Bibiana Wong
For the first time in the history of Catholic Christianity in modern China, a national and cross-congregational organization called Commissio Synodalis in Sinis (Synodal Commission in China) was set up in accordance with the resolution of Primum Concilium Sinense (First Chinese Council) in 1924, of which we commemorate the centenary. Its existence from 1928 to 1946 paralleled with the period in which the Chinese Nationalist Government was solidifying its prestige and asserting dominion over a unified nation, only to be followed by the rise of Japanese aggression against China. Amidst the nationalist fervor, the control over educational institutions emerged as a contentious battleground that Chinese authorities sought to reclaim from Christian mission bodies. Against this backdrop, the paper presents a historical sketch of the Synodal Commission and its role in developing Catholic education under the leadership of the first Apostolic Delegate to China, Archbishop Celso Costantini (1876–1958, tenure 1922–1933).
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The First Chinese Council, the Synodal Commission and the Promotion of Catholic Education in China
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