Literally the “Religion of the Lord of Heaven” there are estimated to be some 12 million practicing Catholics currently in China. Of which some 5 million belong to the official Catholic Patriotic Association, having some 70 Bishops in around 6,000 churches nationwide.
There are many villages throughout China where Catholicism has been deeply rooted, some since the first Missionaries during the Yuan Dynasty, their practices being strongly identified with the Jesuits. Patricia Calvo ventured to one such village near Xiàn in Shaanxi.
All Images © Patricia Calvo 2013
