The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (designated variously as CPA, CPCA, or CCPA) is the recognized official Catholic Church established by the Communist government of the People's Republic of China. Critics of the CPA argue that its main purpose is to establish state control over Catholicism in China.

The CPA is a schism from the Catholic Church. The official Roman Catholic Church, in communion with the Pope, does exist in China, although members are subject to official harassment, and some leaders have been jailed for what are widely believed to be political reasons. In Mainland China there are about 4 million members of the CPA, and 12 million members of the authentic ("underground") Catholic Church. However, there is considerable overlap in the two, and there are estimates that as many as 70 percent of the priests in the official church have also received secret ordinations in the unofficial church.

The Vatican recognizes the validity of Holy Orders and other sacraments in the CPA because the bishops are episcopal successors of a bishop who received valid orders before this particular schism.

The existence of the CPA in place of an official church under the authority of the Vatican has prevented the Holy See from establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China; it instead continues to recognize the Republic of China government on Taiwan.

Among the novel teachings of the CPA are support for artificial abortion, and a rejection of the Pope's authority. In addition, the CPA rejects Catholic doctrine formulated after 1949, notably the Vatican II council. As a result, for over forty years, all masses conducted by the CPA were according to the Tridentine rite. In the early 1990's, however, the CPA reformed its liturgy to one closely adhering to the Novus Ordo Missae.

Other Chinese religions have established "patriotic" organizations after 1949:

• Three-Self Patriotic Movement for Protestants
• Chinese Patriotic Islamic Association

However they didn't have the foreign dependence inherent to Roman Catholicism.

See also

• Religion in China
• Chinese house church

Other patriotic branches of Catholicism

The dependence of Rome has caused the authorities of several countries to induce schism in their churches:

• Anglicanism in England.
• The Gallican Church in the Kingdom of France
• The Civil Constitution of the Clergy in Revolutionary France dividing the clergy between jurors and refractary priests.

External links

• Brief description (http://www.cwnews.com/news/biosgloss/definition.cfm?glossID=26)
  
• The Cardinal Kung Foundation (http://cardinalkungfoundation.org/index2.html)