News Archive China   China Ready for Closer Ties to Vatican October 26, 2001 :BEIJING--China is ready to improve ties with the Vatican, Beijing said Thursday in a guarded welcome for the pope's unprecedented expression of remorse over the activities of Roman Catholic missionaries. Pope John Paul II spoke of his "deep sadness for the errors and limits of the past" and said some of the church's "children" might have given "the impression of lack of respect and esteem for the Chinese people." The pope was addressing a seminar in Rome to mark the 400th anniversary of the first Roman Catholic mission in China, established by Jesuit MatteoRicci. China raised Vatican hopes this month when it permitted Chinese and foreign scholars to attend a matching seminar in Beijing, where Matteo Ricci is buried. Sun Yuxi, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: "We are ready to improve relations with the Vatican." But he repeated China's demands that theVatican must avoid meddling in China's religious affairs. "We have emphasized that it cannot interfere with China's internal affairs using the pretext of religious issues," he said. Sun also repeated the demand that the Vatican cut its long-standing ties with the former Chinese regime defeated by Mao Tse-tung, and now exiled to the island of Taiwan. "If they can accept this principle in the future, the two of us can be like other states," Sun said. "Contact through diplomatic channels has been going on." Sun's emphasis on diplomacy, and relations between "states," was a reminder that--in the short term, at least--Beijing's interest in the Vatican is largely a political one. China is determined to smother Taiwan as a sovereign country, and it devotes much energy to bullying the island's last remaining diplomatic partners to switch recognition to Beijing. Communist leaders would regard it as a triumph to close Taipei's embassy in the Holy See, which is Taiwan's last remaining European mission. Serious religious hurdles still have to be overcome by the two sides, notably the key issue of who decides the appointments of bishops. Relations were plunged into crisis last year, when China ordained five new bishops on the day the pope traditionally makes new ordinations. A few months later, the Vatican canonized 120 Catholics martyred in China on Oct. 1, the Chinese National Day. Beijing reacted with rage, describing the martyrs as traitors, criminals and even rapists. Communist rulers severed all links with Rome in the 1950s, expelling foreign priests and forcing local Catholics to register with a state-run church whose 5 million members do not recognize papal authority. The result has been a divided church, with millions attending "patriotic" Chinese churches and an estimated 8 million more worshipping with the underground Roman Catholic Church. China continues to jail and harass underground priests and maintains strict control over Catholic seminaries. The result is a church cut off from Rome's theological guidance. According to senior Asian Catholics, the pope fears that China's Catholics, and especially isolated underground churches, are in grave danger of drifting further and further into theological error. It is this fear that drives the Vatican's desire to establish formal ties with Beijing, sources say. But even within the Vatican, many senior figures linked to the missionary wing of the church are deeply concerned that ties with China will be bought at the expense of the underground church, which it is feared would be cut adrift after decades of loyalty and sacrifice. Daily Telegraph   Pope Asks China's Forgiveness and Proposes Normalization of Ties Historic Papal Message in Memory of Missionary Matteo Ricci VATICAN CITY, OCT. 25, 2001 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II wrote a historic message asking the Chinese people for forgiveness for the errors committed by children of the Catholic Church, and proposed the normalization of relations between Beijing and Rome. The papal message was addressed to the international congress on Father Matteo Ricci (1551-1610), which began Wednesday in Rome. In 1601, that Italian Jesuit missionary became "Chinese with the Chinese," to proclaim the Gospel and transmit Western learning to the Oriental empire. In particular, the Holy Father mentions the theological disputes over the inculturation of Christianity in China, as well as the support given to the Catholic Church by European powers who were hostile to Beijing. For example, during the Boxer Rebellion, between 1898 and 1900, many Christians defended the foreign presence in the country. Then, in 1934, the Vatican was one of the first to recognize the state of Manchukuo, controlled by the Japanese. "For all of this, I ask the forgiveness and understanding of those who may have felt hurt in some way by such actions on the part of Christians," the Pope says. "History reminds us of the unfortunate fact that the work of members of the Church in China was not always without error, the bitter fruit of their personal limitations and of the limits of their action," he explains. "Moreover, their action was often conditioned by difficult situations connected with complex historical events and conflicting political interests. "Nor were theological disputes lacking, which caused bad feelings and created serious difficulties in preaching the Gospel." Father Ricci himself, whose process of beatification is under way, was an object of these disputes. His missionary methods sparked much controversy. He dressed like a Chinese and adopted Chinese customs that won him the approval of Chinese intellectuals but the criticism of Church leaders. "In certain periods of modern history, a kind of 'protection' on the part of European political powers not infrequently resulted in limitations on the Church's very freedom of action and had negative repercussions for the Church in China," the Pope acknowledges. "This combination of various situations and events placed obstacles in the Church's path and prevented her from fully carrying out -- for the benefit of the Chinese people -- the mission entrusted to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ." "I feel deep sadness for these errors and limits of the past, and I regret that in many people these failings may have given the impression of a lack of respect and esteem for the Chinese people on the part of the Catholic Church, making them feel that the Church was motivated by feelings of hostility toward China," the Bishop of Rome continues. After expressing the "mea culpa," the Holy Father refers to the possibility of a new future for Catholicism in China. "Today the Catholic Church seeks no privilege from China and its leaders, but solely the resumption of dialogue in order to build a relationship based upon mutual respect and deeper understanding," he says. "Let it be known to China: The Catholic Church has a keen desire to offer, once more, her humble and selfless service for the good of Chinese Catholics and of all the people of the country," the Pope adds. In his message, John Paul II pays tribute to "the outstanding evangelizing commitment shown by a long line of generous missionaries -- men and women -- as well as the works of human development, which they accomplished down the centuries. They undertook many important social initiatives, particularly in the areas of health care and education, which were widely and gratefully welcomed by the Chinese people." Peter's Successor ends his message by referring to the international situation caused by the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. "The present moment of profound disquiet in the international community calls for a fervent commitment on the part of everyone to create and develop ties of understanding, friendship and solidarity among peoples," he says. "In this context, the normalization of relations between the People's Republic of China and the Holy See would undoubtedly have positive repercussions for humanity's progress," the Holy Father concludes. There are about 11 million to 12 million Catholics in China, fewer than half of whom are members of the Chinese Patriotic Association, a state-controlled "church." Catholics faithful to Rome do not enjoy full religious liberty and at times are the object of severe persecutions. China to Mark 4th Centenary of Matteo Ricci´s Arrival Talk of Improve Beijing-Vatican Ties Resurfacing HONG KONG, SEPT. 27, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The Hong Kong press is buzzing again about the possibility of renewal of Vatican-China contacts and the establishment of diplomatic ties. In recent years, Communist officials have used such news leaks to exert political pressures. The latest issue of the Hong Kong weekly publication Far Eastern Economic Review reports that a series of recent meetings have taken place between representatives of Beijing and Rome. The same publication speculates on the motives of the Communist regime. "In the event of mutual diplomatic recognition, the Vatican would be obliged to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan," the journal said. "It would also weaken the stance of half a dozen predominantly Catholic countries in Central America that maintain ties with Taiwan." On Oct. 25, 1999, the Hong Kong periodical Taiyang announced the renewal of diplomatic relations between Beijing and the Vatican. The following day, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Zhang Qiyue said that China wished to establish relations with the Vatican, but reaffirmed the traditional conditions: that the latter break relations with Taiwan, and not "meddle in Chinese internal affairs, including the religious." That last condition means the regime would arrogate to itself the appointment of bishops -- something unacceptable to the Holy See. On Nov. 10, 1999, a few weeks later, the Vatican agency Fides published a secret document of the Communist Party in which the regime explained that it was keen to establish relations with the Vatican in order to solve the question of Taiwan. At the same time, it listed steps to neutralize the Holy See's influence on Chinese Catholics. On Jan. 6, 2000, the Chinese government openly challenged the Vatican by ordaining five new bishops of the government-controlled Catholic "patriotic" church. Beijing later assailed the Oct. 1 canonization of 120 martyrs of China. Nevertheless, new diplomatic contacts are possible, thanks to the celebration in Beijing on Oct. 14 of a congress that marks the fourth centenary of Jesuit Matteo Ricci's arrival in China. Father Ricci (1552-1610) is regarded as a national figure, even by the Communist Party, because he took contemporary European learning and sciences, specifically trigonometry, to the great Oriental empire. Addressing a general audience Sept. 5, John Paul II expressed his support of this congress, as well as a similar initiative in Rome. Chinese, American and European experts will participate in the congresses on Father Ricci, whose cause of beatification is under way. "I follow these important initiatives with great interest, and hope they will be totally successful, as the figure of Matteo Ricci is a precious model for anyone working in the field of proclaiming the Gospel in different cultural and religious contexts," the Pope said. According to the weekly Far Eastern Economic Review, the rapprochement also coincides with U.S. President George W. Bush's scheduled Oct. 20-21 visit to China. ZE01092701 AILING BISHOP RELEASED BY CHINESE REGIME ROME, AUG. 2, 2001 (ZENIT.org-Fides).- Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, who was arrested by Chinese police in January 2000, was released last month in very poor health, the Vatican agency Fides reported. Bishop Zhang, 45, is the unofficial, Rome-backed bishop of Xinxiang in Henan, in central China. As a member of the underground Church loyal to Rome, he repeatedly has been arrested and held incommunicado. The government regularly harasses members of the underground Church to persuade them to join the state-approved "patriotic" Church. Bishop Zhang's diocese, 600 kilometers (372 miles) south of Beijing, has about 8,000 Catholics, of both the official and unofficial Churches. China as a whole has about 11 million Catholics. ZE01080208 CHINA ARRESTS 16 PRIESTS OF THE UDERGROUND CHURCH BEIJING, JULY 19, 2001 (ZENIT.org-Fides).- Police in the region of Jiangxi in southeast China arrested 16 priests of the underground Catholic Church loyal to the Pope. In the middle of the night July 10 the police took Father Liao Haiqing of Yujiang Diocese from his home and then interrupted a study-meeting of 15 other priests of the same district, arresting those present, the Fides news agency reported. The Italian news agency ANSA says tension in the area is high. There is increased government pressure on members of the underground Church to join the government-controlled Catholic "patriotic" church. Father Liao Haiqing, 71, has already spent 17 years in prison in the 1950s and between 1980 and 1990. The outlawed Yujiang Diocese has about 50,000 Catholics, led by Bishop Thomas Zeng Jingmu, who has spent more than 30 years in prison. ZE01071924 THE MESSAGE OF IGNATIUS CARDINAL KUNG PIN MEI (1901+2000) Et Ego dico tibi: tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et porte inferi non praevalebunt adversum ea. After having been incercerated for thirty years by the Chinese communists, Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin Mei was placed under house arrest. When Cardinal Sin of Manila visited China in 1987, the Chinese government arranged a banquet for him and Cardinal Kung. The two Cardinals were placed on the opposite ends of a long table so as to unable to communicate with each other. Close to the end of the banquet, under the watchful eyes of some twenty communist officiers and Patriotic Association bishops, Cardinal Kung sang the following hymn in Latin. By doing so, he bravely coveyed to Cardinal Sin that in all his years of captivity he remained faithful to God, to his Church, and to the successor of Peter. Cardinal Sin immediately carried Cardinal Kung's message to the Holy Father and announced to the world: this man of God never faltered in his love for his God, his Church and his Pope despite unimaginable suffering, isolation and pain. CHINA WELCOMES CHURCH'S WORK FOR LEPERS BEIJING, MAR. 16, 2001 (Zenit.org).- With government approval, Catholics are helping lepers in southern China. Austrian Father Louis Gutheinz and the Sisters Oblates of the Holy Family, in collaboration with the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, have undertaken a project to care for lepers, particularly in the Jiangxi and Sichuan regions. Their work in leprosariums is in response to a request from Chinese health authorities and has the approval of the Communist authorities. The VID news service (http://www.vidimusdominum.org) reported that there are 114 leprosariums in China. They can only care for a small part of the 320,000 victims of Hansen's disease in the whole of continental China. Between 1997 and 1999, Father Gutheinz traveled to China several times to study the situation. Then, last May, the Sisters Oblates of the Holy Family began to send religious to the leprosariums in Jiangxi and Sichuan. ZE031605 CHURCH GOES PROACTIVE IN CHINESE PRESS HONG KONG, FEB. 21, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The Catholic Church launched an unprecedented initiative in China, when it published two pages of reflections on the faith, laced with quotations from the Bible, in the Express Weekly, published here in English. According to Kevin Lai Yuk-Ching, executive secretary of the Diocesan Office for the Formation of the Laity, and coordinator of the small editorial board, which includes two priests, a nun and two laymen, "it is an important opportunity to make the faith and Catholic Church known to believers of other religions and nonbelievers." Ip Kai-Wing, editor in chief of the current-events and cultural magazine, is pleased with the initiative, which opens new editorial space that might attract the attention of new readers. ZE01022104 CHINESE BISHOP STANDING BY ROME Amid Struggles, He´s Faithful to Pope WANXIAN, China, JAN. 24, 2001 (Zenit.org) A Chinese bishop, struggling to run a diocese with a handful of priests and nuns, expressed his fidelity to the Pope in a recent interview. For the time being, Bishop Joseph Xu Zhixuan has succeeded Bishop Tuan In-min, 92, of Wanxian, who died Jan. 10. "We want to be, and we are, part of the Catholic Church," the bishop told the Vatican missionary agency Fides. "We have always been faithful to the Pope in the past, at present, and we will always be so in the future." Bishops Tuan and Xu were invited to participate in the 1998 Synod of Bishops for Asia, but the government did not allow them to leave the country. Bishop Xu, ordained to the episcopate in 1989 by Bishop Tuan, said that the latter's death has profoundly affected the faithful and civil authorities. "Thousands of Christians attended the Catholic funeral and burial," he said. "The civil funeral was attended especially by official figures and representatives of the Buddhist and Muslim religions." The Wanxian Diocese, west of Sichuan, has 13 official chapels and parishes, with only eight priests, and 14 nuns, who are involved in pastoral care. "This meager personnel has to take care of at least 50,000 souls," Bishop Xu said. According to Fides' estimates, the Catholics of the Diocese of Wanxian number at least 100,000, including the clandestine Christians who are not registered with the state-controlled "patriotic" church. Bishop Xu said that the diocese's most urgent problem is to find vocations and form the clergy. "Personnel is needed to form the seminarians, to stimulate aging priests, to administrate the seminary," he said. "The eight diocesan priests, all very young, must face a very complex social context. Their vocation must be reinforced and their preparation improved." "Another great problem," he said, "is the construction in other locations of the churches that will be submerged by the Three Gorges reservoir, as well as the reconstruction of the communal fabric of the displaced." The Three Gorges reservoir, which will be finished in 2009, is to produce energy from the Chang River (formerly translated as the Yangtze). It will be the largest reservoir in the world, and will submerge several cities and villages, as well as the cathedral and five churches. Over a million people have had to leave their place of birth. The indemnification granted by the government is not sufficient for the displaced to rebuild their life and cultivate new fields. Neither has the diocese received sufficient money to construct new churches. Bishop Tuan had estimated that reconstruction costs would reach $3.4 million. To date, only one of the eight new churches the diocese must construct, has been built, in Fengije. Bishop Xu is counting on the help of Christians worldwide to help with the construction of the others. He concludes: "I also need prayers: I am already 84, I am old!" ZE01012421 CHINA RULES OUT PAPAL TRIP, FOR NOW Italian Prime Minister Proposed Visit to Beijing Counterpart BEIJING, JAN. 16, 2001 (ZENIT.org).- China for now has ruled out any chance of a visit of John Paul II to the country. The news was announced Monday by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji to Giuliano Amato, his Italian counterpart, during a two-hour meeting here. At the beginning of his three-day tour of China, Amato told the press that tension must be reduced between the Vatican and Beijing, which was aggravated by the canonization of 120 China martyrs last Oct. 1. When the Italian Prime Minister mentioned the topic of a possible visit by the Holy Father to China, Zhu was very clear: "No, it’s not possible." The Communist official said, "The Vatican has offended us; it has opened a wound. Now a period of maturation is indispensable." The Chinese government expressed its "highest indignation" over the canonization of the martyrs, who died in China between 1648 and 1930. Beijing’s Foreign Minister went as far as to say that it was "an obvious provocation and attempt to distort the verdict of history on colonialism and imperialism." China broke its diplomatic contacts with Rome in 1951. There are 11 million Catholics in the country, just under half of whom are affiliated to the Chinese Patriotic Association, a state-controlled "church." On a positive note, Zhu said: "We do not think the dialogue is closed; however, now we await an official step from the Vatican." As early as last July, when the Chinese prime minister visited Rome, the first question Amato asked him was about a papal visit to Beijing. On that occasion, Zhu answered that the Vatican would first have to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan and commit itself not to interfere in the life of the Church in China. This means, among other things, that the Pope would not appoint Chinese bishops. ZE01011610 CHINA BLOWS UP HUNDREDS OF CHURCHES BEIJING: December 13, 2000: BY DAVID RENNIE--Chinese authorities in the city of Wenzhou have torn down or blown up more than 200 illegal churches and temples. A further 239 small places of worship in the east coast city, many of them linked to the underground Roman Catholic Church, have been forced to close. China's millions of underground Christians face a bleak Christmas as a long-running campaign against illegal worship of all varieties coincides with a crisis in China's relations with the wider Christian world. "In the past week, I have received several reports from China that bishops and priests have been detained by police, and I am now trying to authenticate them," said Joseph Kung, head of the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation, which monitors the underground Catholic Church in China. "Probably this is the beginning of the crackdown for the Christmas season. All these important feast days, like Christmas and Easter, they always crack down." The underground churches demolished were not established church buildings, Kung said. Many were private homes where Christians unwilling to worship in official churches gathered for prayers and secret services. "Sometimes they build a house specially for religious services, but from the outside it looks like a small factory," he added. This autumn, China reacted with fury to the pope's decision to canonize 120 martyrs on Oct. 1, China's National Day. Most of the martyrs were killed in 1900 by the Boxers, xenophobes whom Beijing calls patriotic heroes. China called the new saints a collection of criminals and rapists. Christianity, especially Catholicism, has traditionally been regarded as an "imperialist" import. Frank Lu, director of the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, said last night that the latest campaign against religion in Wenzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, had begun in August, and intensified in recent weeks. "Wenzhou is an important center of Chinese Catholicism," Lu said. Wenzhou, a chaotic boom town of shoe factories, sweatshops and dealers in pirate goods, has a long history of Christianity because of its trading links with the outside world. Last year, Wenzhou police arrested three leading members of the underground Catholic Church. Those detained included an 81-year-old bishop, Lin Xili. The places of worship closed and demolished in Wenzhou were reported to include Buddhist and Taoist temples as well as Catholic and Protestant churches. Officials admitted blowing up Catholic establishments in neighboring Fujian province last summer. The 449 centers that were targets of the latest campaign had all failed to register with the State Administration for Religious Affairs, officials said. Religious worship, though protected by the constitution, must be "patriotic," and can only take place in establishments under the control of the atheist Communist Party. "To maintain social stability, the local government demolished underground churches and temples and other illegal places. They were operating under the cloak of religion. They hoodwinked people, interfered in normal religious activities," a spokesman for the Wenzhou foreign affairs office said. There are 12 million registered Christians in China. Missionary organizations put the true total at nearly five times that. Daily Telegraph CHINA RELEASES BISHOP ZENG FROM CUSTODY In Hong Kong, Mass Honors the Newly Canonized BEIJING, OCT. 31, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Bishop Thomas Zeng Jingmu, of the underground Church loyal to the Pope, has been released from custody, the MISNA missionary agency reported today. Bishop Zeng, 80, was arrested Sept. 14 in his town, Hangpu, in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. He was taken by force to the local prison of Linchuan. Every three days, members of the Catholic Patriotic Association, the Communist Party-controlled official church, read him the ruling on freedom of worship in China. When he was allowed home, the police told the bishop he must not speak with foreigners, MISNA said. The agency also reported that there is still no news on Auxiliary Bishop Deng Hui and Father Liao Haiqing, who were arrested at the same time as Bishop Zeng. None of them have agreed to register in the Patriotic Association. Bishop Zeng has suffered 30 years in prison: from 1958-1976, and from 1981-1989. Since then, he has been jailed intermittently, having been deprived of his liberty from 1994 to 1998. To date, he has lived under constant police control. On Sunday, in Hong Kong, a solemn Mass was held in honor of the 120 Chinese martyrs canonized by John Paul II on Oct. 1. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal John Baptist Wu Cheng-Chung, with Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Zen, Auxiliary Bishop John Tong, and Abbot Clement Kong, of Our Lady of Joy Trappist Monastery at Lantau, according to the Vatican agency Fides. More than 1,200 people in attendance filled Immaculate Conception Cathedral. When the news was announced of the canonization of the martyrs, the Beijing government banned all public ceremonies in honor of the new martyr saints, and advised the Hong Kong diocese to keep celebrations for the canonization "low-key." During the homily of Father Francis Li from Taiyuan, a direct descendant of two of the martyrs, he thanked the government for its criticism, which served to give great publicity to the canonization. "This caused everyone in Hong Kong, and in the whole world, to become aware that the Catholic Church was holding a canonization ceremony," he said. "Curiosity was aroused among those who heard the news, and they asked questions like: What is a canonization? Who are the people being canonized? Why are they being canonized? And why are people opposed to their being canonized?" The liturgy closed with a solemn procession to place the martyrs' relics in the Chapel of the Passion in the cathedral's apse. Many young people stayed on after Mass to pray silently before the relics of the new saints. ZE001003104 CHINESE MARTYR COMBATED USE OF OPIUM Document Seems to Derail Beijing's Accusations Against New Saints ASSISI, Italy OCT. 4, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- The Beijing government has accused some of the new Chinese martyr-saints of having trafficked in opium. But a letter on display here indicates the facts were otherwise. A pastoral letter written by Franciscan Bishop Gregorio Grassi of Shansi, one of the new martyr saints, specifically asks Christians "not to use, cultivate or buy opium." In the original letter, signed in Chinese and in the form of a public notice, the line about opium is underlined in red. Bishop Grassi, one of 120 China martyrs canonized Sunday by John Paul II, was killed during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. His pastoral letter is being exhibited, along with other historical documents, in the "Franciscan Martyrs in China" exposition, in the Porciuncula Museum of Assisi. As pastor, Bishop Grassi educated Christians to make moral choices that were consistent with the faith, which implied specific social commitments, such as combating the use of drugs, which then, as today, was the source of profit but also corruption. Another document in the exposition is a congratulatory note embroidered on red cloth, addressed to a Father Fan, described as "the benevolent" because of his love for the people and his assistance in times of calamity. The information on this note is insufficient to identify the priest with certainty. It might be one of the new saints, Bishop Antonino Fantosati, who was known as "Fan-hoae-te, "Fantosati the Virtuous," because of his affability. ZE00100404 AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCE REINFORCED PERSECUTION OF CATHOLICS CHINA: (RU; cf. RB 0ct. 3) One week before the canonization of Chinese martyrs which was celebrated on October 1st in Rome, cardinal Etchegaray from the Vatican visited China. According to our informations, he is said to have "concelebrated an eucharisty" with priests of the Patriotic Church at the Sheshan sanctuary of the Holy Virgin, near Shanghai, to the regret of 12 millions of underground Catholics who remained faithful to the pope. Please note that, out of the 120 canonized martyrs, 98 are Chinese and 33 are missionaries; practically all of them were assassinated at the time of the Boxer revolt towards 1900. Concerned about obtaining the authorization to install a nunciature in Pekin, the Vatican had withdrawn from the list, just before the canonization, all martyrs killed by the communists. This, however, did not cool the rage of the Pekin regime which was irritated about the choice of Oct. 1st for the canonizations - national feast day of China. Already some high administrative persons announced that, in response to this "affront", the persecutions against the underground Catholics would be reinforced, which means new perquisitions, arrests and tortures. New martyrs? back to index of Chinese articles