1930年代羅馬教廷結束「禮儀之爭」之研究

Notes on the Holy See’s Solution to the Chinese Rites Controversy in the 1930s

自1742年天主教羅馬教廷以一紙通令，禁止教徒行祭祖敬孔的儀式，也禁止再討論相關議題以來，儀式問題呈凍結狀態，對中國和同樣有類似習俗的鄰國天主教會的發展形成一股阻力。本研究探討促使教廷從初期教會歷史的觀點和新的國際視野，重新審視中國儀式此一舊問題的緣由與過程，觀察在1930年代中短短的七年之內，日本、滿洲國和中國教徒行傳統儀式的問題如何先後獲得解決。本文的架構安排，以事件發展的時間先後次序為主。先分析中國傳統宗教與儒教在清末民初的轉變，以及祭孔敬祖的儀式世俗化趨勢更為明顯之時代背景，再銜接至剛恆毅駐華的1920年代天主教儀式問題重獲重視的情形。突發的日本神社參拜事件則直接引發教廷介入，從而發展出解決問題的方法與模式，也連帶解決了滿洲國因政治因素而出現的祭祀問題。最後，教廷參酌了處理這兩個案例的模式。於1939年底宣布解除中國儀式禁令。本文最後針對教廷對中國教會發布通令的時代性意義做一整體的分析，再評估對往後教徒可能產生的影響，並觀察中國儀式後續的發展，以瞭解1939年的通令對華人教會的重要性。

After the Holy See's decree of 1742 that prohibited the rites of homage to ancestors and Confucius (and any discussion on this issue), the problem of the Chinese rites was suspended. The suspension not only impeded the development of the Chinese Church, but also affected neighboring countries where similar rites existed. This article reexamines how the Holy See reversed its decision, putting the issue of the Chinese rites in the framework of the history of the Primitive Church and the new situation in international politics, in the l930s, the Holy See took only seven years to resolve the problems of the traditional rites practiced in Japan, Manchuria and China. This article begins with a description of the background of the secular tendency of the cult of Confucius and ancestors in late Qing society, which helps explain how the issue of the Chinese rites regained importance during Celso Costantini's mission in the l920s. Developments in Japan stimulated the Holy See to find a new solution, leading on to Manchuria, and, at the end of 1939, to the reversal of the abolition of the previous prohibitions on Chinese rites in the Chinese Church. The 1939 decree was critical for the development of the Catholic Church of the Chinese people.