Wangfujing Church, Diocese of Beijing

Our hotel sits right beside a beautiful church. When we passed it last night, there were college-aged kids dancing outside the doors to loud electronica music so we opted not to research further. This afternoon we returned and dodged young men on skateboards to step inside. We found what is certainly a Catholic Church, but we are not sure it is in good standing with the Vatican.

The information board at the front doors (just inside an iron gate) name the Church as Saint Joseph's Church and there is a covered statue of him holding the baby Jesus outside the building. The board mentions adoration from 8 AM to 9 PM during the week as well as an English mass at 4 PM on Sundays. Three Chinese masses are early enough that we could possibly make it before leaving for Zhenghou later tomorrow morning, but without certainty of its validity, we are opting to pass on the opportunity.

Despite the uncertainty, both the outside and inside are impressive. While there are TV screens on most of the ornate columns (which presumably display the prayers/music during the mass) and a gift shop built against the back wall of the worship area, it is obvious that this church was built with great care. While we were inside, there appeared to be a prayer service taking place. It was led by a woman in front of a baldacchino but we were not sure of specifics; no English literature was found in the building. We also noted a young priest exiting the church wearing traditional clericals.

We were troubled to see the apparent disrespect for the church just outside the front doors, but I imagine it would be difficult to enforce reverence in a country where the Church is run (at least in part) by the government. It will be interesting to see if the Catholic Church in China ever returns to full communion with Rome.