Abbreviation CRBC (台灣主教團) Type NGO | Formation 1967 Headquarters Taipei City | |
Purpose To deal with affairs relating to Catholics in Taiwan and to maintain contact with the Holy See and universal Church Location 39 An Ju Street, Da'an District | ||
The Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference (天主教會臺灣地區主教團), informally known as the Bishops' Conference of Taiwan, is the episcopal conference of the Free Area of the Republic of China and is the highest organ of the Roman Catholic Church in Greater China. The current conference chair is the Most Rev. John Hung Shan-chuan, S.V.D. Catholics in the independent jurisdictions of Hong Kong, Macau, and Outer Mongolia are represented in the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, not the Chinese Regional Bishops' Conference.
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History
When Archbishop Paul Yü of Nanking attended the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII proposed the development of the Chinese Catholic Church on Taiwan due to the situation of the Church on Mainland China. Part of this development would be to re-establish Catholic schools such as the Catholic University in Peking on Taiwan as well as creating a Chinese episcopal conference. Therefore, the Chinese Catholic Bishops Conference (天主教中國主教團) was established in 1967 and would serve as the national bishops' conference for all territories claimed by the Government of the Republic of China. In 1973, bishops from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines gathered at Fu Jen Catholic University for the inaugural meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences. In 1998, the conference adopted its current name to reflect the geopolitical situation and remains the only Chinese episcopal conference sanctioned by the Vatican.
Organizational Structure
The conference is led by a president, vice president, and secretary-general. The Secretariat, the highest administrative unit, contains the following 10 commissions:
Membership List
President: Most Reverend John Hung, S.V.D. (洪山川), Archbishop of Taipei
Vice President: Most Reverend Peter Liu (劉振忠), Bishop of Kaohsiung
Note: The Archbishop of Taipei has also overseen the Apostolic Administration of Kinma since 1968.