On the last day of the meeting, the representatives unani- mously passed the Zhongguo Tianzhu Jiaoyou Ai Guo Yundong Qingkuang Ji Jin Hou Ren Wu (Overview of the Past Patriotic activities of Catholic Laity of China and Future Tasks)? They all agreed to establish a Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and in the meantime, they passed the "Chi- nese Catholic Laity Patriotic Association Constitution‘ (at the Second Congress in 1962, they changed the names to ChineseCatholic Patriotic Association) and "The Decision of the Chi- nese Catholic Laity Representatives‘? The report declared: "Pa- triotism is a citizen"s divine obligation. A nation is made up of all the people and each one is part of the whole nation and every- one is an owner of the country. Whether a nation is at peace or in chaos is closely related to the actions of every citizen. In order to strengthen the nation and to secure the happiness of its people, the whole nation has the duty to safeguard and build up the moth- erland. We Catholics are part of the whole population and there- fore, we cannot be denied our patriotism. On the other hand, there is another deeper meaning for our patriotism, which is that our nation"s existence is from the power of God and patriotism is part of the commandments.’ The meeting"s decision declared:"For the good of the country and the future of he Catholic Church, our Chinese Catholic Church must change its colonial and semi- colonial status. The Church needs to be independent and be ad- ministered by our own Chinese clergy and laity. The Chinese Catholic Church will keep its relationship on a religious basis by obeying the Pope when dealing with Church doctrine on the premise of doing nothing against the benefit and dignity of China. However, the Chinese Catholic Church should cut off all politi- cal and economic relations and the church should resist whenthe Vatican tries to interfere in China"s internal affairs and au- tonomy in the name of religion, as well as its anti-patriotic move- ment.‘In terms of the Chinese Patriotic Association, the meeting decided: "The Patriotic Association is a lay group made up of Catholics who both love the Church and the nation. It is not an official church organization. Since the members of this associa- tion are either clergy or lay people, they should be aware of two aspects: first of all, the members belong to the One Holy and Catholic Church, and they should obey the Pope when dealing with Church doctrine; secondly, when the Vatican tries to pro- tect American Imperialism and politically attacking the Soviet Union and communism, as well as the socialism, we should draw a line by resisting interference in China affairs in the name of religion. We insist that we should cut off political and economic relations with the Vatican.‘ Meanwhile, the Constitution of the Patriotic Association stated: "The Patriotic Association is made up of clergy and laity who both love the Church and the country. They are patriotic and should be actively involved with socialist construction and patriotic activities. They should protect world peace and assist the government to secure religious freedom.’ The first congress elected Archbishop Pi Sushi as President ofthe Catholic Patriotic Association and Yang Shida, Li Boyu, Li Weiguang, Wang Wenchen, Zhao Zhensheng, Dong Wenlong, Li Depei, and Cao Daoshen as Vice Presidents. Li Junwu was elected Secretary General.
After the first national congress, the representatives went back to their home provinces and autonomic districts and cities to convey the congress messages and were all welcomed by the local people. Many provinces either established their own asso- ciations or formed a planning committee, such as those in Shanxi, Sichuan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei, Henan, Fujian, Hubei, Zhenjiang and Shaanxi.
Obedience to the Pope in terms of doctrine and dogma and cutting off political and economic relations with the Vatican and resisting its interference with China"s internal affairs in the name of religion, is called Du Li Zi Zhu Zi Ban Jiao Hui (the Three- Self"s)? The leaders of the Chinese Catholic Church declared on a number of occasions that, "in order to glorify God and to save the souls of the people, the Church must follow the principle of being independent and autonomous. This is an historical devel- opment, which fits with the situation in China. This independent and autonomous church is only depicted in terms of political, economic, administrative and management aspects, not on thelevel of doctrine and dogma in any sense. The Catholic Church in China is the same as any other Catholic Church worldwide, which is one faith, one baptism. It is the same One, Holy Catho- lic and Apostolic Church. The bishops, priests, as well as the laity in China are the same as the bishops, priests and laity in any other country who pray for the Pope in their Masses and Prayers.‘ And, "the Catholic Church in China is pure and true in terms of its faith. The reason why we emphasize the principle of independence and autonomy is not that we want to establish a new type of religion [because…] we still belong to the same Mystical Body of Christ as the Catholic Church in any other country in this world.’
The establishment of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Asso- ciation and "Three-Self"s‘ church not only united all Chinese Catholics under the patriotic flag, and changed the hostile status that the Catholic Church displayed towards China. This was rec- ognized by everyone in China, and also helped the Church to advance its mission of evangelization. Since then, the Catholic Church in China has taken the route of both loving its Church and the nation. The Church develops well in socialist China.