The Section for External Mission of the Archbishopric of Belgrade and Karlovci held a lecture, as part of the NevskyTalks project on June 24, 2024, on “Orthodoxy in China” in English, on the premises of the Missionary Department. The speaker was Dr. Sandra Knežević, a permanent expert associate of the Section for External Mission, who lived for a decade in China, where she obtained her doctorate on the Russian Orthodox Mission in Shanghai. The event was moderated by the Director of the Department, Presbyter Dr. Oliver Subotić.
Dr. Sandra Knežević began her account of Orthodox Christianity in China with the missionary work of Saint Apostle Thomas and the legendary dream of the Chinese Emperor Ming-ti about the “glorious religion”. She then recounted the history of the Christian mission from as far back as the 5th century and the surviving monuments, which testify to the existence of the Nestorian communities in China at that time. The lecture also explained how Orthodox Christianity was brought to the country in 1685, and the importance of the Herzegovinian Serb, Count Sava Vladislavić, an envoy of the Russian Tsar Peter the Great in launching the Russian religious and diplomatic mission in China.
Dr. Sandra Knežević also gave a brief overview of the events during the 250-year long mission of the Russian Orthodox Church in China. She discussed the challenges faced by the Orthodox Christians during the Taiping Rebellion – the most destructive religious civil war in history, which claimed nearly 30 million lives. New challenges were brought about by the Boxer uprising, in the early 20th century, when the Holy Chinese Martyrs (celebrated on 10th/23rd June) through their bloody martyrdom placed China permanently into the Orthodox realm. She also spoke about the miraculous figure of Saint John of Shanghai, who left an indelible mark on the Shanghai mission in the mid-20th century, and who also serves as an inspiration to the present-day missionaries.
After the Russian mission closed down in 1956, Orthodox Christianity was faced with the cultural revolution of Mao Zedong, during which almost all of the Orthodox churches (over 120 of them) were destroyed. Orthodoxy in China today is closely linked to the cultural renaissance which Orthodox missionaries have been a part of for the past two decades, thus contributing to the overall cultural landscape of China, and offering hope for the future of Orthodoxy in that country.
The lecture was very interesting, and it elicited numerous questions from the audience. The audience was not as numerous as usual, due to the summer break. Apart from the few English-speaking nationals, some Serbian intellectuals, interested in the topic were also present. Among them was Prof. Vesna Dimitrijević-Srećković, a renowned Serbian endocrinologist, who shared her own experiences of China, since she used to be a guest-lecturer at scientific medical conferences in that country.
At the close of the event, the Director of the Missionary Department announced the launch of a new permanent missionary initiative of the external mission aimed at the Chinese residents in Serbia. A special announcement of this project, which is in its final preparatory stages, will be issued by the Archbishopric’s Missionary Department on the feast day of St. John of Shanghai (July 2nd), when it will be officially launched.
NevskyTalks lecture series is planned to resume in the second half of August.
Photo: Missionary Department of the AEM
