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There are seven national religious organizations in China. They are the Buddhist Association of China, China Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Patriotic Association of the Catholic Church in China, Chinese Catholic Bishops College, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee of the Protestant Churches of China and the China Christian Council. All the religious organizations elect leaders and leading bodies according to their own articles of association.
All the religious organizations independently organize religious activities,
conduct religious services, run religious schools, and train young religious
staff under the protection of the Constitution and the law. Currently, there
are 74 religious schools in China, the most popular being the Chinese Institute
of Buddhist Studies, the Institute of Islamic Theology, the Chinese Institute
of Taoist Studies, the Jinling Union Theological Seminary in Nanjing and
the Chinese Catholic Seminary. Chinese religious organizations maintain
contacts and exchanges with other religious organizations in more than 70
countries and regions in the world. Religious personnel also play an extensive
role in political affairs, with 17,000 of them being deputies to people's
congresses and members of the committees of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference at various levels. |
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