Work of Mary: Visiting China

I often visit China. So far, I have gone to China nine times in the past decade, touring various places, depending on my financial resources. I’m really fascinated by that country! If I had the opportunity, I made friends there, particularly with Catholic priests and religious and Catholic families. I visited churches, shrines and seminaries; in other words, places not in the usual itinerary of tourists in China.

One time, I was asked to give a talk to religious sisters; at another time, to a group of young people in a parish. I once offered the Holy Mass at a city cathedral and also once in a village church. Twice, I was able to make a personal retreat in a mountain shrine of Mary. For all these experiences, I thank the Lord!

As you may know, there’s no real freedom of religion in Communist China! The government wants to control the Catholic Church there. Through the Catholic Patriotic Association, a body created by the Communists in the 1950’s, the government tries to create a Catholic Church independent of the Pope and the Universal Church. The government then has been appointing bishops, setting rules for religious institutes and determining pastoral policies. All these moves are contrary to Catholic teaching and life! We Catholics believe that Christ founded the Catholic Church. The Church’s teachings and life are determined by Christ, not by any government or human institution.

Catholics in China, therefore, find themselves in a complex and difficult situation. Like any people in the world, they love their country. But, they would also like to be faithful Catholics, faithful to the teachings of Christ, faithful to His vicar on earth, the Holy Father, the Pope. This is the dilemma of Chinese Catholics. Some are able to live “normal” Catholic lives, but there quite a number, especially in Hebei Province, who have opted to live radically their Catholic faith. They have gone then “underground,” as we would say today. The response of the government to “underground” Catholics is open persecution! Till today, there are bishops, priests and lay people arrested by the government and are still missing. There are restricted Catholic churches and shrines.

In one of my trips to Shanghai, I visited a Marian shrine two hours from the city. It is the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan. The statue of Mary there is quite interesting! She is holding the Child Jesus atop her head, as if presenting Him to the world. The shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan is set on a mountain of bamboo forest. The statue, facing mainland China, is set on the pinnacle of the bell tower. As it were, Mary is presenting Jesus to the people of China!

I like to believe that the evangelization of the Chinese nation is the “Work of Mary” in this present millennium! Christ is the real answer to the complex realities of China! We need then to be in solidarity with the Catholic Church there, struggling to witness to Christ. I also like to believe that our small, apparently insignificant, Catholic nation, the Philippines, has a God-given role in this “Work of Mary”!