Coadjutor Bishop Louis Jin was a towering figure in the Catholic Church in post-Mao China. Any scholarly inquiry into the country’s contemporary Catholicism requires an understanding of Jin’s thoughts and deeds. In China’s Church Divided: Bishop Louis Jin and the Post-Mao Catholic Revival, Paul P. Mariani successfully offers a critical appraisal of the controversial bishop.
The book’s introduction and the subsequent two chapters offer a rich contextual background to the eventual rise of Jin. Readers are provided with historical details about the situation of the Church during and immediately after the Cultural Revolution. More specifically, chapter two presents a nuanced portrayal of how the faith was practised locally in Shanghai.
From chapter three to chapter six, Mariani presents Jin’s multiple and sometimes contradicting faces: a traumatized patriot who condemned the Church’s colonial past and the betrayal of foreign missionaries; a progressive who defended autonomy for local churches; a conservative who lamented the lapsing of seminarians’ discipline; a friend of the government who sometimes loyally proclaimed the Party’s line; a churchman who eventually earned the Holy See’s trust; an entrepreneur who shrewdly accumulated capital for the Church (and himself); and a diplomat whose charm offensive enchanted both some foreigners and locals alike. Chapter seven and the conclusion depict how the Church remained divided in and after Jin’s final years.
Jin is a contested figure, and any inquiry into church–state relations in China remains sensitive, if not more so recently. Hence direct evidence and first-hand data about Jin’s dealings with the government are often unavailable. As mentioned in the book, although many observers of China’s Catholicism are aware of the possible existence of the second volume of Jin’s memoirs, probably only a handful of people in the world have ever read it. Yet, as a historian, Mariani professionally deploys and triangulates evidence from a wide range of sources, such as materials from the archives of the Jesuits and the Maryknoll Fathers, to fairly depict Jin’s complex personality and legacy. When handling rumours (e.g. reports claiming that Jin fathered a secret daughter), Mariani cautiously directs the readers’ attention to the rumours’ implications instead of asserting their truthfulness (p. 125).
The repeated references made to Yi-China Message are worth special mention. Yi was a journal run by Fr. Anthony Chang and Catherine Hung which covered news related to the Church in China. As both Chang and Hung were sympathetic to the government and the “patriotic church,” they were often granted privileged access to occasions especially during the 1980s and 1990s. Thus, their reports contained exclusive content. As Yi was published in Chinese, it has often been overlooked by researchers in the English-speaking world. Including Yi in his pool of sources allows Mariani to closely analyse several significant chapters of Jin’s life.
As a Catholic cleric, Mariani is also able to utilize his theological and ecclesial knowledge to explain intricacies that are not immediately clear to readers. This, for example, is demonstrated by his close analysis in chapter four of Jin’s illicit consecration. In the detailed examination of the ceremony, he explains how the formula in the Roman Pontifical was not fully followed and why that was significant.
The book’s breadth and depth are remarkable, especially given the sensitivity of the topic and the inaccessibility of data. Yet, there are three aspects I believe the author could have examined more comprehensively. First, Jin’s relationship with Auxiliary Bishop Stephen Li Side has not been adequately explored. The book contains a wonderful examination of the difficult and competitive relationships between Jin and the two underground bishops, Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin-mei and Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang. Yet, Li, as the auxiliary bishop of Shanghai who was consecrated together with Jin, receives scant attention. Li was known as a frugal and modest cleric – a contrast to Jin, and their relationship was rumoured to be less than cordial. An investigation into the dynamics between the two would probably reflect a lot about Jin and the Church in Shanghai.
Second, although the book convincingly positions Jin as a key figure in the Church, Mariani does not examine further his influence in dioceses other than Shanghai. Many former and incumbent bishops in China are graduates of the Sheshan seminary, and many received training under Jin’s rectorship. Given Jin’s standing in the eyes of the Holy See and his working relationship with Fr. Jeroom Heyndrickx, it is worth investigating how Jin had been moulding other dioceses through his role as a gatekeeper in screening potential episcopal candidates.
Finally, the coverage of the last ten years of Jin’s life is relatively limited. This may be because of the inaccessibility of data: the more recent the events, the more sensitive they are. In that decade, Jin witnessed the waning of his influence. For instance, according to a Wikileaks document, Jin in 2006 admitted that he was not informed of the illicit ordination of Bishop John Wang Renlei of Xuzhou and was shocked to learn the news (“Shanghai Bishop Jin on Illicit Ordination of Xuzhou Bishop,” 30 November 2006, ID:06SHANGHAI7097_a). Why and how did Jin’s authority decline in the 2000s? Was the tragic downfall of Bishop Joseph Xing Wenzhi a turning point? After Jin died, parts of his legacy eventually fell apart. Jin would never have imagined that Joseph Shen Bin, who was not a Sheshan graduate, would eventually fill the vacancy he left behind. Exploring Jin’s decline will tell readers how and why his legacy continues to affect, or can no longer influence, the Church today.
Despite the inadequacies, this well-researched book stands as an invaluable addition to the growing literature on China’s contemporary Catholicism. Mariani’s ultimate judgment of Jin is well justified and convincing: “In his efforts, [Jin] was working on behalf of the government. He was working on behalf of the church. And, as always, he was also working on behalf of Louis Jin” (p. 275).
