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Handout #200 |
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Condemnation of Chinese rites by Pope Clement XI in 1704 A.D. |
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3. One cannot in any way or for any reason allow Christians to preside,
serve as ministers or take part in the solemn sacrifices or oblations which
are customarily made at the time of equinox to Confucius and to departed
ancestors, since these are ceremonies which are steeped insuperstition.
7. Christians cannot be allowed to keep in their own homes in honor of their ancestors, as in the custom of the Chinese, tablets on which is written 'the Throne' or 'the Seat of Spirit' or 'the Soul' of such a person, by which is signified that the soul or spirit of such a dead person sometimes comes to stop or to rest there. |
