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About the Speaker
Rev. Paul Mariani, S.J. is assistant professor of history at Santa Clara University. His ongoing research focuses on religious policy and conflict in China, and specifically on Christian resistance in China since 1950. He is the author of "Church Militant: Bishop Kung and Catholic Resistance in Communist Shanghai" (Harvard University Press, 2011).
About the Talk
Fr. Mariani uses the stories of four bishops in Shanghai to explore the divide between state-sanctioned "patriotic" churches and underground churches in China. In July 2012, Bishop Ma, who was appointed by the Communist-controlled church and approved by the Vatican, made a surprise announcement at his ordination that he would be resigning from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Since the announcement, he has been detained at a Shanghai seminary, unable to fulfill his duties.