Introduction
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INTROdUCTION 1. In the footstep of Ecclesia in Asia Saint John Paul ii in the paragraph 9 of his post-synodal Exhortation Eccle - sia in Asia gave us a short synthesis of the history of the Church in the conti - nent under the title “the Church in Asia: past and present”. With this hand - book of Asian Church History we intend to offer students and readers a suit - able development of the essential data and intuitions we find in the post-syn - odal document. our purpose is principally academic. Hopefully, it should be a tool for teachers and students, but we do not exclude other possible readers, or consulters for a specific event or chapter of this rich and long history. in fact, as we know from history and experienced when we were there, the Christian presence in some parts of Africa and America is much more recent. instead, Asia is really the cradle of Christianity and the origins of many Asian communities are apostolic. We think especially of Middle East Churches and St. thomas’ Christians (india). Knowing that the majority of Asian students are non-native English speak - ers, we have tried to write our manual in a very simple language in order to facilitate its comprehension and use. Among our limitations we point to the lacking development of Protestant Missions that appear so abundant since the 19 th century, and deserve an ac - curate attention in the present moment of evangelization. instead we pre - sented the different oriental Churches with the ecumenical purpose of spreading their knowledge among Catholic public, and foster increased col - laboration. Some other limitations concern the geographical and historical points of view. Since the Asian continent is so vast, we could not embrace all the countries, and since last developments in some Asian countries are very re - cent, we have been forced to disregard the present situation of the Middle East – iran, israel, Saudi Arabia, turkey, united Arab Emirates, iraq, Lebanon, qatar, Yemen, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, oman, tunisia and Cyprus – . in fact, after the end of the ottoman Empire – 1918 – and the subsequent Western Protectorates, since the full independence of these countries there is a situa - tion of great instability and frequent wars. Let us, for example, consider the end of the regime of the Sha Reza Pahlavi in iran, and the beginning of an is - lamic theocratic state, with ayatollah Khomeini, seed of radical islamization 8 Introduction in the region. Similarly the two wars of the Gulf and the end of the regime of Saddam Hussein in iraq – 1991 and 2003 –, the civil war in Syria, since 2011, the creation of the islamic State in Syria and iraq (iSiS) – declaration in 2014 – and the recent coup d’état in turkey. All these recent events entice persecu - tion against the very old Christian minorities of different Churches in these countries. Benedict XVi had the initiative to celebrate a special Synod for the Church in Middle East in 2012. in this sense, our handbook is still an invita - tion to read complementary essays and productions, to follow the evolution of the Christianity in Asia. the consultation of Bibliographia Missionaria (annually published by urbaniana university Press) could complete the deficiencies of our information. We tried to enrich the chapters with some selected texts at the end of the volume in order to facilitate the direct contact with the sources. this aspect could give an enhancement to students’ understanding. the abundant maps are also a precious tool for the study of this rich history. therefore, following for the most part the description of John Paul ii in Ecclesia in Asia , we divided our matter in the following chapters: 1. the Patristic and Byzantine Period: oriental Churches 2. Muslim Period: islam expansion and Christianity 3. Mongol Period: the Church in China 4. Discovering Period – new Asian Routes: Portugal and Spain Patronage, Salient Missionaries, Japan, Philippines, Propaganda Fide , Vietnam and Chinese Rites Controversy 5. Western Empires Period: netherlands, England and france; new Mission - aries in Asia; the Holy See and the Churches in Asia 6. Asian Churches after ii World War and Vatican ii: End of colonialism and the action of the Holy See until John Paul ii. We can conclude this brief introduction with the words of John Paul ii in Ecclesia in Asia (n. 9): A survey of the Catholic communities in Asia shows a splendid variety by reason of their origin and historical development, and the diverse spiritual and liturgical traditions of the various Rites. Yet all are united in proclaiming the Good news of Jesus Christ, through Christian witness, works of charity and human solidarity. While some particular Churches carry out their mission in peace and freedom, others find themselves in situations of violence and conflict, or feel threatened by other groups, for religious or other reasons. in the vastly diversified cultural world of Asia, the Church faces multiple philosophical, theological and pastoral challenges. Her task is made more difficult by the fact of her being a minority, with the only exception the Philippines, where Catholics are in the majority. Introduction 9 2. Principles the Church in its Mystery – universal sacrament of salvation – is together and inseparably the Mystical Body of Christ and the Visible Society structured with hierarchical organs. We can approach its inexhaustible richness in its theological essence but also in its historical development, to deepen our comprehension of the saving presence of the Paschal Mystery in the world. therefore, the History of the Church on the one hand is the phenomeno - logical approach of persons, events, situations, struggles and suffering, expan - sion and victories of the People of God in its pilgrimage, but on the other hand it is the theological contemplation of the deep and amazing ways of the Divine Province to gather up all things in Christ (Ep 1: 10). We intend to apply this global vision to the vast continent of Asia, where «God revealed and fulfilled his saving purpose from the beginning» 1, to realize in a concrete manner the path of the Spirit of Christ, and the stumbling but perseverant and often heroic human answer in the past, and to take a new awareness of the present mission to face a future of hope and peace for the coming Kingdom of God. 3. Motivations intELLECtuAL: it should be impossible to understand the present reality of the Asian Church without knowing the historical roots of every ecclesiastical situation in its unlimited variety. SPiRituAL: it is a duty to live the Communion of Saints in a concrete man - ner, with a heartily thanksgiving and a full acknowledgement of the past Chris - tian generations that entrust to us the treasure of the faith, since without them we had never existed as Christians. PAStoRAL: this historical consciousness of our Christian heritage will help us to understand the present trends of our Christian communities and to choose in preaching, celebrating and leading, the pastoral ways that can help persons and societies, avoiding the possible errors or lacks we discov - ered in the past, and grasping the importance of being careful to conserve the ecclesiastical data for the future historians, for ourselves and our Local Churches. 1John Paul II , Post-Synodal apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia , n. 1. 10 Introduction 4. Objectives At the end of this course the student will be able to: i. Handle the sources of the Asian Church History; ii. Master the knowledge of the great periods of the Christianity in Asia with their essential events, in the framework of the world History; iii. Analyze the historical documents in their context and content; iV. understand the present situation of Christianity in the main regions of the continent for wished “new evangelization”. I-VI VII-XII XIII – XIV XV-XVII XVII-XX XX Patristic Muslim Mongol Portuguese Dutch i-ii World Wars, Apostles Jacobites in franciscans in franciscans and Calvinists in Sri independences Jerusalem Damascus Beijing Jesuits in Goa, Lanka, Malacca Vatican II Antioch of Syria nestorians in Cochin, and indonesia Constantinople Baghdad and in Turkish Malacca, China Palestine Macau, British Byzantine Latin in Moluccas and Anglicans and West: Palestine: funay Protestants in Jacobites Crusades india-Pakistan, East: Spanish Sri Lanka, nestorians oSA, oP, ofM Myanmar, india: and SJ Singapore, Syro-Malabar Philippines Hong Kong Byzantine Empire: Propaganda Catholic new orthodox MEP: india Missionary Vietnam Congregations: French MEP and CM in india, indochina, China and Japan German SVD in China, new Guinea, US Philippines , Maryknoll in China and the Philippines Introduction 11 Essential timeline 1 I CENTURY 30 Paschal Mystery and Pentecost in Jerusalem 36-37 Martyrdom of Stephen 37-40 Christianity in Antioch of Syria 44 Martyrdom of James the Great 48-49 Council of Jerusalem 52 Arrival of St. thomas, Apostle in india 62 Martyrdom of James the Less 66 Christians flight to Pella 70 Destruction of Jerusalem Jewish Synod of Jamnia 72 † St. thomas, Apostle, tomb at Maylapore (Chenai, india) II CENTURY 110 Martyrdom of ignatius of Antioch 165 Martyrdom of Justin, apologist III CENTURY 202 † irenaeus of Lyons, disciple of John apostle in Smyrna Persecution of Septimius Severus: flight of Clement from Alexandria origen teacher in Alexandria 231-232 origen in Caesarea in Palestine – new school IV CENTURY 313 Edict of Milan: peace for the Church 325 Council of nicaea i: divinity of the Son 332 † Gregory the illuminator, apostle of Armenia 345 thomas of Cana from Edessa to Cranganore (india) 373 † Ephrem of Edessa, doctor of the Church, deacon 387 † Cyril of Jerusalem V CENTURY 441 † John Patriarch of Antioch, author of “formula unionis” 451 Council of Chalcedon: Christological and jurisdictional issues 486 Synod of Seleucia-Ctesiphon accepting nestorianism 1 The present timeline covers only major events in the history of Eastern Christianity referred to in the manual and uses the most commonly accepted chronology although some dates are still under question.