{{short description|none}} {{Infobox Christian denomination |icon = Emblem of the Papacy SE.svg |icon_width = 25px |icon_alt = |name = Catholic Church in Taiwan |native_name = {{lang-zh| 台灣天主教教會}} |native_name_lang = |image = Catholic Church of Wanchin (Taiwan).jpg |imagewidth = 250px |alt = |caption = [[Wanchin Basilica of the Immaculate Conception|Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Wanchin]] |abbreviation = |type = [[National polity]] |main_classification = [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] |orientation = [[Latin Church|Latin]] |scripture = [[Bible]] |theology = [[Catholic theology]] |polity = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]] |governance = [[Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference]] |structure = |leader_title = [[Pope]] |leader_name = {{Incumbent pope}} <!-- DO NOT CHANGE. This will update the Popes Automatically as they change --> |leader_title1 = [[President of the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference|President]] |leader_name1 = [[John Lee Keh-Mien|John Baptist Lee Keh-mien]] |leader_title2 = [[Apostolic Nunciature to China|Apostolic Nuncio]] |leader_name2 = [[Stefano Mazzotti|Msgr. Stefano Mazzotti]] |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |fellowships_type = |fellowships = |fellowships_type1 = |fellowships1 = |division_type = |division = |division_type1 = |division1 = |division_type2 = |division2 = |division_type3 = |division3 = |associations = |area = [[Taiwan]] |language = [[Ecclesiastical Latin|Latin]], [[Mandarin language|Mandarin]], [[Taiwanese language|Taiwanese]], [[Philippine English|English]], [[Hakka dialects|Hakka]] |headquarters = [[Taipei]], [[Taiwan]] |origin_link = |founder = |founded_date = 1626 |founded_place = [[Spanish Formosa]], [[Spanish Empire]] |separated_from = |parent = |merger = |absorbed = |branched_from = [[Catholic Church in Spain]] |merged_into = |defunct = |congregations_type = |congregations = |members = 221,000 (2021)<ref>{{cite web|title = Catholic Church in Taiwan|url = http://gcatholic.org/dioceses/country/TW.htm?tab=info|website = GCatholic.org|access-date = September 11, 2023}}</ref> |number_of_followers = |ministers_type = |ministers = |missionaries = |churches = |hospitals = |nursing_homes = |aid = |primary_schools = |secondary_schools = |tax_status = |publications = |website = {{URL|https://www.catholic.org.tw/en/}} |slogan = |logo = |footnotes = }}
{{Catholic Church by country}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Catholic dioceses of Taiwan.svg|thumb|Dioceses of Taiwan]]
The '''Catholic Church in Taiwan''' is part of the worldwide [[Catholic Church]], under the spiritual leadership of the [[Pope]] in [[Rome]]. The Church operates two universities, the [[Fu Jen Catholic University]], and [[Providence University]].<ref>[[Providence University]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=February 2025}}
==Demography== According to the 2005 census, [[Christianity]] in Taiwan constituted 3.9% of the population;<ref name="moi">{{cite web|title=Taiwan Yearbook 2006|publisher=Taiwan Government Information Office, Department of Civil Affairs, Ministry of the Interior|year=2006|url=http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/22Religion.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708213510/http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/22Religion.htm|archive-date=8 July 2007}}</ref> this included approximately 300,000 Catholics.
Estimates in 2020 suggested that the portion had risen to 4% or 6%,<ref>[https://thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=50c&u=23r The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-28]</ref><ref>[https://joshuaproject.net/countries/TW The Joshua Project, retrieved 2032-08-28]</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/aug/12/christians-taiwan-fear-severe-persecution-should-c/ Washington Times website, article by Mark Kellmer dated August 12, 2022]</ref> with Catholics making up 1% of the country's population. In the same year there were over 600 priests and 1,000 nuns serving in 424 parishes.<ref>[https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/taiwan Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08]</ref>
==History== In 1514, Taiwan was included in the [[Diocese of Funchal]] as a missionary jurisdiction; there was some organized Catholic activity on the island. In 1576, the first Chinese diocese, the [[Diocese of Macau]], was established in [[Macau]], a Portuguese colony, and covered most of [[China]] as well as Taiwan. The diocese of Macau was sub-divided several times over the next few centuries. In 1626, Northern Taiwan became a [[Spanish Formosa|Spanish colony]]. In 1631, Jacinto Esquivel, a [[Spanish people|Spanish]] [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] [[friar]], built a church in Northern Taiwan. In chronological order, Taiwan belonged to the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila|Archdiocese of Manila]] (1627), the Apostolic Vicariate (now Archdiocese) of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanjing|Nanking]] (1660), the Apostolic Vicariate of Fujian (now the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Fuzhou|Archdiocese of Fuzhou]]) (1696) and the Apostolic Vicariate (now Diocese) of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Xiamen|Amoy]] (1883).
In 1913, the [[Apostolic Prefecture]] of the Island of Taiwan (then called Formosa in foreign languages) was established out of the Diocese of Amoy. It was renamed Apostolic Prefecture of Kaohsiung in 1949, when the Apostolic Prefecture of Taipei (now the [[Archdiocese of Taipei]]) was established out of its territory.
Before the end of World War II the Catholic Church had a very minor presence in Taiwan, based mainly in the south of the island and centred on Spanish Dominican priests who went there from the Philippines in the 1860s. In 1948, there were less than 10,000 Catholics on Taiwan and 15 clergy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Moody |first=Peter |title=The Taiwan Question in Xi Jinping's Era: Beijing's Evolving Taiwan Policy and Taiwan's Internal and External Dynamics |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2024 |isbn=9781032861661 |editor-last=Zhao |editor-first=Suisheng |editor-link=Suisheng Zhao |location=London and New York |chapter=The Vatican and Taiwan: An Anomalous Diplomatic Relationship}}</ref>{{Rp|page=187}} The end of World War II and the following years saw a mass migration of religious communities from mainland China as Communist persecution began to take effect following the [[Chinese Communist Revolution]] in 1949. As a result, the Catholic Church has many [[Mandarin language|Mandarin]]-speaking emigrants from the mainland.
In September 1951 the Papal Internuncio to [[China]] was expelled to Hong Kong. Since 1952, the Papal internuncio has been stationed in Taiwan ([[Republic of China]]). Also, the ROC ambassador to the [[Holy See]] has provided the only permanent diplomatic link between China and the Holy See. Attempts to move the [[Papal nuncio]] to [[Beijing]] have failed, as the Holy See has not accepted demands by the [[People's Republic of China]] that it sever its diplomatic links with Taiwan.
[[Pope John XXIII]] created three new dioceses on Taiwan in 1959.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=187}}
After the [[Second Vatican Council]], the [[Bishop|episcopacy]] on Taiwan established the [[Chinese Catholic Bishops Conference]].<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=187}}
In 1988, the Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples told the Taiwan episcopacy not to inquire into the Church's mainland China affairs and to instead limit their mission to [[Overseas Chinese]] and Chinese students overseas.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=187}}
In 1998, the Vatican's Secretariat of State requested that the Chinese Catholic Bishops Conference be renamed the Chinese Regional Bishops Conference (天主教台灣地區主教團 in Chinese, meaning the Taiwan Region Catholic Bishops Conference).<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=187}} The name change implied a diminished status.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=187}}
The current archbishop of Taipei is [[Thomas Chung An-Zu]] (鐘安住), who was appointed on 23 May 2020<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/05/23/200523b.html|title = Resignations and Appointments}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Thomas-Chung-An-Zu-is-the-new-archbishop-of-Taipei-50174.html|title = Thomas Chung An-Zu is the new archbishop of Taipei}}</ref> to succeed [[John Hung Shan-chuan]] (洪山川), S.V.D., who retired in the same year.
On 19 February 2021, [[Pope Francis]] formally granted a decree of [[canonical coronation]] for a Marian image of [[Our Lady of China]], currently venerated at the National Shrine of Our Lady of China in [[Chiayi County]], [[Taiwan]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=yitsadmin |date=2022-06-23 |title=National Shrine of Our Lady of China, Meishan, County {{!}} CSB |url=https://catholicshrinebasilica.com/national-shrine-of-our-lady-of-china-meishan-township-chiayi-county-taiwan/ |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=Catholic Shrine Basilica |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Dioceses== *[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Taipei|Archdiocese of Taipei]] (台北), established 1949, archdiocese since 1952 *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaohsiung|Diocese of Kaohsiung]] (高雄), established 1913, renamed 1949, elevated 1961 *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Taichung|Diocese of Taichung]] (台中), established 1951, elevated 1962 *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Chiayi|Diocese of Chiayi]] (嘉義), established 1952, elevated 1962 *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hwalien|Diocese of Hwalien]] (花蓮), established 1952, elevated 1963 *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hsinchu|Diocese of Hsinchu]] (新竹), established 1961 *[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tainan|Diocese of Tainan]] (台南), established 1961 *[[Kinma Apostolic Administration]] (金馬), established 1968
==See also== {{Portal|Taiwan|Catholicism}} * [[Catholic Church in China]] * [[Catholic Church in Hong Kong]] * [[Catholic Church in Macau]] * [[Chinese Rites Controversy]] * [[Christianity in Taiwan]] * [[Holy See–Taiwan relations]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Roman Catholic Church in Taiwan}} * [http://www.catholic.org.tw/ Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference] * [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/data/countryTW.htm The Catholic Church in TW] by GCatholic.org * [http://www.erenlai.com/index.php?aid=763&lan=3 Shamanism and Catholic Indigenous Communities in Taiwan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206062641/http://www.erenlai.com/index.php?aid=763&lan=3 |date=6 February 2012 }}
{{Asia topic|Catholic Church in|groupstyle=background-color:gold|titlestyle=background-color:gold}} {{Asia topic|Christianity in}} {{Churches in Taiwan}} {{Religion in Taiwan}}
[[Category:Catholic Church in Taiwan| ]] [[Category:Catholic Church by country|Taiwan]]