The
Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute among
Roman Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of
Confucianismand Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether
Chinese ritual practices of honoring family ancestors and other formal
Confucian and Chinese imperial rites qualified as religious rites and were thus incompatible with Catholic belief.
[1][2] The
Jesuits argued that these Chinese rites were secular rituals that were compatible with Christianity, within certain limits, and should thus be tolerated. The
Dominicans and
Franciscans, however, disagreed and reported the issue to
Rome.
Rome's
Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith sided with the Dominicans in 1645 by condemning the Chinese rites based on their brief. However, the same congregation sided with the Jesuits in 1656, thereby lifting the ban.
[1] It was one of the many disputes between the
Jesuits and the
Dominicans in China and elsewhere in
Asia, including
Japan[3] and
India.
[4]
The controversy embroiled leading European universities; the
Qing dynasty's
Kangxi Emperor and several
popes(including
Clement XI and
Clement XIV) considered the case; the offices of the
Holy See also intervened. Near the end of the 17th century, many Dominicans and Franciscans had shifted their positions in agreeing with the Jesuits' opinion, but Rome disagreed. Clement XI banned the rites in 1704. In 1742,
Benedict XIV reaffirmed the ban and forbade debate.
[1]
In 1939, after two centuries, the Holy See re-assessed the issue.
Pope Pius XII issued a decree on December 8, 1939, authorizing
Chinese Catholics to observe the ancestral rites and participate in Confucius-honoring ceremonies.
[1] The general principle of sometimes admitting native traditions even into the
liturgy of the church, provided that such traditions harmonize with the true and authentic spirit of the liturgy, was proclaimed by the
Second Vatican Council (1962–65).
[5]