The Institute for the Study of Christianity and Culture in Beijing, which promotes academic research on Christianity and culture and the promotion of evangelization in China and beyond, is celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2022.
The institute was founded in 2002 by Father Peter Zhao Jianmin, vicar of the Archdiocese of Beijing, who graduated with a degree in canon law from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Father Zhao was the first Chinese priest to obtain a doctorate after the opening up of the Church in China 1970s.
Since its foundation, the Institute has sought to study religions, especially Christianity, local culture, and the promotion of greater harmony between Catholicism and Chinese traditions.
Over the course of its history, the Institute has sponsored seminars, conferences, publications, forums, training courses, international exchanges. Topics covered range from Mariology and St. Ambrose to the doctors and fathers of the Church, the contributions of Chinese and foreign missionaries to evangelization, and social development in China.
The institute has been a pioneer in mainland China for paving the way for dialogue between the inculturation of faith and the evangelization of cultures.