The Church in China -- persecuted but still growing

First the good news. In spite of constant discouragement -- putting it mildly -- from China's Communist government and state-controlled media, Chinese are converting to the Catholic Faith in record numbers. According to the Vatican Information Service, over 22,000 new Christians -- almost three-quarters of them adults -- were baptized on Easter Sunday. However some dioceses had not yet reported their baptisms, so that figure is likely to rise.

The report includes 3,500 baptisms in the Diocese of Hong Kong, continuing a remarkable record of evangelization that has stretched across the years, even after the former British colony was handed over to the Communists in 1997. Hong Kong claims about half a million Catholics, including nearly 140,000 non-Chinese. So the adult converts received into the Church at Easter amounted to roughly 1% of the current Chinese Catholic population. An equivalent success for, let's say... Boston... would require nearly 13,000 new adult converts. Good luck with that!

The figures for Easter baptisms are particularly impressive because not all Chinese dioceses gear their programs toward baptisms at the Easter Vigil. In Shanghai, for example, the Easter report showed 379 baptisms, but diocesan officials expect a total figure of 1,500 for the year.

The picture of the state of the Church in China is murky, however, because of the ongoing persecution of the "underground Church" -- the bishops, priests and faithful who owe allegiance to the Holy See -- by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, the schismatic "church" established by the Communists shortly after they seized power in 1949.

This week, a special papal commission urged Chinese Catholics to resist the efforts of the CPCA to control the Church in China. A statement released April 26th expressed sympathy for the Chinese bishops and priests who are under pressure. The statement noted the “particular difficulties” of pastors who feel that they must cooperate to some degree with the regime in order to preserve their ability to preach the Gospel.

Here again, that's putting it mildly. Priests and even bishops continue to be harassed, arrested, detained in "hospitals", jailed, and subjected to "re-education" sessions for months on end. Masses are held secretly in "house churches" because the CPCA controls the church buildings. Religious activities such as pilgrimages are forbidden, with worshippers turned away from shrines and holy places by baton-wielding police.

The commission put it a little more diplomatically. Its statement expressed admiration for bishops and priests who "are detained or who are suffering unjust limitations on the performance of their mission." Admiration was expressed for the strength of their faith and for their union with the Holy Father.

The report called upon all Catholics to pray for these persecuted clerics. Dear Catholic friends, please pray for all Chinese Catholics, including the laity, whom the papal commission asks:
"…to take part in civic life and in the world of work, offering their own contribution with full responsibility: by loving life and respecting it from conception until natural death; by loving the family, promoting values which are also proper to traditional Chinese culture; by loving their country as honest citizens concerned for the common good. As an ancient Chinese sage put it, 'the way of great learning consists in illustrating noble virtues, in renewing and staying close to people, and in reaching the supreme good.'"

Footnote: For a recent example of the CPCA's efforts to dominate the Church in China, see "Patriotic Association takes control at ordination of Chinese bishop".

Note from Ed. about the Vatican Information Service website: The first two links in this post take you to the VIS website, which seems to take a long time to load using IE8. Don't push it, e.g. by maximizing the window; just give it time to load and ye shall see.