesuit missionaries. He says that, compared with 20 years ago, it is not difficult for Catholic priests in China any more, although this depends on the authorities in the districts where the priests work.

"Every situation is different," he says. "In some areas you can do anything; in others, priests have it very tough. They can be put in jail, and so can bishops. It all depends on the local government. If they oppose you, you cannot get ID and so cannot travel out of the area or apply for a passport."

The Rev Joseph, who is from eastern China, also studied in an official seminary and explains that in China there are really three Catholic churches: the "official", the "underground" and the growing "open" Catholic Church, the bishops of which are recognised by Rome and Beijing.

All three say that following Mao's coming to power in 1949, during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, and up to about 1979 or 1980, things were very difficult for Catholic clergy, particularly those who remained loyal to Rome. All foreign missionaries were expelled by Mao.

THEN, IN 1957, the state set up the CCPA. This was believed to be in response to international criticisms of China for religious persecution.

Through such organisations as the CCPA, the state could allow Catholicism and other religions, but could also control them. The authorities were wary of allowing a situation whereby people could be organised around another authority independent of the state, and were determined to prevent that.

Indeed, such was the lack of subtlety with which this exercise in allowing religion was undertaken that "ecumenism" was forced on the Protestant churches in China, with Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and others all forced to worship together, while Catholicism and Protestantism were treated as different religions rather than as separate Christian denominations.

Observers have said that the tensions engendered by this "enforcement" continue to bedevil relations between the churches in China, even as their numbers grow, with Protestants disagreeing about whether they should have bishops, elders and so on, and Chinese Catholics and Protestants tending to regard each other as separate religions.

It is estimated there are 12 million Catholics in China, of whom four million are in the "official" CCPA. The estimated number of Protestants is 20 million, though commentators note that estimates for the total number of Christians in China can vary from a low of 15 million to a high of 80 million, "depending on who you are talking to", as one observer put it.

Irish missionary involvement in China goes back to the 1840s when Church of Ireland missionaries went there. The last Anglican bishop to leave China was the Church of Ireland Bishop John Curtis, who was expelled in 1950.

Irish involvement has been primarily by the Irish Columban Fathers as the Maynooth Mission to China. Set up by Ireland's Catholic bishops in 1916 and inspired by Fr John Blowick and Fr Edward Galvin, it is better known as the Columban Missionary Society. Their first seminary was at Dalgan Park, Shrule, Co Mayo, before moving to Navan, Co Meath, in 1941.

As many as 20 of the society's priests went to China in 1920 where they were given a diocese in Jiangxi province by Rome. Between 1949 and 1952 all were expelled - mostly to other Columban bases in the Philippines and Korea. One priest, Fr Aidan McGrath, spent several years in solitary confinement in China before being expelled.

The Columbans have not been allowed back to China, at least as priests. Indeed, no foreign priests or nuns have been allowed back since 1949, though some have worked there as teachers or in other areas where certain skills may be in short supply.

The regional director of the Columbans in Ireland, Fr Tommy Murphy, was in China last year, accompanying Rev Maurice Hogan, a professor of sacred scripture, on a tour of four secular universities. The tone of the trip was academic, but they found great interest in the whole phenomenon of religion among young intellectuals in China.

Fr Murphy, who speaks Mandarin, spent 15 years in Taiwan (where there are an estimated 250,000 Catholics) and four years in Korea, before returning to Ireland 10 years ago. He says the churches, especially the Protestant churches, are growing rapidly in China. It is also the case now that, due to improved relations between Rome and Beijing, as many as 85 per cent of Catholic bishops in China were recognised by both, he said.

Last April, on the death of Pope John Paul II, Beijing sent a message of condolence and Pope Benedict has already said he hoped to see China represented at the Holy See "sooner or later".

Last June, Bishop Joseph Xing Wenzhi was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Patriotic Church in Shanghai, with the Pope's approval. Bishop Jin Luxian, also of the Patriotic Church, led the consecration ceremony and said he had been requested to do so by Rome.

In an article for this newspaper in May 2000, Fr Tom Stack, parish priest at Milltown in Dublin, recalled that Bishop Jin - who, as a young Jesuit priest, studied English in Dublin in 1950 - had told him on a visit to China that his successor would be recognised by both Rome and Beijing.

Last July in the city of Xi'an in central China, Bishop Anthony Dang Mingyan was appointed to succeed "official" Bishop Anthony Li Duan, with both Beijing and Rome approval.

And in October Bishop Paul He Zeqing was ordained auxiliary bishop for the diocese of Wanxian, an appointment also approved by both Beijing and Rome.

In September, Pope Benedict named four Chinese bishops as members for the Synod of Bishops, which took place in Rome last October. They included Bishop Jin and two other bishops of the "official" Chinese Catholic Church as well as one bishop from the underground church. None was given permission by Beijing to attend the Synod, however the tone of the Chinese authorities' response to those papal invitations was seen in itself as an advance.

BUT LEST ANYONE get carried away by the pace of current developments between Rome and Beijing, Fr Murphy points to the persistent wariness of Rome that is felt in Beijing, not least as a result of the pivotal role of Pope John Paul II in the eventual demise of communism in Europe.

However, on his recent visit Fr Murphy noted a great concern about moral, ethical and religious issues among educated people in China, not least as economics now seem to be the be-all and end-all there. During the Cultural Revolution, he explains, many belief systems had been destroyed to be replaced by communism, which has since been displaced by a strident capitalism.

Many Chinese people worry about the values being absorbed by their young people and what this might mean not only for the future of China but for a wider world. It was why exchange programmes and dialogue were currently so favoured within China and by countries outside, he says.

The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev John Neill, will lead a delegation from Ireland to China in mid-March. Accompanied by Rev Alan McCormack and Rev Patrick Comerford of the Dublin University Far Eastern Mission, they will visit Hong Kong and Shanghai where they are expected to meet Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant church leaders. Among those will be Irishman Msgr Eugene Nugent, at the Vatican's cultural office in Hong Kong, who some have suggested is "papal nuncio by another name".

Holy orders: the official and unofficial church

Diplomatic links between the Vatican and China were broken in 1951 after Beijing expelled the papal nuncio. Later, Pope Pius XII excommunicated two bishops appointed by Mao. In response, Mao created the "official" Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which, under the supervision of the Religious Affairs Bureau, subordinated control of the Catholic Church to the state. Catholics who continue in allegiance to Rome belong to the "underground" Church.

The total number of Catholics in China is estimated at 12 million, in 138 dioceses. The majority - eight million - are believed to belong to the underground church.

There are 64 bishops in the official church and 39 in the underground church,

with 1,800 priests

in the official church and 1,100 in the underground church.