China's one-child policy takes toll on vocations, church leaders say

Published: 2007-04-05

BEIJING (CNS) -- China's one-child policy, begun nearly 30 years ago, still provides pastoral challenges and is taking a toll on vocations, said some Chinese church leaders. Auxiliary Bishop Paul Pei Junmin of Liaoning said that, in the past, the diocese used to have 20 young men and women enter the seminary and convent each year, but that has changed because of the one-child policy and the influence of materialism. "Here the church in China is very traditional, conservative," said Bishop Pei. "It's very difficult to reconcile with the government regulations and church teachings," especially when people can lose their jobs for having a second child. Jean-Paul Wiest, a sociologist and professor at a Beijing university, said the situation becomes difficult when clergy counsel young couples. "Priests might say, 'It's the law,' but they might also say, 'It's your conscience, you have to decide what to do,'" he said.

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