In dealing with the special historical background of the Catho- lic Church and the complicated social situation of China, the communist Party and the Government put some efforts into keep- ing the Church under control. Focusing on the special character of the Catholic and Protestant churches in being foreign and their associations with foreign imperialism and colonialism, the gov- ernment made some basic working policies and laws.
In November 1950, all the newspapers throughout China published a same article entitled "The knowledge people should have on Catholicism and Protestantism‘? This article looked at the way the imperialists had used religion to invade China. "In China, there are two issues in dealing with Catholicism and Prot- estantism. One is its religiosity - it is a common faith that devel- oped under social circumstances; the other is that the imperial- ists used it as a tool to invade China from the very beginning. We should understand these two issues and know the relation-
ship and distinction so that we can deal with the problems ac- cordingly. As a religious belief, those Patriotic Chinese do not think Catholicism and Protestantism should either be prohibited or rejected. Moreover, the materialists and religious people can and should be united in process of building up the motherland and attacking imperialism.‘The article called the church in the new China to rid itself of imperialist control. "All those Catholics and Protestants who are patriotic should stand on the people"s side to uncover the plots in which the imperialists use religion to spy on China. They should reject those people within the Church who still have con- nections with the imperialists. By doing this, the church can even- tually be self-administrating, self-supporting and self-propagat-ing. They should cut all ties with the imperialists and make thechurch a Chinese one.‘Meanwhile, many people who knew religion and the Party members who were good at dealing with Christians were sent to religious affairs bureaus at all levels nationwide. Because of the efforts they made in uniting all the people, many Catholics real- ized that the government was truly protecting religious freedom to the benefit of all. The long suppressed patriotic feelings of Catholics could finally be expressed.
