JSM BULLETIN N°17 - April 2005-05

CHINA
 Arrest of underground roman catholic bishop and priest
 Reactions in china to the death of pope john-paul II

Arrest of underground roman catholic bishop and priest

The cardinal Kung Fondation (Stanford CT, USA) reported on 3 April 2005 the arrest bishop. YAO Liang, the auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Xiwanzi in Hebei, on March 31, 2005. He is in his early eighties. Before his arrest Bishop YAO had been under mounting pressure from the Chinese authority to sever ties with the Pope and the official Catholic Church (the Patriotic Association). However, the bishop refused to do join the so. The faithful in Xiwanzi diocese believe that his refusal to join the official Church could be the reason for his arrest. The Foundation docs not know where he is being held. There are no further details.

Father WANG Jinling of Zhangjiakou, also in his early eighties, was arrested on April 1, 2005. The Foundation docs not know why he was arrested, nor do they know where he is being held.

In addition, the Chinese authority is intensifying surveillance of the underground bishops. Bishop HAO JingLi, 89, the bishop of Xiwanzi, and Bishop JIA ZhiGuo, 71, bishop of Zhengding, both from Hebei, are now under 24-hour surveillance by the Chinese security bureau. The Kung Foundation docs not know the reasons for this intensified surveillance.

Reactions in china to the death of pope john-paul II

In the meantime, news of the death of Pope John Paul II has reached the underground Church. Numerous Masses as well as novenas and other prayers are being offered for the repose of the soul of the Pope. An underground priest said that he Pope had never forgotten the persecuted Roman Catholic Church in China. Now that he is in heaven, the priest added, the Pope would most certainly intercede for the suffering Church in China so that those who have separated from the Pope will return to the one fold and one shepherd. Another priest said that the Pope gave the underground Church in China vitality, energy, encouragement, hope and blessings. The Pope’s canonization of 120 Chinese saints in 2000, the priest continued, must have significantly increased the power of his heavenly influence to save and bring to blossom the Roman Catholic Church in China.

Joseph Kung, the President of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, said : “Since 1949, there have been thousands of martyrs in China because they refused to cut off their relations with the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth. Today, we still have numerous Roman Catholic bishops, priests, and other religious and faithful in jail because they will not sever ties with the Pope in order to join the Chinese government-established official Church or the Patriotic Association. Pope John Paul II said, “....even in the most difficult times, the fidelity of the Catholic Church in China has never waned.” As Pope John Paul II has taught us, we will maintain our fidelity to the Pope at all costs. To us in the underground Church, Pope John Paul II’s death is not only the death of our Pontiff, but also the loss of a great father and friend of Roman Catholics in China. He loved the underground Church in China from the very beginning of his pontificate. He named Ignatius Cardinal Kung as a secret cardinal in the Pope’s heart (in pectore) one year after he became a Pope in his first consistory and while Cardinal Kung was still serving his life sentence in the communist jail.

We believe that, because Cardinal Kung was a symbol of fidelity to the Pope and a symbol of Catholicism in China, the Pope carried Bishop Kung as a Cardinal secretly in his heart (in pectore) for 12 years before he was able to proclaim publicly Cardinal Kung as a cardinal to the world. Like a good father, the Pope not only offered his love to China, but also challenged and repeatedly encouraged and commanded his “children,” the bishops in China, to keep the discipline of fidelity to the Pope, the Successor of Peter, and “to be the first witness of the faith which he professes and preaches to the point of shedding his blood.” While dozens of countries, including Cuba, had welcomed the Pope’s visit, the communist Chinese government rejected Pope John Paul II’s dearest wish to visit China.

Ref : www.cardinalkungfoundation.org\press\050403.htm