Christianity is a minority religion in Jiangsu province of China. Elsewhere in China, Christians are found in significant numbers in Henan, in Anhui and in Shandong. [1]
The number of Christians in Jiangsu has been estimated at 125,000 for 1985, at 250,000 for 1988, at 400,000 for 1989, at 640,000 for 1991 and at 900,000 for 1995 according to Religious Affairs Bureau of Jiangsu Province. [2] These figures possibly are underestimates. The country has persecution of Christians. [3]
Amity Foundation, its general secretary being Qiu Zhonghui, has its seat in Nanjing. [4]
Presence of Christians in Jiangsu has been attested as early as the 14th century (see Katarina Vilioni), but when the Jesuit missionaries reached the province in the late 16th century, they were not able to find any Christians there. Matteo Ricci himself was based in Nanjing for a while, and since then the province had a significant missionary presence, not always entirely welcome by the local population (see e.g. the Yangzhou riot of 1868).
During the Taiping Rebellion, Jiangsu was partly controlled by the rebels, who established their capital in Nanjing, and whose ideology was significantly influenced by Christianity.
The Catholic Church in Taiwan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Between 1.5% and 2% of the population of Taiwan are Catholic. The Church operates one university, the Fu Jen Catholic University.
The Catholic Church is the fourth largest religious congregation in Bulgaria, after Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam and Protestantism. Its roots in the country date to the Middle Ages and are part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Christianity in China has been present since at least the 7th century and has gained a significant amount of influence during the last 200 years. The Syro-Persian Church of the East appeared in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty. Catholicism was among the religions patronized by the emperors of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, but did not take root until it was reintroduced in the 16th century by Jesuit missionaries. Starting in the early nineteenth century, Protestant missionaries attracted small but influential followings, and independent Chinese churches followed.
The Church of the East historically had a presence in China during two periods: first from the 7th through the 10th century in the Tang dynasty, when it was known as Jingjiao, and later during the Yuan dynasty in the 13th and 14th centuries, when it was described alongside other foreign religions like Catholicism and possibly Manichaeism as Yelikewen jiao.
Bengali Christians are adherents of Christianity among the Bengali people. Christianity took root in Bengal after the arrival of Portuguese voyagers in the 16th century. It witnessed further conversions among the Bengali upper-caste elite during the 19th century Bengali Renaissance.
The Catholic Church in Nepal is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. As of 2011 there are over 10,000 Catholics in Nepal, organized into one Catholic jurisdiction known as an apostolic vicariate.
The Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Kiang-nan was a missionary jurisdiction in mainland China, comprising the two imperial provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, often referred to as Jiangnan.
Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia, and the fourth-largest Christian population in Asia after the Philippines, China and India. Indonesia's 28.6 million Christians constituted 10.72% of the country's population in 2018, with 7.60% Protestant (20.25 million) and 3.12% Catholic (8.33 million). Some provinces in Indonesia are majority Christian.
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nanjing (Jiangsu) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in China.
Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, parishes and dioceses would be organized worldwide, often after an intermediate phase as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic vicariate. Catholic mission has predominantly been carried out by the Latin Church in practice.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (圣母无染原罪始胎堂), commonly known as Shigu Road Cathedral (石鼓路天主教堂) to the locals, is a late 19th-century church in Nanjing that serves as the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nanking. It is located in the centre of the city at 112 Shigu Road. First built in 1870 during the Qing dynasty, it was later severely damaged during the Northern Expedition War and had to be rebuilt by the Chinese government in 1928. Since the 1930s it has served as the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Nanjing and is the only Catholic church within the city of Nanjing today. In 1982 it was also listed as a Jiangsu Provincial Historic Site.
Christianity in Asia has its roots in the very inception of Christianity, which originated from the life and teachings of Jesus in 1st-century Roman Judea. Christianity then spread through the missionary work of his apostles, first in the Levant and taking roots in the major cities such as Jerusalem and Antioch. According to tradition, further eastward expansion occurred via the preaching of Thomas the Apostle, who established Christianity in the Parthian Empire (Iran) and India. The very First Ecumenical Council was held in the city of Nicaea in Asia Minor (325). The first nations to adopt Christianity as a state religion were Armenia in 301 and Georgia in 327. By the 4th century, Christianity became the dominant religion in all Asian provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire.
The Church of the East or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church or the Nestorian Church, was an Eastern Christian church of the East Syriac Rite, based in Mesopotamia. It was one of three major branches of Eastern Christianity that arose from the Christological controversies of the 5th and 6th centuries, alongside the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Chalcedonian Church. During the early modern period, a series of schisms gave rise to rival patriarchates, sometimes two, sometimes three. Since the latter half of the 20th century, three churches in Iraq claim the heritage of the Church of the East. Meanwhile, the East Syriac churches in India claim the heritage of the Church of the East in India.
Christianity has a long history in Kyrgyzstan, with the earliest archaeological remains of churches belonging to the Church of the East in modern-day Suyab dating back to the 7th century. By the 9th century an archdiocese of the Church of the East cared for the Christians of Kyrgyzstan and adjacent areas in eastern Turkestan. Although primarily Turkic there was also an Armenian community in what today is Kyrgyzstan by the 14th century. By the 15th century, however, there were no longer ecclesiastical structures of any church caring for what is today Kyrgyzstan and Islam gained the ascendancy amongst the Kyrgyz people.
Christianity is a minority in Fujian province of China. The Shouters are present in the province. Churches in Fujian include The Aowei Church of Holy Rosary, Church of Heavenly Peace, Fuzhou, Flower Lane Church, Saint Dominic's Cathedral, Fuzhou and St. John's Church, Fuzhou. Christianity in Fuqing consisted of 350,000 Christians in the 2000s and is a centre of Christianity. The local churches (affiliation) are estimated to include about half of them. The number of members of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in Fujian is a high 6-digit figure at least. There are at least 80,000 members of the True Jesus Church in the province. Fujian has many house churches. Christianity has been present in Fujian for centuries. The People's Republic of China has persecution of Christians. Unregistered Catholics are controlled tightly in the province. A house church in Pingtan in Fujian province was demolished in 2006.
Christianity is a minority in Hebei province of China. The Shouters are present in the province. China has persecution of Christians. A significant minority of the Catholics of China is in Hebei. Bishop Yao Liang was from Hebei. Guo Jincai has been made a bishop of Chengde in Hebei without consent of the pope. Roman Catholic bishop Jia Zhiguo was arrested in 2008. Catholic bishops Su Zhimin and Shi Enxiang from Hebei have been sent to prison by 2010. Beifang Jinde is a charitable Catholic institution in Shijiazhuang.
Christianity is a minority in Jiangxi, the province of China where Daoism is from. There are numerous Christians in Fuzhou, which is the capital of Jiangxi. A Jiangxi Bible School exists. In the 17th century, Catholic missionary Jean Basset was active in Jiangxi and other parts of China. Jiangxi has persecution of Christians. Bishop Zheng Jingmu was arrested in 2000.
Christianity is a minority in the Chinese province of Sichuan. Eastern Lipo, Kadu people and A-Hmao are ethnic groups present in the province.
Christianity is a minority in Guangdong, a province of China. The province has more Christians than it has Muslims. Christianity in Hong Kong enjoys more liberty.
Taiwan has a Christian minority, making up about 3.9% of its population. Roughly half of Taiwan's Christians are Catholic, and half Protestant. Due to the small number of practitioners, Christianity has not influenced the island nation's Han Chinese culture in a significant way. A few individual Christians have devoted their lives to charitable work in Taiwan becoming well known and well liked for example George Leslie Mackay (Presbyterian) and Nitobe Inazō.