Shanghai, 15 May 1924: The first council of the Catholic Church in China begins in the Cathedral of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The participants are bishops, vicars general, religious and priests, most of whom were born in distant lands and came to China as missionaries. They came together with the mission of revitalising apostolic work on Chinese soil in the light of Maximum Illud, Pope Benedict XV's Apostolic Letter of 1919, to reaffirm that faith in Christ is not alien to any people - ‘it is not alien to any nation’ - and that in no place on earth is becoming a Christian tantamount to ‘placing oneself under the protection and power of another country and withdrawing from one's own law’. The Shanghai Council has issued detailed regulations to promote and accompany the growth of an indigenous clergy. Chinese bishops and priests were to be entrusted with the leadership of the local church. The council decrees laid down concrete measures to counteract the colonial mentality that had also penetrated church practice. One of the many current signs of this council was the call to promote diocesan synods, meetings and assemblies of priests, religious and women and to support the emergence of lay-led associations. 100 years later, the synodal experience of the Concilium Sinense is increasingly proving to be a key point in the unprecedented journey of the Catholic Church in China today. And even today it offers fruitful insights for all those interested in the present and future of apostolic work in the world (from the conference programme).

Here the full programme