University of Nevada, Reno

Taiwan Catholic Consciousness: Postcolonial Effects on Catholics’ Perceived Identities and Perceptions of Chinese-Language Media Bias

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and the Honors Program

by

Daniel Lindbergh Lang

Dr. Hugh Shapiro, Thesis Advisor

Dr. Jenna Hanchey, Thesis Advisor

Dr. Ran Duan, Thesis Advisor

May, 2019

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO THE HONORS PROGRAM

We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by

DANIEL LINDBERGH LANG

Entitled

Taiwan Catholic Consciousness: Postcolonial Effects of Catholics’ Perceived Identities and Perceptions of Chinese-Language Media Bias

be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

BACHELOR OF ARTS, JOURNALISM

______Hugh Shapiro, Ph.D., Thesis Advisor

______Jenna Hanchey, Ph.D., Thesis Advisor

______Ran Duan, Ph.D., Thesis Advisor

______Erin Edgington, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Honors Program

May, 2019

i

Abstract

In late 2018, the Vatican chose to formally recognize China, which allowed

China more control of the Catholic Church in China. This decision strained already tenuous relations between China and Taiwan, because previously the Vatican only recognized Taiwan. Taiwan Catholics felt divided over the issue, which is not surprising given Taiwan’s history of colonizations. This mixed method, interdisciplinary study seeks to redress a bias in Western scholarship that tends to perpetuate Eurocentrism, by emphasizing Asia-based histories and ideas.

Method: I traveled to Taiwan to perform qualitative, Mandarin Chinese-language fieldwork with local collaborators from Fu Jen Catholic University and the Catholic

Archdiocese of Taipei. I used a quantitative survey in traditional Mandarin Chinese to measure to what extent Taiwan Catholics’ personal identities as Taiwanese and

Catholics correlate with attitudes toward the Beijing-Vatican deal. Finally, with consideration for how religious and postcolonial biases may influence people’s perceptions of media, this study provides empirical insight on theoretical arguments of postcolonialism. By examining attitudes of Taiwanese Catholics towards media, this study explores how religious development requires context of culture.

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Acknowledgements

I could write a separate thesis about all the people and their organizations who made the work I present here possible. These definitely include my thesis mentors and the kind folks of the Honors Program, as well as the Donald W. Reynolds School of

Journalism and the College of Liberal Arts. My family was reasonable, too. My relatives were extremely great. But specific to this thesis, all my mentors taught me significant portions. Even one mentor absent from this project would have meant an entire section of this work improbable for me to have accomplished. I also recognize specifically key people who influenced this project.

Some important people include the chair of the religious studies department at

Fu Jen Catholic University, Dr. Yin-chun “Davis” Cheng (鄭印君 Chèng Yìnjūn), who advised me for months leading up to and during my fieldwork in Taiwan; Fr. Brian

Barrons, Asia Regional Superior, Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, who connected me to housing in Taiwan at taught me about Catholic religious orders in East Asia; and Dr.

Sheila Peuchaud, who first introduced me spring 2017 to research in media studies and guided me to thread my arguments clearly and concisely within media scholarship.

Psychology has fascinated me for years. I also thank Dr. Mike Moradshahi, who reached out to me and helped me get more involved in the American Psychological

Association Division 36: Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, through which I met many numerous students and scholars. I am grateful to all their insight and support for this project. Previously, my training in psychology had only come from taking Advanced Placement Psychology with Mrs. Taylor Lee at Advanced

Technologies Academy, my high school, so I felt honored so many clinicians and

iii scholars said I presented well. During my final year at the University, I also had the pleasure of working with Dr. Laura Crosswell, where I ran her Center for Advanced

Media Studies Lab. I feel the experience working with psychology graduate students also helped prepare me for work in this field, should I chose to go deeper. She previously exposed me to how psychology theories appear in media studies during the same semester I studied with Sheila.

Dr. Jenna Hanchey has taught me since spring 2018 postcolonial theory in global contexts, particularly helping me to scratch the surface of communications scholarship around Greater China. Leading up to this thesis, I had previously studied religious media in U.S. contexts with Sheila, but I lacked background in how to connect Greater China’s nuanced history with the West to contemporary issues worth investigating. As I began to see my thesis trajectory continue to follow postcolonial theory, I felt elated Jenna accepted to formally mentor me on my project. I felt amazed by her ability to continually deepen how I considered my data. Jenna became my best mentor from whom to learn qualitative research methods, argumentation, and discussion.

Dr. Hugh Shapiro joined me on this project late spring 2018, officially joining me early fall. My Chinese instructor, Li Lin Hall recommended I reach out to Hugh, who many of my peers had for years insisted I meet one day. Hugh has guided me immensely in realizing how to frame work interesting to me in ways interesting to others. His knowledge of Greater China, its history, and its geopolitics have made indelible marks on my own abilities to recognize my work’s ramifications. For presentations, especially, he helped me make every word count. Hugh has also given me the types of advice I usually did not have much faith in until, sure enough, events played

iv out exactly as he said they would. Even when I made major life decisions like choosing to co-chair the first Kiwanis Circle K International Asia-Pacific Conference in Taiwan and choosing to enter the Peace Corps in Mongolia straight off my bachelor’s degree involved Hugh’s vision and guidance. Hugh suggested my mentors to hold me at a master’s standard, and I am glad they did.

Dr. Ran Duan (段然 Duàn Rán) joined me on this project last fall 2018, through a rather shocking sequence of events. Ran had just been hired to the faculty of the

Donald W. Reynolds School of Journalism when I returned from my participation with the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship Program in Xi’an, China.

Sheila, who I worked with before, introduced me to Ran, who both spoke Chinese and had unique knowledge of Chinese media and quantitative research. She taught me everything I know about SPSS Statistics, Cronbach’s Alpha, reliability, and just about every part of my thesis needing quantitative research methods. Though I certainly struggled throughout this aspect of my study, Ran’s high standards kept me confident that if I survived I would have a thesis that scholars would be proud to read.

Within the Honors Program, I am especially grateful to Dr. Tamara Valentine and Dr. Erin Edgington, who taught the Honors thesis course during the fall and spring, respectively. Both showed good humor and unwavering confidence in my capabilities, despite how I seemed to attend lecture with a different thesis title every time. I appreciate their flexibility on scarier deadlines, especially as other obligations within my life took precedence. Dr. Edgington also gave me great advice later on, with how I could leverage my work in a future academic career. For similar reasons, I also thank Dr.

Daniel Villanueva, Kim Bonnenfant, Gabrielle Irvin, Kety Luna, and soon-to-arrive

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Matt Means. I thank Sierra Peterson ‘17, Natalie Van Hoozer ‘18, and Jhony Habbouche

’16, ‘19 for inviting me to attend their thesis defenses. I received the Excellence in

Honors award during Honors Convocation. My peers heartily congratulated me.

I also recognize the Dr. Donica Mensing and Dr. Scott Mensing, the pair who kept me able to step back from my work and recognize it in a community with fellow researchers. They have supported me throughout my four years at the University and have shown me that although the path presents its challenges, rewards await.

Since I already mentioned a handful of other journalism faculty and staff, I figure I better mention, too, Bob Felten, Dr. Todd Felts, Dean Al Stavitsky, Alison

Gaulden, Dr. Ben Birkinbine, Howard Goldbaum, Dr. Ezequiel Korin, Kari Barber,

Barbara Trainor, and Raeven Blackman, whose support and research perspectives kept me motivated to push on when the nights went long. These instructors and friends guided me throughout my life in the Reynolds School and, consistently, their words of enthusiasm, comfort, and challenge shaped me to be a better student at the University.

Though I received the Senior Scholar recognition the semester I finished this thesis, the honor certainly came through the mentorship of all its faculty, students, and alumni. I feel especially grateful to my colleagues of the Journalism Student Council and our

American Advertising Federation student chapter, who were kind during my presidencies, while I embarked concurrently on this thesis.

Personal support came from the University Catholic Community Our Lady of

Wisdom Newman Center, the University Studies Abroad Consortium, and the Critical

Language Scholarship faculty, students, and staff at Shaanxi Normal University (陕西师

范大学 Shǎnxī Shīfàn Dàxué). I went on to win my University’s Outstanding Senior

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Award. I could not have done so without their unwavering support. The people of these communities often reminded me that my mother, Lin Yuejun Lang (林月君 Lín Yuèjūn), who was Chinese and was killed before I first traveled to China, would be so proud of all I accomplished as her budding, bilingual son.

I traveled to Taiwan through gracious funding of the Nevada Honors

Undergraduate Research Award and the Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant. I also received generous room and board support through the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and Kiwanis Circle K International in Taiwan. I traveled to Panamá to participate with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno in World Youth Day through the support of relatives, parishioners from Our Lady of Wisdom, Sir Knights from the Bishop Manogue

Assembly #612 of the Knights of Columbus, and the Associated Students of the

University of Nevada. I presented my thesis at the APA Div. 36 Annual Mid-Year

Conference at Bowling Green State University through the Nevada Undergraduate

Research Travel Award. I also presented at the Western Regional Honors Council

Conference at Montana State University as well as the Nevada Undergraduate Research

Spring Symposium at the University of Nevada, Reno. Each of these funders and experiences provided new lenses for me to explore our wide world and continue to wander while I wonder what God and my half-Chinese identity mean for me.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ...... i

Acknowledgements ...... ii

Table of Contents ...... vii

List of Tables ...... viii

Introduction ...... 1

Literature Review...... 3

Research Questions ...... 16

Methods...... 17

Quantitative Results and Analysis ...... 35

Qualitative Results and Analysis ...... 42

Discussion ...... 56

Conclusion ...... 63

References ...... 65

Appendix A ...... 77

Appendix B ...... 79

Appendix C ...... 85

Appendix D ...... 86

Appendix E ...... 104

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List of Tables

Table 1 ...... 36

Table 2 ...... 40

Table 3 ...... 57

1

Introduction

China was not invited to the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005. Actually,

China was invited, but it was president of Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁 Chén

Shuǐbiǎn), who the Vatican recognized as representing China (Claflin, 2005). Put another way, for 70 years, the Vatican refused to recognize the People’s Republic of

China (PRC or “China”), along with a handful of small countries, such as Pacific islands

(Gilbert, 2018). China, for its part, protested to Italy, complaining that the “illegitimate” leader of what it termed a “renegade province” was allowed to travel through Italy on his way to the Pope’s funeral.

All of this changed in 2018. When, in a surprising move, the Vatican recognized

China. This could not have happened without the iconoclastic Argentinian Pope Francis

(Leung, 2018b). Pope Francis’ technique for challenging the orthodoxy is intriguing: He

invokes a more ancient past, saying that what is now accepted as doctrine is in fact a

revision of earlier practice, earlier doctrine (Ahern, 2018; Douthat, 2018). A key point of

contention between the Vatican and China concerns the appointment of bishops.

Taiwan and China already had strained relations because the Chinese

government sees itself as governing Taiwan, whereas Taiwan considers itself

ambiguously independent. To use the term “Republic of China” (ROC) referring to

Taiwan itself creates contentions. Taiwan’s relationship with the Church, in that the

Vatican recognized the government of Taiwan before that of China, gave Taiwan

leverage in the relationship between Taiwan and China. Pope Francis demonstrated

interest in China for years (Gaetan, 2016). This 2018 provisional agreement between the

Vatican and China caused the relations to flare for two reasons central to my research.

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Under current policies, a country recognizing either China or Taiwan must end formal relations with the other state (Leung & Li, 2018). Regarding Taiwan sovereignty, the

Vatican’s potential move to recognize China jeopardizes Taiwan. The Vatican also allowed China authority over the Church in China (Pullella, 2018). Normally the

Vatican has utmost authority over the Church, regardless of country. I seek to investigate how Catholics in Taiwan perceive media related to the landmark decision, based on postcolonial, cultural, religious, and political identity considerations.

The Catholic Church has influenced East Asia significantly, providing services to allow the Church access to East Asia. This project explores Taiwan Catholics’ perceptions of media bias, given how relations between China and the Church may affect these perceptions. I investigate a bias in Western scholarship that tends to perpetuate Eurocentrism, rather than prioritize Asian-based histories and ideas (Miike,

2010). This bias influences the ways in which media represent people’s attitudes.

Acknowledging perceived identity may influence people’s attitudes toward media coverage of the timely and contentious Vatican deal, I will explore how colonial associations with the Catholic Church impact Catholic identity in Taiwan.

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Literature Review

I will discuss the postcolonial history of Taiwan, the need for media scholarship within postcolonial studies, background on the Catholic “universal” Church’s interest in young people, the Vatican’s interest in Taiwan leading up to the 2018 Beijing-Vatican deal, and the ramifications of that deal.

The Vatican is among the world’s most influential colonial powers. China is among the world’s most influential nations. Taiwan (臺灣 Táiwān) is complexly implicated in Vatican interests with China, and the Vatican is essential to Taiwan.

Taiwan has historically been and remains entangled in colonial politics. Media scholarship has been underdeveloped within the field of postcolonial studies. Young people throughout much of the developed world have grown up in environments with unprecedented access to and interactions with global media. Young people, caught between Vatican interests in China, are essential to the Vatican’s interests worldwide.

Several bodies of literature inform this chapter exploring, how do personal spiritual beliefs affect how self-identified believers consider news media on personally relevant and globally significant issues?

Taiwan and China

Political and cultural differences. Taiwan’s geography has impacted both its

history with China and its relations with nations involved with China. Taiwan is an island

southeast of China. “China” refers to the People’s Republic of China. “Taiwan” refers to

the Republic of China. Republic of China, however, is a controversial term to many in

Taiwan, due to the term’s implications of Taiwan as governed by China. Rather, Taiwan

exists as ambiguously sovereign, yet many who live in Taiwan live ethnically Taiwanese

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identities distinct from Chinese (Rawnsley, 2013). Furthermore, while to some Taiwan is

a province of China, to others, Taiwan exists as an independent state. To call Taiwan the

Republic of China affirms the Nationalist Party that invaded Taiwan 1949 as the island’s

rulers, which may offend those who consider that government as one of outsiders.

Related to Taiwan’s geographical characteristics, the state has many ethnicities and

languages. It has experienced a past of colonizations by Dutch and Spanish Europeans,

Chinese, Japanese, and Chinese again. Still, Taiwan holds significance especially from

Eurocentric perspectives. The democracy-leaning Chinese-speaking state had enjoyed

allies such as the U.S. and held the United Nations seat until 1971 when China took the

seat. China requires countries that wish to have diplomatic relations with it to end

relations with Taiwan (Leung, 2018b).

Taiwan has unusually significant political differences that distinguish its culture from China’s, especially with regard to postcolonialism in East Asia. These differences are not emphasized in Western media, which promotes stories about censorship in China

(Brunner, 2017). A key difference exists in that the radical Cultural Revolution experienced by China, which expunged traditional folk religious practices in China under Chairman Mao, did not occur in Taiwan (Yao, Stout, & Liu, 2011). Taiwan experienced a different outcome toward religions when Mao took power in 1949

(Weller, 2007). Yet, Taiwan had its own authoritarian one-party state that policed religion when the Nationalist Party (國民黨 Guómíndǎng or GMD) took over in 1949

(Rubinstein, 2003). Since Taiwan’s presidential election of 1996, Taiwan has become a genuine democracy (Clark, 2007), which has allowed its citizens more religious freedom and an active political voice, which can be seen even on social media (Chen, Chan, &

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Lee, 2016). Therefore, Taiwan’s unique relations with China make Taiwan suitable for

study on postcolonial theory, especially with regard to religious studies.

Colonial histories of Taiwan and China. Taiwan's cultural and linguistic

complexities come from its history of having been colonized by multiple groups over

centuries (Chen, Chan, & Lee, 2016). China started colonizing Taiwan in the 1700s and

inflicted horrible violence on the indigenous population (Constable, 1996). From 1895-

1945, Japanese colonialism ruled (Lamley, 2007). Since its transition to democracy,

Taiwan has begun to rehabilitate its indigenous culture (Constable, 1996). Catholic

missionaries historically succeeded more with Taiwan aborigines due to their support of

those populations (Leung, 2018b). As a whole, China and Taiwan historically have faced

Western imperialism, leaving cultural animosities behind in both areas (Ashcroft,

Griffiths, & Tiffin, 1994). Lu (2017) termed these animosities toward the West,

“traumatized nationalism,” caused by “interlinked histories of shame, fear, and ambition”

(p. 10). Colonization is often a factor in such histories. According to Lu’s analysis, past

interference in a nation by outside powers ought to make those living in the nation today

harbor negative attitudes toward the outside power. Throughout these cultural shifts in

identities, religious groups, too, entered and shaped Greater China.

Greater China consists of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau (Copper, 2003).

My study focuses on Taiwan and China. I also use the term “Taiwan people” as distinct

from “Taiwanese;” the former refers simply to people I met in Taiwan who ethnically

identify as a person of Greater China (華人 Huárén), while the latter distinguishes people who explicitly identify as ethnically Taiwanese.

Taiwan and the Catholic Church

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Historically, the China favored the Church’s secular benefits, such as science and

technology brought by Catholic missionaries. Emperors held missionaries in high regard.

Since 1949, when China expelled religious groups, many clergy members and

missionaries went to Taiwan (Leung & Li, 2018). The Vatican has been significant to

Taiwan’s sovereignty, as Taiwan’s last European ally. However, the 2018 Vatican-China

provisional agreement may jeopardize Taiwan’s sovereignty. Under China’s precedent,

for the Vatican to have an official diplomatic relationship with China, the Vatican would

have to end its recognition of Taiwan.

2018 Beijing-Vatican deal. The 2018 Beijing-Vatican provisional agreement provides an ideal case study. Previously, the Vatican, like the United Nations, only recognized Taiwan, not Beijing as the endorsed governing authority of Chinese people.

This gave Taiwan a geopolitical advantage over China (Rubinstein, 2003). That said, as of September 2018, the Vatican recognizes both Taiwan and China concurrently, at least provisionally. Parishioners in Taiwan and China remain divided in their attitudes toward the deal, with some supportive, others not (Yu & Wang, 2018). Critics claim the Vatican deal may have detrimental consequences toward Taiwan’s sovereignty on the world stage (Pullella, 2018). Media scholarship from the East, for example, identifies a focus on “the meaning of faith” (信仰的意義 xìnyǎng de yìyì), not noted in English-language scholarship on the region (沈 Chén, 2013). Therefore, within Taiwan’s unique social, cultural, and political existence I query what the “meaning of faith” means to Taiwan

Catholics in these contentious times.

History of Catholicism in Greater China. Catholicism and Christianity have had rich legacies in China and Taiwan. Missionaries have had a profound influence, for

7 example, by introducing modern hospitals and schools in impoverished places that previously lacked these services (Laka, 2015; Rubinstein, 2003). Historically, Jesuits worked directly as advisors to Chinese emperors, who held them in great esteem (Dirlik,

1996). Although Taiwan was under Chinese control for an extended period of time, this does not mean the two countries experienced Catholicism in the same way. For example, religious-associated, violent rebellions against the Chinese government have led China’s government to politicize religious issues (Yao, Stout, & Liu, 2011). Events such as these led to different cultural consequences in Taiwan than in China, which I address below.

Nonetheless, although Christian groups were outside powers, one may perceive their influence as positive. This is significant within the context of contemporary China, where, despite persecutions, Christianity in China has seen an increase at a rate of 7%

(Leung, 2018a).

The Chinese Cultural Revolution negatively impacted Christendom in China.

Whereas in China it sought to remove all religious influence, in Taiwan, such things as dietary, linguistic, and social interactions have a more direct link to its inherited

Confucian past (Weller, 2007). However, Taiwan, too, experienced tensions with its

Christian groups. Prior to the presidential election of 1996, Christians of the

Presbyterian Church, for example, struggled for recognition unless they focused on

Taiwan’s selfhood and cultivating the indigenous church in Taiwan (Rubinstein, 2003).

Since 1996, Taiwan has undergone its own profound religious transformation along the lines of acceptance and enfolding, resulting in giving the people more control than mainland Chinese over how religious groups operate (Constable, 1996).

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Although a minority in Taiwan, Catholics have wielded significant geopolitical

influence. Indeed, of Taiwan’s population of 23.5 million, only 3.9% identify as Christian

(“East & Southeast Asia :: Taiwan,” 2018). Catholics are one-fourth of all Taiwan

Christians, or 1% of Taiwan’s total population (Leung, 2018a). Nevertheless, the impact of Christianity on Taiwan has had consequences. For example, Taiwan’s former leader,

Chiang Kai-shek, converted (Rubinstein, 2003). When leaders began to discuss permitting China to enter the United Nations in place of Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek, “had his party pressure the churches in Taiwan to protest the announcement,” and withdraw from an international association of churches to show the world that the United Nations prepared to replace Taiwan in favor of the communist state in China. (Rubinstein, 2003, p. 225). Such events have led governments in China and Taiwan to frame the Catholic

Church as a Western non-governmental organization (Yao, Stout, & Liu, 2011). Indeed, the Church in Taipei, Taiwan is known for its civic engagement (Hao, Chan, Kuo, Tam,

& Jing, 2014). Despite the framing of the Church as an outside power, people in the region tend to reconcile their local beliefs within Christianity rather than adopt a local, more indigenized form of Christianity, sanctifying native practices (Constable, 1999).

This minority status may also lead believers to feel pressured to express and maintain

their position (Zhai & Woodberry, 2011).

Effects of Postcolonialism and Media

I am examining Taiwan based on its postcolonial history and query whether

Taiwan Catholics’ attitudes toward the Catholic Church weigh the Church as a colonial

power. I focus on the communication studies definition of postcolonialism offered by

Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin (2006), which probes how peoples’ cultures become

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affected by intruding powers, such as Taiwan’s case. This body of knowledge deals with

problems of forcing colonizing cultures upon native ones, versus indigenization, which

seeks to accept and promote within native cultures. For this study, I emphasize the

intersection of postcolonial and media studies, following Appadurai. Appadurai (1990)

addressed how, when cultures intersect, they do not uniformly dominate one another. As

he put it, “at least as rapidly as forces from various metropolises are brought into new

societies they tend to become indigenized in one or another way” (Appadurai, 1990, p.

295). Appadurai proposed that a colonized group can claim a sense of ownership over elements introduced by outside forces, by indigenizing them, which Bhabha (1994) referred to as hybridity. Bhabha expanded on the complex attitudes a colonized group may feel toward outside forces, demonstrating that natives’ attitudes may not be entirely negative when the colonized group claims ownership over the foreign element.

Appadurai (1990) also introduced systems for understanding the channels

through which crossed cultures operate. Specific to my study are mediascapes, a term

that describes how people both spread information electronically, such as through news,

magazines, TV, and film, and how these media influence how perceptions of an area of

the world represented by the media. These effects become especially relevant with

people in East Asia increasingly exposed to media-filtered perspectives of the West

(Shin, 2016). Appadurai (1990) detailed how media cause audiences who only perceive

a culture through mediated venues to have a partially fictional sense of the culture’s

reality, having stated, “The lines between the realistic and the fictional landscapes they

see are blurred, so that, the further away these audiences are from the direct experiences

[...], the more likely they are to construct imagined worlds which are chimerical,

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aesthetic, even fantastic” (p. 299). Thus, reporters hold a significant duty to report

accurately the real experiences of a culture, to help audiences perceive the real instead of

fictional, and often stereotypical, landscapes (Bandura, 2009).

Finally, Appadurai (1990) considered the nuance of language, arguing, “These conventions also involve the far more subtle question of what sets of communicative genres are valued in what way ... and what sorts of pragmatic genre conventions govern the collective readings of different kinds of text” (p. 300). His discussion elaborated on the need for culturally appropriate translation of questions to match how an intended audience might value certain words. These implications substantiate the need in research, when translating questions for a population, to have group members validate the translated questions before officially fielding the study. Likewise, as I detail below, much of academia concerning communications currently shows a Western bias (Kim,

2010; Mike, 2010; Shome, 2016).

Impact of colonialism in Taiwan. Weller (2007) reported that the Catholic

Church in Taiwan demonstrates how local people tend to want to indigenize the Church.

Furthermore, scholars have for years argued that many in Chinese societies regarded

Christianity as being associated with “Western” modernity for its believers’ founding of

schools, hospitals and other institutions of sharing knowledge (Zhai, & Woodberry,

2011). These associations of the outsiders’ impact on the state and indigenous reactions

favoring the benefits of the outside can be seen as expressions with colonial implications.

The Church becomes implicated in these associations. That said, as discussed, Lu (2017)

noted that previously colonized ought to resent colonizers. Taiwan has faced colonization

multiple times, by outside powers imposing their wills on the peoples of the island.

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Bridging postcolonial literature and media studies. Scholarly work must incorporate postcolonial theory with global media because a failure to do so perpetuates definitions of developed media as secular, liberal, and democratic Eurocentric and

Western-dominated lenses (Shome, 2016). In our increasingly globalized world, in which media touch many facets of life, engaging with media may reveal evidence of postcolonial tendencies overlooked by other scholarship. Shome (2016) noted, “overall, the media angle has hardly been centralized or adequately comprehended in the mainstream of postcolonial studies” (p. 258). Nonetheless, media selection behaviors provide an opportunity to explore local versus global contexts affecting populations.

People worldwide tend to select media agreeing with their beliefs (Stromback, Djerf-

Pierre, & Shehata, 2012). Because media use affects people’s attitudes (Appadurai, 1990;

Yao, 2007), media ought to tell an accurate story. This study in Taiwan will fill research gaps related to studies on Asian communications that have often held Eurocentric biases

(Kim, 2010; Miike, 2010). To emphasize this point, Kim, Kim, and Choi (2016) identified even within the Asian Journal of Communication, from 1990 to 2015, AJC has lacked as many studies focused on Asian theoretical perspectives. Previously, Kim

(2010) found that nearly 40% of studies in 1998 and 2002 relied on cultural comparisons, the majority of which compared a single Asian country to the U.S. This demonstrates a

Eurocentric bias because when the majority of scholarship compares Asia to the U.S., this places English-language scholarship, which tends to come from the U.S. and Europe, not

Asia, at the center of understanding Asian culture (Jia, Miao, Zhang, & Cao, 2017;

Tsuda, 2010). For these reasons, I attempt to distance myself from making comparisons between Taiwanese Catholics and U.S. Catholics, although for the sake of helping

12 primarily U.S. audiences have context for my findings, I will at times compare the two. I also provide outside comparisons to Catholics worldwide, as well.

Furthermore, Taiwan has received less scholarly attention than does China, Japan, and India. Here, I focus on perspectives directly from Taiwan. This allows me to move this study away from Eurocentric biases because by listening to and incorporating scholarship about Taiwan from Taiwanese scholars and participants, I present a more accurate portrayal, through an Asiacentric perspective, of how Asians think and feel.

Additionally, this study will provide attitudinal data to communications areas that scholars have tended to examine so far through content analyses, critical essays, and qualitative data (Hartnett, Keränen, & Conley, 2017).

Media studies. Studying people’s attitudes toward media can help determine whether and why audiences may trust and follow certain sources. In examining potential for postcolonial perspectives, media consumption behaviors and attitudes may relate to perceptions revealing trust or distrust toward societal elements introduced by outsiders

(Shome, 2016). Survey research can credibly measure people’s attitudes toward news

(Beyer & Matthes, 2015). People’s personalities, particularly in this case, religious identities, can affect how they view stories in the media (Austin, Muldrow, & Austin,

2016). For example, if people feel more invested in an issue, they may feel less trustful toward the media (Tsfati & Cohen, 2013). On the other hand, people will show a bias in favor of media that cites sources they trust (Kim, 2016). These factors ultimately influence the extent to which people trust the media and its objective qualities as opposed to subjective biases toward certain views (Clayman, Manganello, Viswanath, Hesse, &

Arora, 2010). Whether people trust media impacts whether they consume it. Media

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sources people consume affect their perceptions of trust (Tsfati & Cohen, 2013). When

audiences perceive more trust, they will more likely follow.

The Catholic Church Worldwide

Theologically, the Catholic Church declares its Catholic religion as universal. The

religion affects all people of the world, regardless of whether or not people believe or

know about Catholicism (Catholic Church, 1997). Because universalism may lead to

colonialist tendencies, I analyze the Vatican’s universalism through a postcolonial lens

(Mignolo, 2007).

The Vatican needs young people. The Catholic Church faces declining

membership, especially among young people, who represent its next generation. In

2018, Vatican leaders listened to young people from around the world during its synod

on “Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment” (General Secretariat of the

Synod of Bishops, 2018). With sexual abuse scandals resurfacing, the Catholic Church

faces additional challenges in maintaining its credibility (Douthat, 2018). Its World

Youth Day (WYD, Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, JMJ) pilgrimage in 2019 provided

the Vatican and Church leaders, including Pope Francis and the world’s bishops, a

platform after the synod and reemergence of scandals to speak directly to motivated

audiences of youth and young adult Catholics from around the world (Guidos, 2019).

The Vatican recognizes and acts upon its need to engage its vital audiences to continue

its mission.

Vatican Interests in Taiwan

In addition to the Vatican’s religious reasons, the Vatican has politically-driven interests in Taiwan. Particularly because of China’s government’s modern rejection of

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the Church, the Church’s presence in Taiwan presents potential to re-enter China.

Complicating matters, Taiwan also has significant political reasons to maintain stable

relations with the Vatican.

Taiwan matters to evangelize China. Taiwan is experiencing a declining

Catholic population. 60,000 Catholics left the Church between 2008 and 2014, leaving

230,000 remaining, or 1% of Taiwan’s total population (Leung, 2018a). Comparatively,

China has 1.2 million Catholics. Despite Taiwan’s 1%, Taiwan receives special attention

from the Vatican. As early as 1984, the Pope himself asked bishops to Taiwan to serve as the bridge to reunite the Chinese Church with the universal Church (Leung & Li,

2018). Today, the Vatican keeps multiple diplomats in Taiwan, when the Vatican would

normally allot its resources to more populous areas of the Church. Much of the literature in this section comes from Leung (2018), who conducted a comprehensive

interdisciplinary study of Vatican relations with Taiwan and China (Chen, 2018). I

obtained access to these works during my research trip to Taiwan.

Chinese Catholic clergy in Taiwan since 1949. Before the thousand Catholic

clergy members expelled from China entered Taiwan, Taiwan had only 15 clergy

members and 10,000 or fewer Church members (Leung, 2018b). Since then, the Taiwan

Church expanded rapidly so that, 20 years later in 1969, there were over 800 clergy

members and over 300,000 Church members. Taiwan and Hong Kong both became

areas where clergy went to practice Chinese language and culture.

Taiwan in Vatican colonial politics with China. The Vatican’s efforts toward

China since 1949 have entangled Taiwan. Vatican historically supporting the

controversial GMD in Taiwan already poses problems. Repeatedly, China demands that,

15

for the Vatican to enjoy diplomatic relations with Beijing, the Vatican must sever ties

with Taiwan (Leung, 2018b). This may lead some Catholics in Taiwan to feel “used” by

the Church because of its focus on China rather than on its followers in Taiwan.

Taiwan needs the Vatican. The Vatican is Taiwan’s most important European

political ally. Prior to 2018, the Vatican was one of 17 countries to recognize Taipei and

not Beijing as the seat of power in China (Leung, 2018a; Yu & Wang, 2018). Vatican

relations are so vital that Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen’s vice president, Professor

Chen Chien-jen, comes from a separate political party. Nonetheless, the Catholic Vice

President Chen plays vital roles in Taiwan-Vatican relations (Leung, 2018b). While

Beijing sees itself as ruling over Taiwan, many in Taiwan see themselves as self-ruling.

When Taiwan has allies that Beijing lacks, like the Vatican, Taiwan can more

effectively argue its autonomy from China. Now Taiwan faces the predicament of

having lost an exclusive ally that could help those in Taiwan who want Taiwan to

remain independent from China.

Postcolonial identity and media. Divisions exist in media over this decision’s

implications. Representation matters in media, as it ensured that people’s voices are heard

(Shome, 2016). People’s media consumption tends to influence their perceptions of the

world (Bandura, 2009; Rawnsley, 2013). News stories can convey only a limited

selection of views, making them difficult to use for accurate accounts of a population’s

attitudes toward a matter (Yu & Wang, 2018). Moreover, biases about newsworthiness

may have postcolonial implications (Merten & Krämer, 2016). Particularly in Taiwan, its televisions tended to promote Chinese nationalist ideologies versus indigenous

Taiwanese ideologies prior to 1987 (Rawnsley, 2013). Such repression of indigenous

16

identities for these decades could lead to feelings of distrust among those who identify as

Taiwanese toward local media. Current stories concerning the Beijing-Vatican deal are inconclusive on the population’s general sentiments, as well as which types of people side with which beliefs, potentially confusing when faith is in the mix. Some Catholics feel hopeful the Church will succeed by unifying in China. Whether or not a Taiwanese person supports the Catholic Church, the potential to lose the Vatican ally troubles many.

Research Questions

This interdisciplinary study combines history, communications, cultural, religious and media studies to provide an enriched understanding of how spiritual beliefs affect the perceptions of people in Greater China. In some ways, this study investigates the extent to which ethnic Taiwanese parishioners who have encountered news involving the deal with China feel supportive of the Vatican and prioritize the deal’s benefits to the Catholic

Church over its drawbacks of straining relations between China and Taiwan. I list specific questions below.

RQ. How do colonial associations with the Catholic Church impact Catholic identity in Taiwan?

Quantitative subquestions. To explore this main question further, I use the survey to examine the following sub-questions, then relate their findings with my qualitative data back to the leading question above.

SQ1. What might perceptions about Catholicism in Taiwan reveal about postcolonialism among Taiwan Catholics?

SQ2. What might perception and selection of media consumed reveal about postcolonialism among Taiwan Catholics?

17

Methods

To include diverse Taiwan Catholic perspectives, I sought to create a quantitative survey informed by qualitative interviews and observations. By administering a survey, I hoped to mitigate language comprehension issues. However, having improved my

Chinese language level prior to conducting my qualitative fieldwork, I employed both methodologies in this study. Therefore, in this section I first detail my language qualifications. Next, I describe how I arranged my fieldwork. Finally, I conclude with my survey design. I then open the next section with quantitative results before elaborating on the qualitative results that lead to my discussion.

Mixed Method of Qualitative Fieldwork and Quantitative Survey

I arranged to conduct a quantitative survey to gather multiple responses from diverse participants using rating scales to mitigate my otherwise limited abilities to interpret qualitative data due to my limited Chinese comprehension level. To better design the survey, I arranged to study abroad to meet directly with young Taiwan

Catholics and scholars which tied to the field to probe topics I considered including within the survey. Interviews with members of the target audience improve quality of questionnaires (Willis, 2004). Field notes in Taiwan would also allow me to collect qualitative data to supplement the quantitative data. (See Appendix B for a timeline and summary of my activities while conducting fieldwork.) Mixed method research provides a more holistic understanding of an audience (Johnson & Onwuegbuzie, 2004). Together, these methods allow me to supplement deficiencies inherent to both quantitative and qualitative research.

Qualitative Fieldwork in Taiwan

18

I arrived in Taiwan on December 26, 2018 and remained for 20 days. This

arrangement gave me time to collect data in Taiwan before participating in the two-week

Catholic pilgrimage for young people, World Youth Day, in Panamá. I conducted my research in Taipei (臺北 Táiběi), Taichung (臺中 Táizhōng), and Tainan (臺南 Táinán).

These cities provided regional perspectives from young Catholics in the capital, the middle of the island, and the southern portion. I visited large parishes and those with youth groups. I interviewed formally and informally religious leaders and scholars from these parishes as well as youth group participants. Because the Taiwan Catholic university I affiliated with enjoyed a holiday vacation when I arrived after Christmas, I consulted the leader of the Maryknoll House in Taipei for parishes to visit. I reached my target audience.

Researcher’s language qualifications. I include this section to detail the extent to which I could, as the researcher, validly conduct this study in my second language. My

Mandarin Chinese language level from four years of study at universities afforded me the flexibility to approach people and hold conversations in-person and over social media with minimal difficulty, although I could rarely discuss topics in significant depth without asking, mid-conversation, the definitions of unfamiliar words. Prior to conducting my research, I had only studied simplified Mandarin Chinese. This included two academic years at my institution, one summer program at Shanghai University (上海

大学 Shànghǎi Dàxué), and the intensive summer U.S. Department of State Critical

Language Scholarship Program at Shaanxi Normal University (陕西师范大学 Shǎnxī

Shīfàn Dàxué). For these reasons, travel to Taiwan was my first experience studying

19

traditional Chinese independently as well as the Taiwan dialect. That said, the dialects are

similar, apart from greater written character complexity and different synonyms to

describe nouns. According to my score from the American Council on the Teaching of

Foreign Languages Oral Proficiency Interview, four months before conducting my

research, I spoke and understood Mandarin Chinese at an “Intermediate-High” level, which allowed me to competently discuss familiar topics with few grammatical errors

(ACTFL, 2012). Coupled with my comparable reading and writing skills, I was able to independently encounter young Taiwan Catholics and comfortably interact.

Personal hybridity. Teng (2006) found mixed Asian and European ancestry leads to favorable reception among people of greater China. My personal hybridity, then, could influence how I build rapport among potential contacts. I could communicate with them from the U.S. if I had further questions.

Fieldwork. Conducting my research involved traveling somewhere new to me to build and maintain rapport with a significant minority. Although I relate religiously to the target audience, I only partially relate ethnically. These impacted how I built rapport.

Taking notes. At the end of each day or sometimes immediately following an activity when able, I hand wrote field notes in my journal about the activities, the people, and my feelings. In lieu of notetaking within moments, I often photographed scenes before and after I entered to aid recall. At the end of each week, I compiled three tasks I tended to work on during the week, resulting in my aggregating a day-by-day list of the week’s activities and locations, organizing thematically the field notes from interactions during the week, and drafting an itinerary for the next week. I often typed or wrote

20

paragraphs of reflections a few hours after the interactions. This technique may have

reduced the accuracy of my notes to some extent.

Building rapport. Referencing Lindlof and Taylor (2011), I built rapport through

being personable and willing to disclose about my religious and spiritual beliefs and

views. Building rapport felt challenging, since I came as a stranger hoping to work with

the minority population who is 1% of Taiwan’s total, intending to ask personal questions

about spiritual and ethnic identity, sensitive political views, and opinions about the

media. Building personal relationships became my gateway into deeper and more

sensitive conversations.

I often learned more from the questions others asked me than from those I posed.

For example, about halfway into lunch, during my second meet-up with a student from

Tainan, I had an exceptional experience. When I mentioned I major in journalism, my conversation partner asked me if I had seen the “Spotlight” documentary. He saw it during a class. He then leaned over and quietly asked what I thought about the sex abuse scandal and whether U.S. media covered it fairly, which he said he felt it had. He was an exception to have raised such a topic, yet these unexpected comments and questions seemed born from the strong rapport.

Nonetheless, I always disclosed my research purpose before building these

relationships. I iterated a formulaic introduction to quickly build rapport without

concealing my intentions. (See Appendix A.) I concluded these encounters by providing a

business card, a culturally key gesture doubling as a convenient contact-sharing practice

(Hwang, Golemon, Chen, Wang, & Hung, 2008). LINE and Messenger became my

21 primary social media platforms to keep in touch with contacts. My continued recognition of and adherence to cultural norms seemed to further build rapport.

Taiwan housing and travel arrangements. To best study Taiwan Catholics, I arranged to work with a Catholic institution in Taiwan. Based on my previous experiences studying in China, I expected to receive richer qualitative data through meeting people in person and I could better build rapport through meeting. I reached out to my institution’s Office of International Students and Scholars to explore potential winter study abroad programs in Taiwan. I reached out to the programs my institution partners with, but none had faculty interested in my project. One institution suggested I contact Fu Jen Catholic University (FJCU, 天主教輔仁大學 Tiānzhǔjiào Fǔrén Dàxué,

輔大 Fǔ Dà). The chair of its department of religious studies volunteered to sponsor my project. This connection to a respected Catholic missionary organization later seemed to increase my credibility among Taiwan Catholics during my introductions and interactions among them. (See Appendix A.)

Entering parishes. Visits connected me with more contacts and arranged next events. At the following churches and Catholic centers, I attended Masses (Catholic religious services) in Chinese and English and participated in youth and young adult group activities. In Taipei, I attended seven parishes and participated with eight youth and young adult groups. In Taichung, I attended one parish and participated with an island-wide Catholic student organization at its highest and regional levels. In Tainan, I attended and participated at one parish and youth organization.

I chose to arrive during Masses, for they are typical worship services within the

Catholic faith in which all are invited to participate without requiring an invitation. This

22 would involve participatory observation (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). By participating in the

Masses, parishioners would more readily trust me as a practicing Catholic, and I could learn about other events. As a practicing Catholic who has attended Masses in the U.S. since childhood and attended Masses in China during the summers of 2017 and 2018, I expected that, toward the end of Masses, parishioners would announce upcoming events and, afterward, priests would remain a few minutes to mingle with parishioners. These opportunities would allow me to approach those who made announcements and priests to inquire about youth groups and other parishes. I approached these settings as a complete participant instead of an observer, which allowed me to quickly build trust (Lindlof &

Taylor, 2011). For these reasons, I dressed as parishioners would expect, in a button-up shirt and dress pants to Church and in relatively casual clothing, such as a flannel and jeans, to youth group activities. I typically wore a nametag from the University of

Nevada, Reno to quickly identify myself as a non-local. As a practicing Catholic, I described genuine personal reasons to participate in worship among the communities.

Interviews. Interviews comprised my main qualitative research, divided into informant interviews, respondent interviews, and ethnographic interviews.

Informant interviews. On the Wednesday of my first week, I arrived at FJCU and conducted an informant interview with the religious studies department chair in his office after his day’s meetings concluded. Informant interviews offer perspective on a population and how to approach it (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). This informant interview advised me how to approach participants on sensitive topics, such as politics between

China and Taiwan and the sex abuse scandal within the Church. If I arrived at a parish outside of a Mass time, such as was the case with French missionary priests at the Tainan

23

Diocese Catholic Youth Center (天主教臺南教區青年中心 Tiānzhǔjiào Táinán Jiàoqū

Qīngnián Zhōngxīn), Zhonghe Church (中和天主教堂 Zhōnghé Tiānzhǔjiào Táng), and

Our Lady of Songshan Church (南松山天主堂 Nán Sōngshān Tiānzhǔtáng). During these sit-down interviews, conducted mostly in Chinese with occasional clarification in

English, the priests shared the parish’s and their religious order’s histories. These interviews occurred in quiet meeting rooms separate from where young Catholics concurrently performed activities. During informant interviews, I typically took notes using my computer while we spoke, and I audio recorded some interviews with permission. These interviews often helped me identify potential students to interview ethnographically who held key roles in their communities and could provide rich data. I learned from priests of religious orders from different nations, and their perspectives on their parishes and regions have vastly widened my perspective of Catholic missionary history in China.

Respondent interviews. I conducted only two respondent interviews, during a

“protected time” after I sat through a University Chinese Catholic Students Association

(UCCSA, 中國天主教大專同學會 Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Dàzhuān Tóngxué Huì) student leaders’ regional meeting. Lindlof and Taylor (2011) define a protected time as a relatively low-pressure period for participants during which they can relax. These interviews occurred in the campus’s Catholic center, after the other student leaders left.

The UCCSA advisor suggested I interview two students, one male and one female. The two discussed sensitive issues concerning political differences between parents and

24

children. As with ethnographic interviews, I avoided making visible my list of questions

and reserved note taking for after the interviews.

Ethnographic interviews. Findings from informant interviews led me to favor

ethnographic interviews with young Taiwan Catholic participants. Ethnographic

interviews occurred outside formal settings and without notetaking. I rarely took notes

during these situational conversations, instead taking notes afterward (Lindlof & Taylor,

2011). Although I maintained a list of questions to ask, I largely memorized these and

allowed conversations to develop more organically to help keep participants at ease. To

quickly build rapport, I led conversations with interviewer self-disclosures regarding my

personal interests in meeting my population, as a young Catholic of ethnic half-Chinese

descent studying traditional Chinese in Taiwan (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011). Avoiding

deception, I disclosed in my introductions I am a researcher, and my research entailed participating in the activities and getting to know the population (see Appendix A).

Ethnographic interviews took place throughout my 20 days in Taiwan, generally after activities or during walks between locations.

Qualitative Fieldwork in Panamá

After my 20 days in Taiwan, I left to participate in the WYD pilgrimage, through

which I also met young Taiwan Catholics. My fieldwork in Panamá consisted primarily

of taking notes during talks given by Church leaders including Pope Francis and bishop

heads of nations’ committees on youths and young adults. Although I did not conduct

research interviews, I carefully the noted points made by Church leaders, which I related

back to the literature.

Quantitative Survey Design

25

After completing my fieldwork in Taiwan among the Catholic parishes and youth

groups and in Panamá among young Catholics from around the world, I returned to

continue survey revisions at my home institution. I compiled the survey using Qualtrics.

Observations in Taiwan and observations on the pilgrimage informed the survey design.

The survey focuses primarily on quantitative questionnaire protocols, drawing from

Taiwan studies, media studies, postcolonial studies, and measures of religiousness and

spirituality (Clayman, Manganello, Viswanath, Hesse, & Arora, 2010; Fetzer Institute,

2003; Johnston & Yin, 2018; Lai, 2005; Newton & Saris, 2003). I also included an open-

ended final question where participants could choose to freely include any final

sentiments they wished to express. I included these open-ended free responses within my

qualitative analysis.

To mitigate the limitations imposed by my Chinese language level and to increase

the validity of my research, I worked with my two Chinese-speaking thesis mentors and

the FJCU religious studies department chair to verify my survey translations. The

translations are based on an initial version of the survey questions written in English,

translated to traditional Mandarin Chinese, the most widely understood language in

Taipei (Noble, 2005). I conducted this survey in Mandarin to reach a representative

sample of the population. While in Taiwan, I also conducted pre-test interviews with my

FJCU contact and another professor, a priest, and a doctoral candidate, whose discussions helped fine-tune the survey with regard to the cultural appropriateness of the survey questions. I piloted the survey to three Catholic young people, one each from Taipei,

Taichung, and Tainan, to ensure that my audience understood my questions. For purposes

26 of reporting in this thesis, I note questions in English, although Appendix D lists the

Mandarin versions participants saw in the survey.

Recruitment. I recruited participants from those I connected with during my fieldwork in Taiwan, especially in Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan and in Panamá. This network included Catholic youths and young adults as well as priests who work with these audiences at parishes recommended by the FJCU religious studies department chair, the superior of the Maryknoll Taipei house, and the Archdiocese of Taipei secretariat.

The primary audience focused on male and female young adults, primarily between 16 and 35, which is how the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day pilgrimage defines its intended audience (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, n.d.). Most of these tended to be university students, since those audiences had Catholic student groups, and I could build the most rapport with those audiences. I also accepted responses from

Catholics outside this age demographic, if they completed the survey. I shared the survey link within a LINE group chat I created for my contacts, through direct messages to those contacts using LINE, on the UCCSA Facebook group, through an FJCU email list, and through emails to contacts throughout the archdiocese. At the survey’s end, I also included a call-to-action encouraging participants to share the survey with friends, appealing to a call of Catholic commonality. I piloted the survey to three participants and adjusted questions accordingly, often by removing instruction text that confused participants. Ultimately, I received 165 responses on the final survey.

My contact at FJCU, its religious studies department chair, connected me with important parishes in the Archdiocese of Taipei, determined by Sunday Mass attendance, to recruit a sample of Taiwan Catholic participants for my online survey. Based on his

27 advice, I emphasized college students with active faith lives. As such, I also reached out to students who participate in Christian communities, such as the Christian Life

Community (CLC, 基督生活團 Jīdū Shēnghuó Tuán), Legion of Mary (聖母軍 Shèngmǔ

Jūn), and the UCCSA. I asked for email addresses and social media contacts for potential participants, so that I could email and share the survey link when it was ready.

Survey-impacting opinions regarding target audience. Elements of the survey measuring the depth of spirituality could provide insights to why people may or may not care about the political ramifications of Taiwan potentially losing its last official ally in

Europe and missionaries on the cusp of leaving Taiwan for mainland China. The Holy

Spirit may will it, many say.

Questionnaire protocols. My online questionnaire combined protocols designed to measure postcolonial attitudes, perceptions of media bias, media consumption, religiousness, and spirituality. I completed an initial version of the survey questions from the U.S. using English, then I translated them to Mandarin Chinese, the most widely understood language in Taiwan (Noble, 2005). I conducted this survey in Mandarin to reach a representative sample of the population (Tsuda, 2010). I began by translating to simplified characters I recognized before changing these to traditional characters my audience would recognize. I detail below which questionnaire protocols I used to develop my survey to collect certain variable information. See Appendix C for the questionnaire.

Taiwanese identity. Asking participants whether they identify as Taiwanese or

Chinese can be used to indicate learnings for or against a separate or unified Taiwan and

China, respectively (Rawnsley, 2013). For my purposes, I am interested in understanding whether more who identify as Taiwanese or Chinese would participate in my study. To

28

measure this, I adapted the 10-point allocation method Taeku Lee developed to measure

nuance within Taiwanese versus Chinese identity (Johnston & Yin, 2018). I included

options for aboriginal and other identities and coded according to whether a participant

identified at least in part or wholly Taiwanese.

Questions to understand identity include:

How do you describe your cultural identity? Please distribute these 10 points according to how you identify. For example, if you identify as "only Taiwanese," you would write 10 in "Taiwanese" and 0 in all other sections. (Select all that apply. Please write specifically if you select “Aboriginal” or “Other.”) What language/dialect do you speak at home? Which [education level] best describes you? Which gender do you identify with?

Finally, include demographic questions relating to whether I reached a sample outside my immediate contacts, because I would have limited methods to distribute the survey. Listings of dioceses and the organizations appear in Appendix D.

Which diocese do you participate most in? Of these organizations, please select all that you are or were a member of, if applicable. Do you have leadership positions in any of these organizations? [Yes/No]

Postcolonial attitudes. To measure postcolonial attitudes, I modified the

questionnaire Lai (2005) used to quantify language attitudes of students in postcolonial

Hong Kong. Lai used a four-point Likert scale, through which participants evaluated

statements by indicating how strongly they agreed (4) or disagreed (1). I modified

questions regarding language to religion because both English and Catholicism were

elements colonizers introduced (Laka, 2015). These questions assess whether the

participant associates positive or negative attitudes with elements foreigners introduced,

such as Catholicism in Taiwan. I use these results individually rather than as a scale, to

29 explore whether or not any sentiments expressed in postcolonial theory exist in more religious and spiritual populations.

Statements assessing postcolonial sentiment include:

Practicing Catholicism makes me feel modern. A person who practices Catholicism is usually intelligent. A person who practices Catholicism is usually financially well-off. As a citizen of Taiwan, I should be able to practice whichever religion I choose. The presence of Catholicism is one of the most crucial factors which has contributed to the success of Taiwan's development today. I trust foreign news more than local news.

In Taiwan, it is better to have priests and ordained members leaders who are locals, not foreigners. As a person living in Taiwan, I should practice religions native to Asia. A person who practices religions native to Asia is usually educated. Taiwan is part of Asia. A person who practices religions native to Asia is usually financially well-off. Traditional religious practices are the faiths which best represent people of Taiwan. Catholicism is less important in Taiwan after the Beijing-Vatican provisional agreement of 2018. The status of Catholicism in Greater China is more important than Taiwan’s relationship with the PRC.

For these options below, participants rate their responses through matrices with the same four-point Likert scale from strong agreement (4) to strong disagreement (1).

These options address Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Daoism, traditional religious practices, and other. I code Buddhism, Daoism, and traditional religious practices as native, indigenous faiths versus Catholicism and Protestantism, which I code as outside faiths.

I like the followers of the following religions. People in Taiwan society tend to highly regard highly regard followers of these religions. If I wasn’t Catholic, I might practice the following religions.

30

Perceptions of media bias. To measure perceptions of media bias, I referenced a study on trust in U.S. health media among Hispanics/Latinxs (Clayman, Manganello,

Viswanath, Hesse, & Arora, 2010). This study provided reliable and valid measures to examine how a minority group perceives media’s reporting on it. With Taiwan Catholics representing 1% of the Taiwan population, the minority status carried over (Leung,

2018a). I also include questions of issue importance, which measure how invested a participant feels in certain types of news. Interest in news issues and sources correlates with increased news consumption (Stromback, Djerf-Pierre, & Shehata, 2012).

Questions below assess whether participants explicitly feel Taiwan news media is biased toward the Catholic Church.

On a scale from 1 to 4, where 1 means to a very small degree and 4 means to a large degree, do you think that regarding Taiwan news media… all the important information regarding the topic of Catholic stories is provided in the news? the news coverage about the Catholic Church includes different points of view?

I then ask explicitly to what extent they feel the news media does or does not bias stories favoring or opposing the Catholic Church.

Now we want you to assess whether the media in your opinion are biased against the Catholic Church, strictly neutral, or biased in favor of the Catholic Church. Please indicate your opinion on a scale from left to right, where left = biased against the Catholic Church, via middle = strictly neutral toward the Catholic Church, to right = biased in favor of the Catholic Church on the issue: In general, issues concerning the Catholic Church

To measure issue importance, I present participants these statements below, to answer in the four-point Likert scale fashion. I code using the first statement, as these statements together do not create a scale but simply act as individual responses.

In general, issues concerning the Catholic Church Catholic Church’s impact on Taiwanese politics

31

Beijing-Vatican Relationship Young people being involved in the Church Church and environmental protection Stories of sexual abuse in the Church

To assess overall trust in media, the survey asks, “In general, how much would you trust information from the following sources?” I use a reliably translated eight-item inventory aggregating the following (Cronbach’s α = 0.766).

News, in print and online TV Radio Magazines Social media Phone apps Masses at Church Other activities at Church

Media consumption. To measure media consumption, I modified a questionnaire used by the European Social Survey (Newton & Saris, 2003). Because the European

Social Survey was rather outdated, I included more contemporary media platforms, such as the online news and mobile apps for media consumption. These questions allow me to examine whether the platforms a participant typically uses have any correlation with perceptions of media bias. It is possible that participants perceive more bias from some platforms than others.

To measure media consumption, I ask, “How many hours have you watched or listened to on a typical week the following...? Note: e.g., If you spend 30 minutes, please write ‘0.5.’” I use a reliably translated nine-item inventory aggregating these (Cronbach’s

α = 0.757).

News, in print and online TV Radio

32

Magazines Social media Phone apps Masses at Church Other activities at Church Other sources

I also ask, “How many hours have you watched or listened to on a typical week

news about the Catholic Church, including the religious faith, its policies and its

institutions?” I use a similar, reliably translated inventory aggregating these (α = 0.706).

News, in print and online TV Radio Magazines Social media Phone apps Masses at Church Other activities at Church Other sources

Religiousness and spirituality. To measure religiousness and spirituality, I consulted the American Psychological Association Division 36: The Society for the

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality and selected protocols from the

Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness/Spirituality for Use in Health Research, developed by the Fetzer Institute (2003). I used the short lists pertaining to Public

Practices and Religious Intensity. Acknowledging scholars’ advice that religious practices worldwide have shifted generally from public to private, I also include questions from Private Practices and Beliefs and Values (Fetzer Institute, 2003). These questions represent valid and reliable measures with which to assess religiousness and spirituality as variables affecting participants’ perceptions of media bias.

33

The below questions, with response options of varying frequencies come from the

Public Practices scale (Fetzer Institute, 2003). Because I am only surveying Catholics, I use the term “Mass” to specify the religious worship service described. Response options include: Never, Less than once a year, About once or twice a year, Several times a year,

About once a month, 2-3 times a month, Nearly every week, Every week, and Several times a week. I use a reliable translated scale aggregating these (Spearman correlation ρ =

0.547, p < 0.01).

How often do you attend Mass? Besides Mass, how often do you take part in other activities at a place of worship?

To mitigate error from only asking about public practices, I also include, “How often do you pray privately in places other than at church?” (Fetzer Institute, 2003).

Response options include: Several times a day, Once a day, A few times a week, Once a week, A few times a month, Once a month, Less than once a month, and Never.

The below questions come from the Religious Intensity scale (Fetzer Institute,

2003). Participants answer these on a four-point scale. I use a reliable translated scale aggregating these (Spearman correlation ρ = 0.383, p < 0.01).

To what extent do you consider yourself a religious person? To what extent do you consider yourself a spiritual person?

Finally, I ask using a four-point Likert scale how participants consider faith important in their lives (Fetzer Institute, 2003). I use these statements:

I try hard to carry my religious beliefs over into all my other dealings in life. I don't think there is a conflict between practicing the Catholic faith and the traditional Chinese religious worship.

Distribution. To distribute the survey, I used a convenience and snowball sample.

I connected with the three dozen contacts I made among Catholic student leaders, youth

34 ministers, and priests during my fieldwork. I sent them the Qualtrics link using LINE,

Facebook Messenger, and email. I asked participants to share the survey with others in their communities. See Appendix C for the Mandarin wording and translation of my usual fielding message. I fielded the survey from late March to mid-April 2019.

I trace findings from my audience using both qualitative and quantitative methods. In the qualitative results section, I describe where in Taiwan and Panamá I went and who I met. Then, in the quantitative results section, I report results from the survey.

Finally, I arrange qualitative findings into themes and detail survey findings.

35

Quantitative Results and Analysis

Participant Demographics

In the end, I used 76 responses from all seven of Taiwan’s Catholic dioceses for statistical analysis. I received a total of 165 responses, then cleaned the data to save only completed responses by those who responded either identifying as Catholic or expressing interest in the faith. As a result, I excluded 89 responses not fitting this criterion.

Taiwan Catholic survey participants skewed toward young adult women who identified primarily as Taiwanese, speak Mandarin at home, and either study as an undergraduate student or work. The majority of participants reported being between 18-

34 years old (80.3% or n = 61), with the remaining participants being either older (15.8% or n = 12) or younger (3.9% or n = 3). 60.5% of participants (n = 46) identified as female,

38.2% identified as male (n = 29), and one (1.3%) identified as other.

Almost all participants (89.47% or n = 68) identified as at least partially

Taiwanese. 32.9% (n = 25) identified as at least partially Chinese. Whereas nearly half

(46.1% or n = 35) identified as fully Taiwanese, only 3.9% (n = 3) identified as fully

Chinese. Regarding language use, most reported speaking Mandarin as their home language (93.4% or n = 71), although three-fifths also speak Taiwanese at home (60.5% or n = 46). 11 participants (14.5%) also speak Hakka, four (5.3%) speak English, three

(3.9%) speak aboriginal languages, and three (3.9%) speak other languages. Regarding educational status, 32 participants (42.1%) reported studying as undergraduates, 29

(38.2%) work, 11 (14.5%) study in graduate school, and 4 (5.3%) study in high school.

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Table 1

您如何描述自身的文化身份？請根據您的識別方式分配這10個積分。 例如，如 果你認定為“只有台灣人”，你會在“台語”中寫10，在所有其他部分寫0。（選 擇所有適用的選項。如果選擇“原住民”或“其他”，請具體說明。） - 台灣人 [How do you describe your cultural identity? Please assign these 10 points according to your identification. For example, if you identify "Taiwan only", you will write 10 in "Taiwanese" and 0 in all other parts. (Choose all the applicable options. If you choose "Aboriginal" or "Other", please specify.) - Taiwanese]

Frequency Percent

Points Assigned 0.0 8 10.5

3.0 2 2.6

4.0 3 3.9

5.0 9 11.8

7.0 4 5.3

8.0 10 13.2

8.5 1 1.3

9.0 4 5.3

10.0 35 46.1

Total 76 100.0

Note. 10.0 represents respondents who assigned all points to “Taiwanese” identity. 35 participants identified as 100% Taiwanese. All other point assignments greater than 0.0 represent respondents who identify in part as Taiwanese. For example, those who assign 5.0 or more points identify as at least 50% Taiwanese. Eight identified as not Taiwanese.

37

Religiousness/spirituality. Most participants (89.5% or n = 68) agreed that they

do not find a conflict between practicing Catholicism and traditional worship practices,

known as “folk religions,” by some Western scholarship. These are religions native to

greater China. Half of participants (n = 38) strongly agreed that they do not find conflict.

Participants tended to self-identify as moderately religious and spiritual. Over

80% of participants self-respond being moderately to very religious and spiritual. For two-question scale reliability, I used the Spearman correlation. I translated a Fetzer

(2003) scale for “Overall Self-Ranking.” The correlation was 0.383, which is significant at the 0.01 level. Since the question protocol I use listed the questions from very spiritual/religious to not at all, I re-coded these responses to match this study’s usual scales where ‘4’ indicates greater intensity and ‘1’ indicates lesser. Participants more frequently identified as “slightly religious” and “very spiritual.”

Participants who completed this survey demonstrated strong faith. These

measures of public practice are one way to examine strength of faith. Participants tended

on average to attend Mass (mean = 7.18, SD = 1.77) and other activities at their places of

worship between two to three times a month, nearly every week (mean = 6.13, SD =

2.11). Over half these participants (60.5%, n = 46) responded attending Mass at least

once a week. Over half also responded participating in other activities at least “a few

times a month,” which is considered more than “once a month” but not necessarily “once

a week.” Regarding the Fetzer (2003) two-item scale for public practices as a measure of

religiousness/spirituality, the Spearman correlation between its questions asking how

often a participant attends religious services and other activities was 0.547, which is

significant at the 0.01 level (p < .01).

Regarding private practices, 68.5% of participants (n = 52) reported praying at

least once daily outside of church. On average, participants responded that they pray

38

daily outside of church on average a few times per week. These demonstrate participants

of this sample seem comparatively religious and spiritual. For example, Mockabee,

Monson, and Grant (2001) found 59.3% of Catholics in their U.S. sample prayed at least

once daily. Therefore, my sample of Taiwan Catholics represents the more religious and

spiritual, compared to most Catholics at least in the U.S. (Pew, 2018).

Quantitative Research Questions

SQ1. What might perceptions about Catholicism in Taiwan reveal about postcolonialism among Taiwan Catholics?

Results regarding how participants perceive Catholicism versus religions more

native to East Asia suggest Taiwan Catholics view practitioners of Catholicism as

associated with better traits than local practices, which can express some perceptions of

Asian religions not to the same standard as Western (Lai, 2005).

For example, whereas participants on average partially disagreed with this

statement, “A person who practices religions native to Asia is usually educated,”

[translated] (mean = 2.32, SD = 0.85, where 2 means disagree and 2.5 is neither agree nor

disagree), participants on average agreed with the statement’s reverse that those who

practice Catholicism tend to be intelligent (mean = 3.24, SD = 0.67, where 3 means agree

and 4 means strongly agree). While this may demonstrate in-group bias that Catholic

participants would want to rate Catholics (themselves) as intelligent, these findings

demonstrate a slight perception that those practicing Asia’s native religions do not tend to

be educated. Almost all participants (98.7% or n = 75) agreed with the statement,

“Taiwan is part of Asia.” This verifies that asking questions within this protocol, which

39 ask whether a participant would feel more strongly about things that are Asian, should apply to people in Taiwan.

Next, participants feel strongly that their citizenship and place in the world should not influence the religion they follow. All 76 participants disagreed with the translated statement, “As a person living in Taiwan, I should practice religions native to Asia,” and agreed with the translated statement, “As a citizen of Taiwan, I should be able to practice whichever religion I choose.”

Participants perceive feeling a certain minority condition. With regard to the statement, “People in Taiwan society tend to highly regard highly regard followers of these religions” [translated], participants responded that with Catholicism, they slightly disagree (mean = 2.39, SD = 0.67), whereas with Buddhism, Daoism, and traditional religions, they agree (mean ≥ 3). Buddhism mean = 3.11, SD = 0.64, Daoism mean =

3.00, SD = 0.69, traditional religions mean = 3.09, SD = 0.69. Even versus Protestants, they report society seems neutral or more favorable toward the religious group (mean =

2.62, SD = 0.69, where 2.5 means neutral).

SQ2. What might perception and selection of media consumed reveal about postcolonialism among Taiwan Catholics?

Participants responded with interest in Catholic news (mean = 3.26, where 3 represents interest and 4 represents strong interest). This would expect participants to more strongly perceive bias in news about Catholics, since they have interest in the topic

(Stroud, 2008). Indeed, participants reported feeling the media biases against the Church.

(See Table 2.) The largest body of participants (40.7% or n = 31) responded media opposes the Church, although almost as many feel neutral (35.5% or n = 27). This finding makes sense (Stroud, 2008). 23.7% (n = 18) perceived the media favors the Church.

40

Table 2

現在，我們希望您評估是否媒體對於天主教會有偏見、或是嚴格保持中立

，或是偏向天主教會。請以左邊到右邊的等級表示您的意見，其中左邊=偏 愛天主教會，中間=嚴格中立，右邊=反對天主教會： - 偏愛天主教會:反對 天主教會 [Now we want you to assess whether the media in your opinion are biased against the Catholic Church, strictly neutral, or biased in favor of the Catholic Church. Please indicate your opinion on a scale from left to right, where left = biased against the Catholic Church, via middle = strictly neutral toward the Catholic Church, to right = biased in favor of the Catholic Church on the issue: - prefer the Catholic Church: against the Catholic Church]

Frequency %

Bias 1 (Strongly Favors the Catholic Church) 7 9.2

2 (Favors the Catholic Church) 11 14.5

3 (Strictly Neutral) 27 35.5

4 (Against the Catholic Church) 26 34.2

5 (Strongly Against the Catholic Church) 5 6.6

Total 76 100.0

Note. Participants filling in this question saw the options displayed in a horizontal row.

Participants consistently distrust local media. Participants expressed distrust, in order from most distrust to least toward, Radio (mean = 2.11, SD = 0.66), TV (mean =

2.12, SD = 0.76), Phone apps (mean = 2.2, SD = 0.76), Magazines (mean = 2.32, SD =

41

0.71), Social media (mean = 2.39, SD = 0.83), and News, in print and online (mean =

2.42, SD = 0.86). On the other hand, participants expressed trust toward Masses at

Church (mean = 3.24, SD = 0.67) and other activities at Church (mean = 3.12, SD =

0.65). Furthermore, participants also largely responded they trust foreign news more than local news (81.6% or n = 62). 28.9% (n = 22) reported they strongly trust foreign news over local sources, versus only 18.4% (n = 14) who more strongly trusted local news. Not

only do these responses express skepticism toward media but also reinforce these

participants seem strongly spiritually-focused, based on their responses of trust only

toward institutions of the Catholic Church.

42

Qualitative Results and Analysis

Catholic participants in Taiwan reported feeling neglected in some ways by the

Church. I coded results inductively from the fieldwork in Taiwan at its parishes and in

Panamá at World Youth Day along with responses to the optional free-response question at the end of my survey. (See Appendix E for raw responses.) Themes from participants’ responses relate to four perceived needs: for cultural distinction, for indigenization, for livelier communities, and for improved Catholic education – an emergent theme. The free response question I used stated a translation of, “Anything else? [line break] “Finally, if you have other thoughts about Taiwanese Catholics you can write them here.” (See

Appendix C for Mandarin wording.) Within these responses, I note areas where participants’ reactions align thematically. These interrelated themes may result from culture and history. The results ultimately probe how Taiwan Catholics perceive their relationships to the Catholic Church in regard to postcolonialism and identity.

Need for Distinction

Taiwan Catholics reported feeling that the Catholic Church inadequately distinguishes Taiwanese identity from Chinese in its evangelism. These findings seem to suggest that ethnic identity takes precedence over spiritual identity. This theme emerges both from an explicit response to the optional final survey question, and from participants’ demonstrated interest in topics I raised during in-person interviews, either by describing my interests in Taiwan or through participants’ seeming avoidance of discussions about China. Below, I elaborate on this need for distinction within three sub- themes within observed distinction-seeking behaviors. I conclude this theme with a discussion of historical explanations for these findings.

43

One survey participant wrote on this need for distinction:

Catholic organisations in Taiwan doesn't [sic] spend enough time to attach and honour Taiwanese culture. All they care about is how to be the representative of "Chinese Catholic". Personally, it is against my ideology, but the most important thing is, they really don't care about Taiwanese culture but only care about the Chinese culture they brought to Taiwan after World War 2. I wish Taiwanese Catholics can do something for this [italicized emphasis added].

While participants who answered my survey’s additional free-response question agreed that the Taiwan Church seems to have limited Taiwanese-led foundations, participants described mixed attitudes toward these limited foundations. For example, the participant quoted above, in writing, “I wish Taiwanese Catholics can do something for this,” may demonstrate either hope that the Church will change or apathy.

On the other hand, another participant wrote, “The Catholic Church in Taiwan is still developing, like a boy in life, growing up under the care of God” [translated]. This second response acknowledged the present Church’s shortcomings, from a clearly secure faith perspective. This second perspective, while an outlier within the survey data, relates to responses from many in-person interviews, especially during participants’ goodbyes to me. The participant identified as 18-24 years old and fully Taiwanese. In-person, many

Taiwan Catholics said they trusted in God’s will to protect and develop the Church and me. Many described the Holy Spirit as working through me to perform my research. In sum, these participants, who expressed secure faith, also expressed the Church institution has much to improve.

Distinction-favoring behaviors. The participant’s repetition seemed to further emphasize his or her perception that the Catholic Church does not care about those who identify as Taiwanese and practice Catholicism, but rather about those who identify as

44

Chinese. That participant identified as between 18-24 years old and mostly Taiwanese

(85%), partially indigenous (15%). My conversations with Taiwanese Catholics during fieldwork substantiated the quote. Conversation partners tended to express less interest toward my experiences in China and seemed more engaged when I described my reasons for coming specifically to Taiwan and my interest in its peoples and cultures. These reasons also led me to minimize my discussions of China during fieldwork and focus on

Taiwan to have more engaging conversations. Such views were most apparent in middle and southern dioceses, known generally for leaning more toward native rule, favoring

indigenization (Huang, n.d.). Generally, I found expressing overt interest in Taiwan’s

distinctness led to better conversations and more engagement. Within these behaviors, I

identify three sub-themes, in which many Taiwan Catholics seemed to suspect that I

came with ulterior motives, had difficulty overcoming their expectations of me, and

finally took interest in my interest in them.

Only Catholics in Taipei with a certain young adult group whose pastor came

from China seemed to ask about my experiences in China. From an informant interview, I

gathered that the parish tends to lean more toward GMD views and to favor unification

with China. Indeed, the parish displays publicly a Taiwanese flag, which recognizes

Taiwan as the Republic of China (Yu & Mangan, 2008). Historically, however, the

Catholic Church was significantly involved with the GMD and even founded the island-

wide college Catholic student association as a political body. Thus, leaning toward the

GMD in more a question of ethnic identity rather than religious.

Suspicion of ulterior motives. Catholics seemed concerned when I mentioned

early in a conversation that I study journalism and came as a researcher. Most in this

45 situations worried they would need to translate for me and I would audio or video record them or take notes during their meetings and activities. I assuaged these worries by saying that my research would simply involve observations, participation, and conversations with anyone interested. Usually someone I had already built rapport with would also say I know a little Chinese, assuring the group it could act as it normally acts.

The in-group member’s endorsement visibly comforted people. I relate these reactions to a need to be understood as people rather than as research subjects.

Overcoming expectations. Participants consistently made certain assumptions about my identity, which I list separately here by my academic background, ethnic identity, and religious identity. I analyze the assumptions made of each identity. I conclude from these assumptions that Taiwan Catholics seemed ascribe narratives that I would have deeper ties both to Taiwan and the Catholic Church to lead me to have come to Taiwan to learn about its Catholics.

Academic background. I am an Honors senior not a master’s student, I have studied Chinese a few years not a few weeks, and I major in media not religious studies.

Granted, my introductions may have confused people because I had not studied traditional Chinese prior to coming to Taiwan. Clarifying my undergraduate background seemed to raise Taiwan Catholics’ impressions of me. All graduate students and faculty with whom I worked had explicit ties to religious studies.

Ethnic identity. My mom is from Hunan not Taiwan, my “林” family name is pronounced “Lín” not “Ling,” my “Lang” family name is Austrian not Cantonese, and I will volunteer with the Peace Corps in Outer Mongolia not Inner Mongolia, which is part of China.

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Regarding my ethnic identity, people seemed to have difficulty accepting that I have fewer ties to Taiwan than perhaps most who would travel to the island. At each step, conversation partners seemed to assume I was one step less removed than I am. For example, when I first explained that I had no Taiwanese parent, conversation partners assumed either one of my family names must at least come from Guangdong, China (广

东 Guǎngdōng), where many Taiwanese ancestors originated. Even after I established no

Taiwanese identity, conversation partners still ascribed Chinese identity to me in

assuming I would volunteer in Inner Mongolia, rather than Outer.

Religious identity. I came to Taiwan chiefly to get to know fellow young

Catholics not to research them (which was personally true), I applied for research funding

in order to come, and I am a lay person, not a seminarian or a priest.

Taiwan Catholics consistently seemed relieved when I confirmed that I, too, am a

practicing Catholic. Relating to the sub-theme of suspecting ulterior motives, Catholics

seemed hesitant to believe I genuinely wanted to meet them as one Catholic to another.

They seemed to more readily believe I came to Taiwan to study as a seminarian or had

come as a priest missioning in Taiwan rather than as an undergraduate lay Catholic with

only a passing interest in ordained ministries. Perhaps the latter truth made me relatable.

Interest in my interest. Related to the theme in the survey of feeling neglected,

this interest may relate to how much scholarship on religions fails to examine

Catholicism in non-Western contexts (Zhai, & Woodberry, 2011). For example, while

presenting my research at the APA conference, I found my talk listed as one of two

regarding, “Non-U.S. contexts.” Some felt especially positive when I mentioned my

journalism background. In central Taiwan, some fellow college seniors felt eager about

47 me wanting to share their stories, even though they hesitated at times to respond to questions about sensitive political topics.

I had little difficulty understanding those I spoke with in Mandarin and, if I did not recognize a word, many conversation partners were quick to translate for me. Taiwan people felt surprised I could speak at my level having started studying in 2015, so I qualified my level with previous studies abroad in Shanghai and Xi’an (西安 Xī'ān).

People also seemed impressed that I studied at a Chinese government-administered university. Some commented on my mainland accent, and some even explained to each other how my pronunciation sounds different from typical Taiwan Mandarin. Many enjoyed my ability to speak Mandarin and complimented me often, saying I spoke clearly. Overall, people seemed much more interested in my experiences learning Taiwan

Mandarin than in my studies in other fields. I enjoyed hearing, on my penultimate day, a compliment from a friend saying I had become “half Taiwanese.” These perspectives seemed to reinforce the notion that, the more interest I had in Taiwan, the more interest people had in me.

Some Taiwan people seemed inclined to practice their English with me, after I mentioned I am American or that I will be teaching English in Mongolia and China after graduation. One person I met on my flight to Taiwan from the U.S. commented that he thought many would want to engage with me in English. The majority seemed more interested in helping me practice Mandarin.

Need for Indigenization

Taiwan Catholics also report that Taiwan has an inadequately developed indigenous Church. For youths, this indigenization relates to the Taiwan youth’s

48 ownership of their Church, not just the Taiwan Catholics’ Church in general. One participant wrote, “Need to do more youth evangelization” [translated], while another wrote, “Catholicism needs more interesting ways of teaching to attract young people”

[translated]. While young people represent the Taiwan Church’s future, this need for indigenization presently affects Taiwan Catholics’ relations with their Church.

Young Catholics during respondent interviews also elaborated on perceptions of their generational differences versus those of their parents. Participants mentioned that their parents and parents’ generation follow news and worry about Taiwan politics and the status of Catholicism. Catholic participants almost always said they had Catholic parents. This parental connection seemed not to eliminate perceptions of the Catholic faith as one not native to Taiwan. Judging from their descriptors, their parents had firmer political opinions, too. Other young Taiwan people described their perceptions of the media as either boring, biased, or both. Some young people also described media as gossipy and “obviously” partisan. I heard these responses usually after asking, “What do you think about the news/media?” “Do you think the media report what matters to you?”

“How well do you think media reports the truth of situations versus just opinions?” These questions felt like prodding on my end, for I gathered that the young people did not seem strongly opinionated about news media, beyond the in general negative views. I further elaborate on media-related results in my quantitative analysis.

Barriers toward indigenization. Some participants during my fieldwork seemed to suspect many in Taiwan of being incapable of developing a deeply religious institution. Both a non-religious Taiwanese person who had lived in Canada and Catholic missionaries I spoke to described observing that Taiwan people seem to have shallow

49

faith. Some missionaries made similar comments about Taiwan as a place of “à la carte

religions,” since people are known to place Buddhist and Daoist statues in the same

temples with little concern. Other religious and non-religious people in Taiwan criticized

Taiwanese as having surface-level faith and simply praying for things to be given to them rather than praying to give of themselves. While such critiques may provide some evidence of limited indigenization, such responses seem to come from those with limited knowledge of the intersectional experience of those both deeply religious and Taiwanese.

That said, this criticism of spiritual flexibility does not encompass all in Taiwan.

Indeed, one Catholic college student initially enthusiastic to take me to see Taipei’s

famous sites became distraught when I suggested visiting Longshan Temple. She insisted

that other places would be better but eventually compromised saying she would stay

outside and let me go in. I felt confused by the change of attitude but decided to enter

regardless, for the temple had significant historical value. When I exited the site, she said

firmly she does not enter temples to other gods. I note this experience to nuance wider

claims that Taiwan people practice depthless faiths. The Catholic woman expressed a

deep reverence for others’ beliefs, in her decision to distance herself from those beliefs.

Church perspective on indigenization. Since Vatican II in the 1960s, the

Catholic Church has sought to grow with an emphasis on indigenization (Tan, 2002).

Still, 60 years later, participants feel these efforts toward indigenization have not been

enough. While Tan (2002) demonstrated some Catholic communities embrace

indigenization, my participants expressed the belief that indigenization ought to increase

more widely. Communities seeming to successfully embrace indigenization described

positive influence of their pastors. Indeed, during my fieldwork, involved young

50

Catholics seemed very pleased if I knew their pastors and would introduce me to them if I had not met yet. Though missionaries, the pastors I met in these involved communities seemed warm and friendly. I met a dozen or so during my fieldwork. Tan (2002) noted that a well-indigenized Church respects groups’ local customs without major imposition.

During my fieldwork, informant interviews with youth ministers and pastors described how ministers seek to make the faith more personal for Taiwan Catholics.

Almost all pastors I encountered tended to be foreign missionaries, although youth group leaders tended to be more Taiwanese. A Taipei youth group, for example, planned trilingual activities for its youths and young people who spoke Mandarin Chinese,

English, and French. Both a missionary and a local parishioner led this youth group.

Another missionary-led youth group, in Tainan, described frequently incorporating performance and dance in its Eucharistic Adoration worship activity, where at WYD in

Panamá, its practitioners did not perform and dance. Such examples demonstrate efforts to promote indigenization, although pastors for both youth groups were missionaries.

Both these Taiwan participants and Church leaders echo that there remains much work to be done to support and appeal to younger generations. For youths specifically, these responses relate to global discussions within the Church, as spoken of by the Pope and the world’s bishops during WYD 2019. Such indigenization extends beyond Taiwan

Catholics. This need for indigenization extends to Catholic youths worldwide to feel accepted and welcomed as voices within the Church (Sankowski, 2019). Still, how survey participants put the burden of evangelism on the communities themselves leads to my next theme.

Livelier Communities

51

Of participants who wrote in optional responses, most expressed dissatisfaction of the Church’s representation of their views. Participants responded with frustration noting that the Church seems too conservative and that other parishioners seem less congenial than they ought to be as Christians.

Many perspectives on this lack of liveliness relate to individualized instead of community-oriented faith practices. A participant described Catholic parishioners in

Taiwan as, “Generally introverted, not very good at meeting new people in church groups, not even taking the initiative to talk to people around them about positive beliefs”

[translated, italicized emphasis added]. Though introversion may relate to Asian cultural communication norms, this seems too simplistic a conclusion (Kim, 2010). Other participants expressed similar views. One wrote that the Church in Taiwan suffers from,

“internalization and staleness of Christian faith” [translated, italicized emphasis added].

Another wrote of the Church, “Too passive, conservative, not able to get out of their own small circle” [translated]. Relating to the need for an indigenized Church, younger parishioners would support, these primarily younger participants expressed pessimism toward both the Church’s and older parishioners’ inadequate identification with them.

Countering the “staleness” of the Church and its “passive” qualities would require more outgoing and public practices of faith, faith sharing, and dynamism of living the religion. One participant wrote that practice of the faith “should be more spiritual and lively” [translated, italicized emphasis added]. As a whole, these participants responded that the Church as an institution and community could do better when measured against congenial expectations of the faith (Catholic Church, 1997). These responses from the faithful again demonstrate problems of the Church institution within Taiwan. That said,

52 as Pope Francis and Church leaders described at WYD, Catholics living deeper and more involved faith lives would resultantly express liveliness. These responses relate to similarly reported problems among growing numbers of previously Catholic unaffiliated young people worldwide and the Church’s call for current youths faithful to take action

(Sankowski, 2019). While introversion may relate to Asian cultural norms, younger

Catholic generations have generally expressed perceptions of staleness and conservatism, which dissuade them from Church affiliation.

Amiable Taiwan Catholics. Although respondents expressed wanting their

Catholic communities to improve, the especially involved in their faith welcomed me with enthusiasm. Catholics I participated with were eager to deepen their connections with me, more so than other Taiwan people I met. Most tended to invite me to eat with them or took it as a given. Many invited me to their social media groups so I could meet more Taiwan Catholics. All insisted my 20 days in Taiwan were too short, and many expected or hoped I would return after WYD.

I relate this amiability not only to good Catholic practices (Catholic Church,

1997), but also to assumptions about the community I come from. Participants seemed initially to expect that because I came from the U.S., where Catholicism and Christendom capture a greater proportion of the population, I would have known a much more supported Catholic experience. Most Taiwan Catholics within my age group felt surprised to learn the issues faced by young Catholics in missionary dioceses of the

Western U.S. share similarities with Taiwan. Other young Catholics felt this made sense, since they considered Taipei densely populated and convenient. They seemed glad that I recognized their prayer practices.

53

Gender differences in interactions. Gender resulted in me learning more from

conversations with Taiwan women than men. Generally, with men, I consistently found

myself having to prod around to figure out their studies or interests. Women were more

inclined to naturally start and continue conversations. That said, priests and nuns,

whether local Taiwan persons or foreigners, treated me without noticeable gender-based differences. Teng (2006) described a tendency for people of Greater China to think highly of men and women with mixed Caucasian and Chinese ancestry, as I have.

More specifically, Taiwanese Catholic males my age treated me as I would expect, older men commented the women like me, older women insisted I am smart, and female peers told me I am very cute, very blessed, and rather brave. Such patterns also occurred during my previous studies in China. I suspect that these apparent favorable biases toward me improved rapport-building. Female peers especially seem much more inclined to respond quickly and continue our in-person conversations over social media, when I applied about the same effort I would with male peers. Of course, as with the male I described who discussed the “Spotlight” film with me, exceptions exist. Whereas over half a dozen female peers spoke directly about asking me to stay around or to go with them to see sites, only two male peers took similar initiative during interactions.

That said, males seemed more interested in specific issues relating to the Church.

Topically, male peers who took interest deeper interested in our conversations asked about my views on very deep, very specific issues, based on my introductions as a

Catholic journalist. These topics included the Catholic sex abuse scandal and surrogacy.

Peer women tended to be more curious about my personal stories, such as how I learned

Chinese and how I practice my faith in the U.S. They did more to help connect me to

54 events I could participate in. Women were also more inclined during walks in the groups to offer to treat me to food and drinks when we passed by vendors. Men and women in the Church who were older than me tended to connect with me with equal attention.

Catholic Education

Finally, an emergent theme, Taiwan Catholics report that the Church inadequately educates its younger generations on the faith. The most verbose participant attributed many of these problems of education to external factors. The participant wrote:

Catholic schools are almost completely decoupled from their beliefs. From elementary school to high school, it is clear that our thinking ability, knowledge base, and spiritual desire are constantly expanding, yet our private Catholic schools have no rights (by the so-called “separation of Church and state,” ignoring the fact that almost no democracy in the world does this fully) to teach students complete, comprehensive and in-depth teaching and spiritual knowledge, leading to when a young church member arrives at a university, facing many fallacies in psychology, sociology, philosophy, does not know how to rationally face and refute, because knowledge of faith still stays in the children's Sunday school. Then he certainly feels that the church is boring, naive, incomprehensible and corrupt. If the Catholic Church’s right to educate cannot be fully regained, it can only be supplemented by parishes and dioceses, lacking professional competence, whereas parents still take school as most important and supreme, so how can we cultivate solid foundations? [translated]

When these younger generations grow older and encounter ideas that challenge their faith, participants report that the youths do not know how to respond and thus lose the faith. Another participant wrote of older Catholics:

There are many Catholics in Taiwan who seriously lack of knowledge of the teachings, do not value the Bible or pay attention to it, and just think participation in the Mass is enough, which is a serious problem. The members of the Church, especially old Church members, need to review Catholic teachings. [translated]

Other participants seemed frustrated with their perceptions of Church teachings or their perceptions of others’ views on them. One participant wrote, “Catholicism needs

55 more respect for women” [translated]. This response also relates to perceptions of the

Church as too conservative.

Another wrote, as though in defense of Catholic teachings against other Christian denominations, “Venerating the Virgin Mary is not idolatry” [translated]. To write this response in this survey suggests that the participant often feels the need to correct this misconception. This may express a feeling of frustration that other Catholics or other

Christian believers of other denominations assume Catholic beliefs about Mary imply idolatry. Indeed, the Catholic Church (1997) does not describe its veneration of Mary in this way. Such a misconception has appeared in Christian discussions worldwide.

Returning to the discussion of the participant who refused to enter Longshan

Temple, her belief that she could not enter another religious group’s place of worship could also relate to inadequate Catholic education in Taiwan. Official teachings of the

Church allow Catholics to enter other places of worship (Catholic Church, 1997).

However, ancient theology used to not permit such actions. That a Taiwan Catholic would in 2019 believe she could not enter another another religious group’s place of worship further indicates inadequate education.

Better Catholic education outside Taiwan. Taiwan Catholics seemed to perceive me as well-educated in Catholicism and rich in my faith. The night I returned to

Taipei from a weekend of fieldwork Taichung and Tainan, a younger student I met reached out to me for spiritual advice, saying she was going through a low point.

Recently baptized Catholics, even if older than me, were also eager to discuss faith with me when I mentioned my confirmation three years ago.

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Discussion

Involved Taiwan Catholics accept the West but feel neglected by their Church.

Colonial associations around the Catholic Church in Taiwanese society impact Taiwanese

Catholics, who also perceive society around them feels impacted. Taiwan Catholic participants expressed feeling strong in their faiths but not in the Church. They express feeling that the Church did not adequately understand them. Still, many trusted the

Church could grow to accommodate. There appears an underlying need for their local

Catholic Church to be better than it is, which may relate to the influence of mediascapes.

These results do not account for less spiritually-involved Catholics in Taiwan.

Discussing Quantitative Analysis

Assertions of postcolonial theory seem to hold true among Taiwan Catholics in a roundabout way. Taiwanese Catholics perceive other Taiwanese seem distrustful of the

Catholic Church, perhaps as an outside power. Nonetheless, especially spiritual and religious Taiwanese Catholics accept these stigmas and continue to strongly practice their faith. That most participants would be comparatively religious and spiritual also make sense, as participants would need to be motivated to participate. Among these, that the majority would find no conflict between culturally-expected practices of traditional religions alongside their perceived less culturally-approved practice of Catholicism also makes sense, since practicing Catholics would need some way to rationalize their faith in their less supported environment. The tendency for participants to respond as more spiritual than religious agrees with findings about trends in undergraduate Catholics within the U.S. (Overstreet, 2010). This may be a trend connected to Catholic identity.

57

Although I used a snowball sample, I succeeded to involve participants from all seven of Taiwan’s dioceses, including the four I could not visit personally. (See Table 3.)

The Archdiocese of Taipei makes sense to have the most participants, as it is the largest diocese in Taiwan and that which I spent the most time within.

Table 3

您最常參與哪個教區？ [Which diocese do you most often participate with?]

Diocese Frequency %

台北大主教管區 Archdiocese of Taipei 37 48.7

高雄教區 Diocese of Kaohsiung 4 5.3

台中教區 Diocese of Taichung 14 18.4

嘉義教區 Diocese of Kiayi 7 9.2

花蓮教區 Diocese of Hwalien 1 1.3

新竹教區 Diocese of Hsinchu 7 9.2

台南教區 Diocese of Tainan 6 7.9

Total 76 100.0

Note. During fieldwork, I spent time only in the Archdiocese of Taipei, the Diocese of Taichung, and the Diocese of Tainan, which demonstrates the snowball sample succeeded in reaching participants from other dioceses.

58

Though I was not explicitly seeking responses from Catholics who identify as

Taiwanese, I felt surprised to find many of my participants within that audience. I posit

those who identify as Taiwanese feel more neglected as a group, which would likely

influence their likelihood of participating in a survey seeking to understand their group. I

will elaborate more in the qualitative discussion.

Media perception and selection, with regards to how participants perceived media

biased against the Catholic Church and tended to favor foreign media, seem to suggest

Taiwan Catholics accept and trust the West to an extent but especially trust the Catholic

Church, even if the Church seems to fall short of expectations. Data that three-fourths of

participants trust foreign news over local news may demonstrate lack of confidence in

local news, supplemented by results of distrust toward media, also revealed through the

survey and interviews. Taiwan has had state-promoted media previously, which promoted

pro-unification ideas (Rawnsley, 2013). Perhaps those who identify as Taiwanese would continue to oppose that type of forced-upon media.

Discussing Qualitative Themes

Results suggest the experiences of Taiwanese identity intersect with Catholic

experiences in ways evinced by themes relating to Taiwan people in general, hybrid

themes more unique to Taiwan Catholics, and wider themes related to Catholic people

worldwide. Results wider to the Taiwan experience suggest a strong nationalism and

need for distinction (Lu, 2017). Results pertaining to Catholic experiences, particularly

younger generations, connect to needs for livelier communities. More specific to the

Taiwan Catholic experience is the need for indigenization of the Church. Needs for

improved education of Catholics seems both an issue of the wider Church as well as one

perhaps influenced by the need for indigenization within the Taiwan Church.

59

Need for distinction. I suspect this limited distinction stems from participants’ suspicion the Vatican mainly evangelizes Taiwan as a means to evangelize China.

Participants may feel this suspicion due to the Vatican’s historical use of Taiwan to learn the Chinese language and culture (Leung, 2018b). This use of Taiwan as a means to an

end may neglect Taiwan itself as a region to support more fully.

Indeed, other Western-based studies on Catholics in Taiwan have sometimes

described Taiwan as Chinese in culture (Zhai, & Woodberry, 2011). While many in

Taiwan may identify as Chinese or share many cultural elements with Chinese people,

these characteristics do not make Taiwanese people Chinese. Participants expressed clear

appreciation of being recognized by their terms and not by outside labels.

Need for indigenization. Politically, the Vatican’s provisional agreement with

China seems to adversely affect morale among Taiwan Catholics. During an informant

interview with an English priest who met with Catholic clergy in Beijing, the priest said

pastors in China doubt that China will normalize relations with the Vatican. The priest

said the Vatican saw the deal as one-sided in China’s favor. During another informant

interview, a Taiwanese professor of religious studies noted that some Catholics in

Taiwan fear that, if China were to open, Taiwan’s clergy would leave to China and

weaken their already limited support for the Church in Taiwan.

This limited indigenization may relate to limited distinction. If Taiwan Catholics

perceive that the Vatican does not value them to the level they feel it ought to, perhaps

the Taiwan Church may feel less inclined to build itself. With limited lay Taiwanese

entering Church functions, sending missionaries seems to be the most realistic solution

for the Church. Perhaps, too, sending missionaries encapsulates only one solution of a

60

larger, more long-term plan participants are not aware of. In a larger plan, where sending

missionaries might only be a starting action, maybe the Vatican intends to build the

Church indigenously in later phases. In the meantime, with five of seven bishops in

Taiwan as Taiwanese, indigenization progresses (Gaetan, 2017).

Need for livelier community. This theme connects more broadly to the Catholic

Church toward young people as a whole. That this theme applies to young Taiwan

Catholics as well as within the global community of young Catholics wrestling with

religious identity in a world growing increasingly secular (Leung, 2018a). This seems to

magnify feelings of being a minority.

This theme also acts distinct from the need to improve education, for this interest in liverlier community could even come from exposure to global Catholic ideas of more

outgoing and congenial faith lives. Still, if perhaps Taiwan Catholicism culturally makes

more sense to involve more reserved feelings, then maybe exposure to global ideas

creates this false need to change.

Need to improve education. This emergent theme of unsatisfactory Catholic

education for youths may relate to limited indigenization. With Taiwan Catholics

perceiving the Church as mostly externally-governed, perhaps, they feel the Church’s teachers inadequately recognize how to meaningfully relate to Taiwan culture. This may pose problems for encouraging lay Taiwanese to become religious ministers and instructors. With fewer Taiwanese feeling encouraged to pursue service with the Church, this would limit the number of people able to instruct and inspire other Taiwanese

Catholics in the Church.

61

This limited education on Catholic principles may also relate to a need to translate more teachings from Western languages. Leung (2018b) described multiple instances where Catholic music and other religious components have yet to receive Chinese language versions. A further problem of limited Chinese-language materials means reliance on other languages for information. Being forced to function in non-native languages to achieve the same outcomes as those speak those other languages natively expresses another factor of cultural colonization (Thiong’o, 1992). That Taiwan Catholics recognize this as an issue, nonetheless, leads to hope.

These perceptions of “needs” among themes may relate to the impact of mediascapes. Exposure to Western media, coupled with assumptions the West is better, may create feelings of inadequacy among Taiwan Catholics looking at their present

Church. These seem to have detrimental effects on those who assume from their access to see the Catholic Church in other countries that the Taiwan Church needs to be better than it is. Judging from participants’ distrust of local media versus foreign media and their perceptions that Taiwan society does not well regard them, they seem to express the culture outside theirs is better.

Limitations and Future Research

Future research can continue from this survey and related topics. For my time and geographic resources, I used exhaustive methods. However, future approaches to this study could employ more in-person methods to improve response rate. I suggest replicating the survey to reach wider audiences, fielded in-person in Taiwan.

Unfortunately, I had to return to the U.S. before I could field in-person, so I relied on digital channels and those I met to share the survey. With more participants, results could

62

be more generalizable. I also suggest studying this emergent theme of insufficient

education of Catholic youths. What systems caused this issue and how this insufficient

education affects the population long-term may inform how the Church operates in

Taiwan to better evangelize. Finally, one with interest in this field can continue to

monitor how the Taiwan, China and Vatican relationship changes.

Studying generational differences may reveal more about how the history of

Taiwan’s policies on religion impact practitioners’ perceptions of religion.

An FJCU professor I interviewed as an informant said Protestants are much more

in-tune with geopolitical news and identity issues concerning the Catholic Church than young Catholics are. Scholars I met at the Division 36 conference said the same. This may be due to the greater autonomy within Protestant churches as well as stronger evangelical foci (Bays, 1996). Protestants seem slightly more respected by Taiwan society, according to involved Catholics, which may be because Protestant churches do not have explicit ties to a country whose influence on Taiwan affects sovereignty.

Without a control group of non-Catholic Taiwanese, it is difficult from the survey to conclude whether some findings, such as perceptions of media bias, are results of being Catholic or from being Taiwanese. Nonetheless, I conclude those who are both

Taiwanese and Catholic find the media favoring Catholics.

63

Conclusion

Colonial associations around the Catholic Church in Taiwanese society impact

Taiwanese Catholics, who also perceive society around them feels impacted.

This study contributes to scholarship examining how one’s views of oneself in

terms of religious and national identity relates to one’s trust in the media information about one’s group(s). This study provides more detail on how Taiwanese people view the contentious Vatican decision covered in media to recognize Beijing as a legitimate power. That participants agree with the media coverage may imply a more positive identification in the Church than with national identity. Though the Church nominally made indigenization efforts a priority, it has much to do. The Church in Taiwan has focused on training young people (Wang & Leung, 2018), although some participants feel this training is still inadequate. That said, participants seem to trust foreign media more than local media, even if they find that local media favors the Church. They seem to highly value Taiwanese identity, agree with news stories, and view the Vatican deal as risking Taiwan’s sovereignty. People indicate some relationship between Church and state. With consideration for how postcolonial attitudes may influence people’s views, especially toward media, this study provides a lens on postcolonial theory in action.

Communication studies results from this study suggest that ministers should consider intentionality in their services toward populations that may feel neglected or marginalized by the practitioners. These feelings of neglect or marginalization seem counter to the goals of such ministries. This work widens knowledge on research in non-

U.S. contexts. Furthermore, through the intersection of postcolonialism and media, this

64 study's use of media to explore items usually approached through critical essays allows for deeper discussion of postcolonial effects.

This study also demonstrated updated and reliable traditional Mandarin translations to questionnaire scales about media trust, media consumption, and religious and spirituality. Media trust and media consumption scale revisions amend the European

Social Survey (Newton & Saris, 2003). Regarding religious and spirituality scales, these include the Public Practices and Overall Self-Ranking religious intensity short lists

(Fetzer Institute, 2003).

65

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Appendix A

Spoken introduction to build rapport during fieldwork

“我叫林丹尼，是天主教徒，來自美國。是我第一次來到台灣。在美國，上

海和西安學習簡體中文，但在與台灣輔仁天主教大學的交流中第一次閱讀傳統知識

，了解 天主教的生活方式，因為大多數美國人既不了解天主教問題也不懂台灣文

化，住在吉林路的台北瑪利諾樓，僅在台灣聖誕節三週，因為我正在參加世界青年

日朝聖，學習獎學金，主修 研究北京 - 梵蒂岡關係的新聞專業，將成為蒙古的和

平隊志願者，目前是台灣國際社區服務組織的學生領袖。

“Wǒ jiào líndān ní, shì tiānzhǔjiào tú, láizì měiguó. Shì wǒ dì yī cì lái dào táiwān.

Zài měiguó, shàng huǎ hé xī'ān xuéxí jiǎntǐ zhōngwén, dàn zài yǔ táiwān fǔrén

tiānzhǔjiào dàxué de jiāoliú zhōng dì yī cì yuèdú chuántǒng zhīshì, liǎojiě tiānzhǔjiào de

shēnghuó fāngshì, yīn wéi dà duōshù měiguó rén jì bù liǎojiě tiānzhǔjiào wèntí yě bù

dǒng táiwān wénhuà, zhù zài jílín lù de táiběi mǎ lì nuò lóu, jǐn zài táiwān shèngdàn jié

sān zhōu, yīnwèi wǒ zhèngzài cānjiā shìjiè qīngnián rì cháoshèng, xuéxí jiǎngxuéjīn, zhǔ

xiū yánjiū běijīng - fàndìgāng guānxì de xīnwén zhuānyè, jiāng chéngwéi ménggǔ de

hépíng duì zhìyuàn zhě, mùqián shì táiwān guójì shèqū fúwù zǔzhī de xuéshēng lǐngxiù.

“I’m 林丹尼 Daniel Lang, Catholic, from America, first time in Taiwan, studied

simplified Chinese in America, Shanghai and Xi’an but first time reading traditional, on

an exchange with Fu Jen Catholic University, in Taiwan to learn about Catholic lifestyle

because most Americans understand neither Catholic issues nor Taiwanese culture, living

at the Maryknoll House in Taipei on Jilin Road, only in Taiwan for three weeks from

Christmas because I’m participating in the World Youth Day pilgrimage, studying on

78 scholarships, majoring in journalism, researching the Beijing-Vatican relationship, will be a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mongolia, currently a student leader for an international community service organization in Taiwan, came by myself.”

Explanation. Rearranging these descriptors has sometimes resulted in more defensive conversations, especially if I do not lead with, “I am Catholic.” The vast majority of students at FJCU are not Catholic, so while my association with the institution may help my credibility, it does not always build rapport. I build rapport more effectively when I participate first in worship activities or add I am staying at the

Maryknoll House of Fr. Joy, pilgrimaging to World Youth Day, and singing with my

Reno diocesan and parish choirs.

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Appendix B

During fall 2018 I arranged housing through the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, a U.S. Catholic religious order (cite). I received the housing offer from its superior,

leader, of the organization’s activities in East Asia. I connect with its leader through my

unrelated application and acceptance to its Maryknoll China Teachers Program. When he

answered my questions regarding the Maryknoll program, and I mentioned I intended to

research about the Catholic Church in Taipei, he mentioned the Maryknoll House in

Taipei would have rooms available. Its usual residents go elsewhere during winter break

periods. Maryknoll provided me a food stipend, without my asking, which felt generous.

To use the stipend, I simply had to request a vendor to provide a receipt that includes the

non-profit’s number. When other Taiwan Catholics noticed me use this stipend to pay for

meals, they commented I must have been well-liked to receive this gift.

After orienting myself in Taipei, I met with the FJCU religious studies chair, using the intended survey questions to pilot test the survey protocols. This helped ensure that the survey questions were worded appropriately and would be understood by participants. Upon returning to the U.S., I continued to work with the FJCU religious studies department chair to translate properly. I then revised the question protocol based on the feedback from the pilot interviewees (Willis, 2004). Finally, I launched the survey online, after Lunar New Year, which many potential participants would celebrate. I left the survey open nearly a month to account for students’ busy school schedules. Two weeks into the survey period, I sent reminders using the platforms on which I initially shared the survey.

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Entering parishes. Visits connected me with more contacts and arranged next

events. At the following churches and Catholic centers, I attended Masses (Catholic

religious services) in Chinese and English and participated in youth and young adult

group activities. In Taipei, I attended Immaculate Conception Cathedral (聖母無原罪主

教座堂 Shèngmǔ Wú Yuánzuì Zhǔjiào Zuò Táng), Don Bosco Church (聖若望鮑思高堂

Shèng Ruò Wàng Bàosīgāo Táng), Sacred Family Church (聖家堂 Shèng Jiā Táng),

FJCU’s Immaculate Heart Church (輔大的淨心堂 Jìng Xīn Táng), Guting Sacred Heart

of Jesus Church (古亭耶穌聖心堂 Gǔtíng Yēsū Shèngxīn Táng), Zhonghe Church (中和

天主堂 Zhōnghé Tiānzhǔjiào Táng), and Our Lady of Songshan Church (南松山天主堂

Nán Sōngshān Tiānzhǔtáng) and participated with Don Bosco Church’s youth group, the

Maryknoll Friendship House (教友中心 Jiàoyǒu Zhōngxīn), the Guting youth group, its

chapter of the Jesuit Magis youth group (耶穌會中華省 MAG+S Yēsūhuì Zhōnghuá

Shěng Magis), and its chapter of University Chinese Catholic Students Association

(UCCSA, 中國天主教大專同學會 Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Dàzhuān Tóngxué Huì),

FJCU’s chapter of Communion and Liberation (共融與釋放 Gòngróng yǔ Shìfàng), Our

Lady of Songshan’s chapter of Tabor Youth Group (大博爾青年團 Dàbóěr Qīngnián

Tuán), and Sacred Family’s young adult group. In Taichung, I attended and participated with Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (瓜達露貝聖母堂 Guādálùbèi Shèngmǔ Táng) and

Taiwan’s highest level and local levels of UCCSA. In Tainan, I attended and participated with the Tainan Diocese Catholic Youth Center (天主教臺南教區青年中心 Tiānzhǔjiào

Táinán Jiàoqū Qīngnián Zhōngxīn).

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Travels. I arrived on Wednesday, December 26, 2018.

The East Asia Maryknoll Superior picked me up from the airport and described multiple Catholic Orders to me during our cab ride to the Maryknoll House.

The Taiwan Maryknoll Superior connected me with people in Taichung.

The housemaid gave me a metrocard, and food stipend. Mentioning to Taiwan

Catholics this housing and food stipend through Maryknoll seemed to raise my credibility.

Contacts through my Kiwanis Circle K International (CKI) organization connected me with a spiritually interested alumnus ethnically Taiwanese although from

Canada. He showed me around Taipei. Through ethnographic interviews, he explained perceptions of media bias regarding identity politics and said news in the West exaggerates Chinese stories, such as Western news media’s stories covering China’s social credit system.

My second week, I attended three Church services, at Immaculate Conception

Cathedral, Don Bosco Church and Sacred Family Church.

I received an invitation to visit the Maryknoll Friendship House on New Year’s

Eve, from a young person I met after Mass at the Sacred Family Church. I received an invitation to return to Immaculate Conception Cathedral on New Year’s Day to participate in its Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Mass, from its secretary the priest introduced me to after Mass.

I visited on New Year’s Eve Catholic young adults at the Friendship House.

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I returned to Immaculate Conception Cathedral for its feast day Mass of the

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, followed by a lunch where I met the

diocesan secretariat and received new groups to contact.

I met with the religious studies department chair and conducted my first informant

interview with him at FJCU. He also introduced me to students, faculty, and faculty in the

religious studies department.

I met at the Guting Sacred Heart of Jesus Church with a local chapter of the

Catholic UCCSA, 中國天主教大專同學會 Zhōngguó Tiānzhǔjiào Dàzhuān Tóngxué

Huì). We saw a documentary film (“PLASTIC CHINA”) and discussed our reflections,

which I learned is common. This group had a Catholic religious sister as its advisor.

I returned to FJCU and participated with the student fellowship group

Communion and Liberation (共融與釋放 Gòngróng yǔ Shìfàng) led by Italian Catholic

missionaries, featuring trilingual singing in Italian, Chinese, and English, then dinner.

I left Taipei to visit the cities Taichung toward the middle of Taiwan and Tainan toward the south.

I traveled as an opportunity to widen my participant pool beyond Taipei, which tends to identify more with China. Going outside the city would diversify my collection of Catholic youths’ perspectives. I received this invitation from the Maryknoll Taiwan superior, who frequents Taichung to perform religious work. He connected me with the advisor of the UCCSA, who invited me to participate in its weekend leaders meeting. The advisor also invited me to visit Tainan to participate with its large youth group at the

Tainan Diocese Catholic Youth Center. A French missionary priest led its youth center

and would bring a delegation to the Catholic pilgrimage I too would attend in Panamá

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2019, World Youth Day (WYD, Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, JMJ). The youth group

performed an activity before Adoration, a type of group reflective prayer.

I participated in the UCCSA student leaders’ national and regional meetings after

celebrating Mass in Chinese at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church (瓜達露貝聖母堂

Guādálùbèi Shèngmǔ Táng). These meetings included advisors and the student president,

vice president, and secretariat of UCCSA.

During lunch, I had an ethnographic interview with the UCCSA secretariat,

concerning perceptions of media bias.

My final week, I returned to FJCU to revise my survey with the religious studies department chair and seek advice on my literature search.

I visited the National Taiwan Museum to better understand pro-Taiwan perspectives.

I visited the Maryknoll Friendship House to conduct an informant interview with its head as well as participate in the young adult center’s planning committee meeting.

I returned to FJCU to conduct my final informant interview with the department of religious studies chair, discussing how to identify political biases through Taiwan’s dioceses, parishes, and foreign missionary orders. He described, for example, how

Taipei’s largest church, which is Jesuit-run, proudly displays the Taiwan flag, a symbol of the GMD, across from the Vatican’s flag. He also elaborated on ramifications of foreign missionaries abandoning Taiwan if China opened to missionaries.

I participated with UCCSA students at a graduation ceremony.

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I discussed with an English priest visiting the Maryknoll House his perspective on

the unlikelihood of Beijing opening China for Catholic Church, from his conversations in

Beijing with its Catholic priests.

A Catholic student information took me to see FJCU’s important sites while another student, not-yet-in-formation, asked based on my Catholic perspective my views on surrogacy.

I concluded the evening with a final supper among the Communion and

Liberation student group.

I visited Don Bosco Church for an Adoration activity before participating at Our

Lady of Songshan Church in an overnight vigil with the Tabor Youth Group (大博爾青

年團 Dàbóěr Qīngnián Tuán).

I visited the World Religions Museum and discussed GMD’s martial law period

with an older Taiwan woman.

I attended a Chinese Mass at Holy Family Church then participated in its group

for working young adults.

I returned to the Guting Sacred Heart of Jesus Church and participated in its high

school student group MAGIs (耶穌會中華省 MAG+S, Yēsūhuì Zhōnghuá Shěng

MAGIs).

I visited Our Lady of Songshan Church for a Tabor student meet-up and traveled

with a Catholic student to see Longshan Temple (龙山寺, Lóngshān Sì). I spent my final

day in the National Palace Museum to better understand pro-China perspectives.

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Appendix C

Survey invitation letter, shared on social media

大家好！！

我很高興與大家分享這項問卷，以了解更多有關台灣青年天主教的想法！請花一點 時間填寫此問卷，並與盡可能多的教友分享（即使只有一個人）。 https://unr.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_54KFGZMKpO6JMoZ

這項問卷適用於年輕人，大學生和高中生。花填寫問卷的人不需要是教友，儘管他 們應該對天主教感興趣和需要住在台灣。

我第一次在台灣見到您和在世界青年日朝聖之後，我非常興奮地再次交流！雖然我 沒有辦法見所有人，如果您分享這個調查，更多的人可以遇到它。從這個問卷的結 果我希望幫助不講中文的美國了解關於全球上的青年天主教徒的生活，特別是在台 灣。

非常感謝您的幫助！！

Hello everyone!!

I am very happy to share this questionnaire with you to learn more about the idea of Taiwanese Catholic Youth! Please take a moment to fill out this questionnaire and share it with as many friends as possible (even if there is only one person). https://unr.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_54KFGZMKpO6JMoZ

This questionnaire is for young people, college students and high school students. Those who fill out the questionnaire do not need to be church members, although they should be interested in Catholicism and need to live in Taiwan.

After I first saw you in Taiwan and after the World Youth Day pilgrimage, I was very excited to communicate again! Although I have no way to see everyone, if you share this survey, more people can come across it. From the results of this questionnaire, I hope to help the non-Chinese speaking Americans learn about the lives of young Catholics around the world, especially in Taiwan.

Thank you for your help!!

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Appendix D

調查（有英文版） Questionnaire (with English version)

Qualtrics Preview: https://unr.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/preview/SV_54KFGZMKpO6JMoZ?Q_SurveyVersionI D=current&Q_CHL=preview

台灣天主教徒青年的生活與看法問卷 The Lives and Perspectives of Young Taiwan Catholics

______本研究

以下調查涉及您對天主教會的看法。 請盡最大努力回答問題。 您的答案是完全保密的。 此調查大約需要10分鐘才能完 成。 您參與此項研究完全是自願的，可以隨時改變主意並關閉瀏覽器。 您想繼續 嗎？

如果您對本研究有任何問題、疑慮或投訴，可致電內華達大學里諾研究誠信辦公室 775.327.2368報告（如果您願意，可匿名提交）。 您也可以致電775.327.2368聯繫 里諾內華達大學的辦公室，該大學負責監督人類研究。

（通過完成此調查，您記錄同意參加本研究）。 是 否

The following survey addresses what you think about the Catholic Church. Please answer the questions to the best of your ability. Your answers are completely confidential. This survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary, and you may change your mind and close your browser at any point. Would you like to continue?

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this study, you can call the 775.327.2368 report from the University of Nevada Reno Research Integrity Office (submitted anonymously if you wish). You can also contact the office of Reno Nevada at 775.327.2368, which oversees human research.

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(By completing this survey, you are documenting your consent to participate in this study). Yes No

[Condition: 否 Is Selected. Skip To: End of Survey.]

______介紹: 請回答以下問題。 Please answer the following questions.

SCreening Questions

[SC] 您與天主教信仰的關係是什麼？

● 教友 ● 不是教友，但對天主教感興趣 ● 不是教友，也對天主教不感興趣

What is your relationship to the Catholic faith?

● Church member ● Interested in the faith, but not a church member ● Not interested in the faith, and not a church member

[Condition: 不是教友，也對天主教不感興趣 Is Selected. Skip To: End of Survey.]

[SC] 您幾歲？

● 未滿12歲 ● 12-17歲 ● 18-24歲 ● 25-34歲 ● 35歲或以上

How old are you?

● Under 12 years old ● 12-17 years old ● 18-24 years old ● 25-34 years old ● 35 years or older

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[Condition: 未滿12歲 Is Selected. Skip To: End of Survey.]

第二部分：在您最認同的框中打勾。 Part II: Please tick the box you most agree with. PostColonial

If a participant responds in strong agreement to a statement, then their response is: +positive toward outside -pro native culture more ~uncertain

同意/不同意 Agree/Disagree 4. 非常同意 strongly agree 3. 同意 agree 2. 不同意 disagree 1. 非常不同意 strongly disagree

[PostCoPRO_1] 信仰天主教讓我感覺很現代。 Practicing Catholicism makes me feel modern.

[PostCoPRO_2] 一個信仰天主教教義的人是具知性的。 A person who practices Catholicism is usually intelligent.

[PostCoPRO_3] 一個信仰天主教教義的人是經濟富裕的。 A person who practices Catholicism is usually financially well-off.

[PostCoPRO_4] 作為台灣公民，我能信仰自己所選擇的宗教。 As a citizen of Taiwan, I should be able to practice whichever religion I choose.

[PostCoPRO_5] 天主教的存在是促成台灣今日的繁榮發展得以成功的關鍵因素之一 。 The presence of Catholicism is one of the most crucial factors which has contributed to the success of Taiwan's development today.

[PC_6] 相較於本地新聞，我更信任國外新聞。 I trust foreign news more than local news.

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以下問題詢問您對台灣和世界的態度。請從以下選項中選擇最能表達您想法的選項 。 The following questions ask about your attitudes toward Taiwan and the world.

[PostCoNO_1] 在台灣，最好有非外籍人士的本地神職人員和宗教信徒。 In Taiwan, it is better to have priests and ordained members leaders who are locals, not foreigners.

[PostCoNO_2] 身為台灣人，我應該信仰發源於亞洲的宗教。 As a person living in Taiwan, I should practice religions native to Asia.

[PostCoNO_3] 一個信仰亞洲本土宗教活動的人是受過教育的。 A person who practices religions native to Asia is usually educated.

[PC-4] 台灣是亞洲的一部分。 Taiwan is part of Asia.

[PostCoNO_5] 一個信仰亞洲本土宗教的人是經濟富裕的。 A person who practices religions native to Asia is usually financially well-off.

[PostCoNO_6] 民間宗教是最能代表台灣人民的信仰。 Traditional religious practices are the faiths which best represent people of Taiwan.

[SPIRITUAL_0] 我努力地將我的宗教信仰帶到生活中的所有其他交流中。 I try hard to carry my religious beliefs over into all my other dealings in life.

[PC~] 在2018年北京梵蒂岡臨時協議之後，天主教在台灣的重要性不那麼重要了。 Catholicism is less important in Taiwan after the Beijing-Vatican provisional agreement of 2018.

[PC~] 天主教在大中華地區的地位比台灣與中華人民共和國的關係更為重要。 The status of Catholicism in Greater China is more important than Taiwan’s relationship with the PRC.

[SPIRITUAL_9] 我並不覺得在信仰天主教和祖先祭拜存在著衝突。 I don't think there is a conflict between practicing the Catholic faith and the traditional Chinese religious worship.

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第三部分：在您最認同的框中打勾。 Part III: Please tick the box you most agree with. Comparative religions, to evaluate whether Taiwan Catholics’ views toward Catholicism vary from more native, Eastern faiths.

[PostCoRELIG_1] 我喜歡以下宗教的信仰者。 I like the followers of the following religions.

宗教 非常同意 同意 不同意 非常不同意 Religion Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

天主教 Catholicism

基督教（新教） Protestantism

佛教 Buddhism

道教 Daoism

民間宗教 Folk Religion

其他 Other

[PostCoRELIG_2] 台灣社會的人們傾向於高度重視這些宗教的信仰者。 People in Taiwan society tend to highly regard highly regard followers of these religions.

宗教 非常同意 同意 不同意 非常不同意 Religion Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

天主教 Catholicism

基督教（新教） Protestantism

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佛教 Buddhism

道教 Daoism

民間宗教 Folk Religion

其他 Other

[PostCoRELIG_3] 如果我不是天主教徒，我可能會信仰以下宗教。 If I wasn’t Catholic, I might practice the following religions.

宗教 非常同意 同意 不同意 非常不同意 Religion Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

天主教 Catholicism

基督教（新教） Protestantism

佛教 Buddhism

道教 Daoism

民間宗教 Folk Religion

其他 Other

Part IV: MEDIA. MEdia

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問題重要性 請以1到4的等級表示您的答案，其中1表示完全不 重要，4表示對你非常重要。

Issue Importance Please indicate your answer on a scale from 1 to 4, where 1 means that it is not important at all and 4 means that it is very important to you.

[MEDIAISSUES_1] 一般來說，對天主教會有什麼重要的問題 In general, issues concerning the Catholic Church

[MEDIAISSUES_2] 天主教會對台灣政治的影響 Catholic Church’s impact on Taiwanese politics

[MEDIAISSUES_3] 北京與梵蒂岡的關係 Beijing-Vatican Relationship

[MEDIAISSUES_4] 投身教會的年輕人 Young people being involved in the Church

[MEDIAISSUES_5] 教會和環境保護 Church and environmental protection

[MEDIAISSUES_6] 教會中的性虐待 Stories of sexual abuse in the Church

對媒體的批評 Criticisms of Media

（現在，除了您經常將它們用作新聞來源之外，我們還想知道您是否可以信 任從下列每個新聞來源所獲得的新聞和信息之準確性。） (Now, apart from how FREQUENTLY you use them as sources of news, we'd like to know whether or not you can trust the accuracy of the news and information you get from each of the following news sources. )

在1到4的範圍內，其中1表示非常小的程度，4表示大的程度對於台灣新聞媒 體，你認為... On a scale from 1 to 4, where 1 means to a very small degree and 4 means to a large degree, do you think that regarding Taiwan news media. . .

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[ME] 關於新聞中提供的天主教報導的所有重要信息？ all the important information regarding the topic of Catholic stories is provided in the news?

[ME] 關於天主教會的新聞報導包括了不同的觀點？ the news coverage about the Catholic Church includes different points of view?

對覆蓋範圍的看法 現在，我們希望您評估是否媒體對於天主教會有偏見、或是嚴格保持中立，或是偏 向天主教會。請以左邊到右邊的等級表示您的意見，其中左邊=偏愛天主教會，中 間=嚴格中立，右邊=反對天主教會：

Perceptions of Coverage Now we want you to assess whether the media in your opinion are biased against the Catholic Church, strictly neutral, or biased in favor of the Catholic Church. Please indicate your opinion on a scale from left to right, where left = biased against the Catholic Church, via middle = strictly neutral toward the Catholic Church, to right = biased in favor of the Catholic Church on the issue:

[ME] 一般而言，有關天主教會的議題 In general, issues concerning the Catholic Church

左邊 = 偏愛天主教會 中間 = 嚴格中立 右邊 = 反對天主教會

Media Perception/Trust 媒体问题 A lot (1) to Not at all (4)

[ME] 一般來說，您對以下來源信息的信任度為？ In general, how much would you trust information from the following sources?

● 新聞，印刷版和網路版 ● 電視

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● 廣播電台 ● 雜誌 ● 社交媒體 ● 手機程式 ● 教會彌撒 ● 教會的其他活動

● News, in print and online ● TV ● Radio ● Magazines ● Social media ● Phone apps ● Masses at Church ● Other activities at Church

V. Media consumption habits.

[ID] 您在通常的一週裡花小時多少觀看或聽過...？

注意：例如，如果您花費30分鐘，請寫上“0.5”。

● 新聞，印刷版和網路版 ● 電視 ● 廣播電台 ● 雜誌 ● 社交媒體 ● 手機程式 ● 教會彌撒 ● 教會的其他活動 ● 其他來源

How many hours have you watched or listened to on a typical week the following...?

Note: e.g., If you spend 30 minutes, please write "0.5."

● News, in print and online ● TV ● Radio

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● Magazines ● Social Media ● Phone apps ● Masses at Church ● Other activities at Church ● Other sources

[Display This Question: If 您在家裡說什麼語言/方言？ 其他來源 Is Selected]

[ID] 如果選擇其他，請說明: ______

If you choose other please specify: ______

[ME] 您在通常的一週裡觀看或聽過有關天主教會的新聞，包括信仰方面、政策和 其相關機構？ How many hours have you watched or listened to on a typical week news about the Catholic Church, including the religious faith, its policies and its institutions?

● 新聞，印刷版和網路版 ● 電視 ● 廣播電台 ● 雜誌 ● 社交媒體 ● 手機程式 ● 教會彌撒 ● 教會的其他活動 ● 其他來源

● News, in print and online ● TV ● Radio ● Magazines ● Social Media ● Phone apps ● Masses at Church ● Other activities at Church ● Other sources

[Display This Question: If 您在家裡說什麼語言/方言？ 其他來源 Is Selected]

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[ID] 如果選擇其他，請說明: ______

If you choose other please specify: ______

SPiritual Depth

[SPIRITUALpub_1] 您多久參加一次彌撒？

● 從不參加 ● 一年不到一次 ● 一年大約一次或兩次 ● 一年數次 ● 約一個月一次 ● 一個月二到三次 ● 約每週一次 ● 每週 ● 一週數次

[SPIRITUALpub_1] How often do you attend Mass?

● Never ● Less than once a year ● About once or twice a year ● Several times a year ● About once a month ● 2-3 times a month ● Nearly every week ● Every week ● Several times a week

[SPIRITUALpub_2] 除彌撒外，您多久參加一個禮拜場所的其他活動？

● 從不參與 ● 一年蒲到一次 ● 一年約一次或兩次 ● 一年數次 ● 約一個月一次 ● 一個月二到三次 ● 約每週一次 ● 每週 ● 一週次

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[SPIRITUALpub_2] Besides Mass, how often do you take part in other activities at a place of worship?

● Never ● Less than once a year ● About once or twice a year ● Several times a year ● About once a month ● 2-3 times a month ● Nearly every week ● Every week ● Several times a week

[SPIRITUALpri_1] 您多常在教堂以外的地方私下禱告？ ● 一天數次 ● 一天一次 ● 一週次 ● 每週一次 ● 一個月數次 ● 每月一次 ● 每月不到一次 ● 從來沒有

How often do you pray privately in places other than at church? ● Several times a day ● Once a day ● A few times a week ● Once a week ● A few times a month ● Once a month ● Less than once a month ● Never

[SPIRITUALselfID_1] 您認為自己在多大程度上是一個宗教人士？ ● 非常具宗教信仰 ● 中等宗教信仰 ● 略有宗教信仰 ● 完全沒有宗教信仰

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To what extent do you consider yourself a religious person? ● Very religious ● Moderately religious ● Slightly religious ● Not religious at all

[SPIRITUALselfID_2] 您認為自己在多大程度上是一個屬靈的人？ ● 非常屬靈 ● 中度屬靈 ● 有點屬靈 ● 根本不屬靈

To what extent do you consider yourself a spiritual person? ● Very spiritual ● Moderately spiritual ● Slightly spiritual ● Not spiritual at all

第一部分：個人資訊 Part I: Personal Information

[org] 在這些組織中，如果適合，請選擇您自己現在或曾經參與的所有組織。

● 大專同學會 ● 耶穌會中華省MAG+S ● 大博爾青年團 ● 共融與釋放 ● 基督生活團 ● 聖母軍 ● 台北教友中心 ● 教區事工 ● 其他 _____ ● 沒有

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Of these organizations, please select all that you are or were a member of, if applicable.

● University Chinese Catholic Students Association (UCCSA) ● Jesuit MAGIs ● Tabor Youth Group ● Communion and Liberation ● Legion of Mary ● Christian Life Community (CLC) ● Taipei Friendship House ● Parish ministries ● Other _____ ● None

[Display This Question: If 在這些組織中，如果適用，請選擇您自己或所屬的所有 組織。 其他 Is Selected]

[org_leader] 在這些組織中，您目前或當時是否擁有領導職位？

● 是 ● 否

Do you have leadership positions in any of these organizations?

● Yes ● No

[DIOCESE] 您最常參與哪個教區？

● 台北總教區 ● 高雄教區 ● 台中教區 ● 嘉義教區 ● 花蓮教區 ● 新竹教區 ● 台南教區 ● 金馬

Which diocese do you participate most in?

● Archdiocese of Taipei ● Diocese of Kaohsiung ● Diocese of Taichung ● Diocese of Kiayi

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● Diocese of Hwalien ● Diocese of Hsinchu ● Diocese of Tainan ● Kinma Apostolic Administration

[Display This Question: If 台北大主教管區 Is Selected]

[DIOCESE_TAIPEI] 如果選擇台北總教區，您最常參與哪個堂區？（如果選擇“其 他”，請具體說明。）

● 聖家堂 ● 古亭耶穌聖心堂 ● 聖母無原罪主教座堂 ● 中和天主堂 ● 聖若望鮑思高堂 ● 南松山天主堂 ● 輔大（淨心堂） ● 其他

If you choose the Archdiocese of Taipei please specify: ______

● Holy Family Church ● Guting Sacred Heart of Jesus Church ● Immaculate Conception Cathedral ● Zhonghe Church ● Don Bosco Church ● Our Lady of Songshan Church ● Fu Da ● Other

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第一部分：個人資訊 Part I: Personal Information IDentity

[ID] 您如何描述自身的文化身份？請根據您的識別方式分配這10個積分。 例如， 如果你認定為“只有台灣人”，你會在“台語”中寫10，在所有其他部分寫0。（選擇 所有適用的選項。如果選擇“原住民”或“其他”，請具體說明。）

● 台灣人 ● 中國人 ● 客家人 ● 原住民 _____ ● 其他 _____

How do you describe your cultural identity? Please distribute these 10 points according to how you identify. For example, if you identify as "only Taiwanese," you would write 10 in "Taiwanese" and 0 in all other sections. (Select all that apply. Please write specifically if you select “Aboriginal” or “Other.”) ● Taiwanese ● Chinese ● Hakka ● Aboriginal _____ ● Other _____

[ID] 您在家裡說什麼語言/方言？

● 台灣話 ● 國話 ● 客家話 ● 原住民語 _____ ● 其他語言 _____

What language/dialect do you speak at home?

● Taiwanese ● Mandarin ● Hakka ● Aboriginal language _____ ● Other _____

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[ID] 哪最能描述您？

● 高中生 ● 本科大學生 ● 研究生學生 ● 工作或輟學

Which best describes you?

● High school student ● Undergraduate student ● Graduate student ● Working or outside school

[ID] 您的性別認同？（如果選擇“原住民”或“其他”，請具體說明。）

● 男性 ● 女性 ● 其他 _____

Which gender do you identify with?

● Male ● Female ● Other _____

其他？ 最後，要是您還有其他關於台灣天主教徒的想法可以寫在這裡。（本問卷將於下一 個問題後結束。）

Anything else? Finally, if you have other thoughts about Taiwanese Catholics you can write here. (This questionnaire will end after the next question.)

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完成問卷！ 非常感謝您花費時間參與項重要研究。 身為年輕天主教徒，我們的信仰是至關重 要的！請幫助年輕的天主教徒讓世界了解我們的想法，因此請花一點時間與您的朋 友分享這項調查。 希望於三月二十四日前收到所有回覆。 願耶穌降福您！

Completed the questionnaire! Thank you very much for taking the time to participate in the important research. As a young Catholic, our faith is vital! Please help young Catholics let the world know what we think, so please take a moment to share this survey with your friends. I hope to receive all replies before March 24. May Jesus bless you!

__ S: 非常感謝您！請分享這項調查。

非常感謝您花費時間參與項重要研究。 身為年輕天主教徒，我們的信仰是 至關重要的！請幫助年輕的天主教徒讓世界了解我們的想法，因此請花一點 時間與您的朋友分享這項調查。

Link:

願耶穌降福您！ 林丹尼

S: Thank you very much! Please share this survey.

Thank you very much for taking the time to participate in the important research. As a young Catholic, our faith is vital! Please help young Catholics let the world know what we think, so please take a moment to share this survey with your friends.

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Appendix E

This appendix contains raw data from qualitative responses on the survey, to answer the question, translated as, “Anything else? [line break] “Finally, if you have

other thoughts about Taiwanese Catholics you can write here. (This questionnaire will

end after the next question.),” from “其他？[line break] “最後，要是您還有其他關於

台灣天主教徒的想法可以寫在這裡。（本問卷將於下一個問題後結束。）.”

Apologise for me using English to reply to this comment. Overall, I think Catholic organisations in Taiwan doesn't spend enough time to attach and honour Taiwanese culture. All they care about is how to be the representative of "Chinese Catholic". Personally, it is against my ideology, but the most important thing is, they really don't care about Taiwanese culture but only care about the Chinese culture they brought to Taiwan after World War 2. I wish Taiwanese Catholics can do something for this.

普遍內向 不太擅長迎接在教會團體新出現的人 更不會主動與身旁的人談到信仰積 極面

慕道班方式應該可以更具靈性與活潑性

台灣的天主教教友，有很多在教理上有嚴重的知識不足，對聖經也不夠看重，但很 多教友們卻不重視，以為參加彌撒就好了，這是很嚴重的問題。教友們，特別是老 教友，非常需要再慕道。

臺灣的天主教會還在發展中，如同人生中的少年時期，在天主的照顧下成長

宗教選項其實可以再多元，或提供其他選項描述。雖然我選了佛教，但其實不信仰 天主的話，我也有可能選擇伊斯蘭的。

天主教需要更多對女性的尊重

天主教需要更有趣的傳教方式來吸引青年

台灣天主教會，特別是在青年方面，很明顯的一個問題在於：天主教學校跟信仰幾 乎全然脫鉤。小學到高三，明明是思辨能力、知識基礎、心靈渴望都在不斷擴大茁 壯的時候，我們的私立天主教學校卻沒有權利（藉著所謂「政教分離原則」，無視 於全球幾乎沒有任何民主國家同此做法）教給學生完整、全面、深入的教理和靈修

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知識，導致一個青年教友到了大學，面對心理學、社會學、哲學中許多的謬誤而不 知道如何理性面對和反駁，因為其對信仰的知識還停留在小朋友的主日學。那麼他 當然覺得教會無聊、幼稚、不可理解地保守與腐朽。天主教會的教育權如果不能全 面奪回，就只能靠堂區和教區組織補充，但卻又缺乏專業能力，父母也仍以學校為 重，升學主義至上，怎麼能做好真正扎實的培育呢？

聖母瑪麗亞崇拜是不是偶像崇拜

太被動、保守、不太能走出自己的小圈圈

共融、基督信仰的內化與堅固不足

需要做更多青年福傳

Coded according to these qualities:

Disconnected from Taiwanese Inadequate education Hopeful Survey critique

Generally introverted, not very good at meeting new people in church groups, not even taking the initiative to talk to people around them about positive beliefs.

The way of the way should be more spiritual and lively

There are many Catholics in Taiwan who seriously lack of knowledge of the teachings, do not value the Bible nor pay attention to it, and just think participation in the Mass is enough, which is a serious problem. The members of the church, especially old church members, need to review Catholic teachings.

The Catholic Church in Taiwan is still developing, like a boy in life, growing up under the care of God.

Religious options can be diversified or provided with other option descriptions. Although I chose Buddhism, I don't believe in God. I may choose Islam.

Catholicism needs more respect for women

Catholicism needs more interesting ways of teaching to attract young people

One of the obvious problems in the Catholic Church in Taiwan, especially regarding youth, is that Catholic schools are almost completely decoupled from their beliefs. From

106 elementary school to high school, it is clear that our thinking ability, knowledge base, and spiritual desire are constantly expanding, yet our private Catholic schools have no rights (by the so-called "separation of Church and state", ignoring the fact that almost no democracy in the world does this fully) to teach students complete, comprehensive and in-depth teaching and spiritual knowledge, leading to when a young church member arrives at a university, facing many fallacies in psychology, sociology, philosophy, does not know how to rationally face and refute, because knowledge of faith still stays in the children's Sunday school. Then he certainly feels that the church is boring, naive, incomprehensible and corrupt. If the Catholic Church’s right to educate cannot be fully regained, it can only be supplemented by parishes and dioceses, lacking professional competence, whereas parents still take school as most important and supreme, so how can we cultivate solid foundations?

Virgin Mary worship is not idolatry

Too passive, conservative, not able to get out of their own small circle

Communion, internalization and staleness of Christian faith

Need to do more youth evangelization