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CHINA
Furor over canonizations
Discrediting martyrs, pushing Hong Kong Catholics
China’s Communist government launched an anti-Catholic campaign following their protests over the Pope’s canonization of 120 Chinese martyrs on October 1. According to sources in China, the government has used various tactics, including brainwashing for bishops and priests of the state-controlled association, threats against underground clergy, and a flood of articles in major newspapers. The anti-canonization campaign was launched by Beijing against the proclamation of the first 87 native Chinese saints and 33 missionaries, held up by Pope John Paul II during the ceremony as “examples of courage and coherence” for the universal Church, and an “honor for the noble Chinese nation.”
The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in illegal, underground churches following only bishops appointed by the Pope.
The Hong Kong-based UCA News says various official bishops and priests —who asked not to be named—said they had been pressured by the government to avoid speaking publicly about the canonization during Masses that Sunday. One priest said officials even attended his Mass, apparently to monitor what he said. A bishop in eastern China also said that nothing about the canonization could be mentioned at Masses there because of the government ban. The bishop said government officials from Beijing came to hold meetings with local Church leaders on the issue.
Another bishop in northwestern China said officials asked that his diocese’s clergy attend a meeting later in the week, probably to condemn the canonization. Also in northern China, meetings for bishops and priests with Religious Affairs Bureau officials have been scheduled.
Among secret exceptions to the black-out were a CCPA priest in northeastern China who did mention the canonization and the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux during his homily, and in another diocese in the northeast where the clergy celebrated Mass in honor of China’s saints, but secretly and late at night. Many dioceses in China have churches and chapels dedicated to the canonized martyrs.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said that the Church in Hong Kong was also pressured to play down the canonization. “On September 18, a representative of the Hong Kong diocese was summoned to meet officials from the central government’s Liaison Office and told to keep the local celebrations low key,” the newspaper said.
The Hong Kong daily opined that “Beijing’s reaction to the canonizations reflects its fear that it is losing its grip on the mainland’s religious groups. Chinese authorities object to the Pope naming bishops without the approval of the government and the . . . Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) . . . but there are signs that some [bishops and priests] in the state-backed CCPA are becoming less willing to do the government’s bidding. . . . The government is aware that it is losing control and has decided to use the canonizations as an opportunity to paint the Vatican as the enemy of the nation.”
Arrests and persecutions
Bishops, priests, laypeople detained
A US-based religious rights watchdog group reported that Communist China has once again stepped up the persecution of Catholics, listing several attacks on bishops, priests, and laypeople in recent weeks.
The Cardinal Kung Foundation said Bishop Zeng Jingmu, 81, of Yu Jiang in Jiangxi province was arrested by the government on September 11, along with two priests, Father Liao Haiqing and a Father Deng. Bishop Zeng had been under house arrest over the past two years. He had been imprisoned between 1955 and 1995.
The foundation also reported that Father Ye Gong Feng, 82, of Fujian province was beaten into a coma on September 11 by security police who had surrounded his home. On August 8, police stormed a church in the same province, destroying the altar and beating many of the parishioners. Seven catechists were also arrested at various times during August and held for 15-day sentences. Finally, the group said five priests from various parishes in Fujian were arrested, detained for short times, and beaten severely.
Joseph Kung, president of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, said the US Senate should consider the record of atrocities before voting on a bill that would grant “permanent normal trade relations” with China. “The United States should not grant such ‘normal trade relations’ to China, which routinely practices atrocities on defenseless citizens simply for their practicing religion according to their conscience,” he said. The bill was approved by the US Congress.
Kung also called on Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who heads the Vatican committee coordinating the Jubilee celebration and who was in China at the end of September for a religious symposium, to denounce the atrocities and demand the release of all Catholic faithful in jails and prison camps.
A leader in China’s state-controlled Protestant association later defended the Communist government’s record on religion and said tight control is necessary to ward off invasive foreign influences.
Deng Fucun, vice chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of Protestant Churches, said religion in China was thriving under “patriotic” churches set up by the officially atheist government. “As to whether there is religious freedom in China, I think the figure of 15 million Protestants is self-evident,” said Luo Guanzong, head of the Three-Self group.
The rare public statement on religion in China follows a US State Department report on religious freedom. The Chinese officials said foreign governments are trying to use religion to control China. “Even now, some hostile forces are still unwilling to see the Chinese church develop independently,” said the Rev. Cao Shengji, vice president of the China Christian Council. Deng said the Patriotic Associations made Christianity acceptable to China which associated Western missionaries with “opium traders and spies” and 19th century Western imperialists.
Back to Catholic World Report November 2000 Table of Contents