May 24th -- Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians -- was a special World Day of Prayer for China. To mark the occasion, Joseph Cardinal Zen, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, gave an interview to ZENIT, in which he asserted that the persecution of the Church in China is becoming "more real and concrete".
According to the prelate, the Chinese Communist government is "employing increasingly dangerous and skilled methods, because they no longer stop at just threatening people; instead, they are now leading them into temptation. They do not want to make martyrs, they want to encourage renegades. For the Church this is so much worse. They have the means to test people, good, weak or timid, and reduce them to obedience. Their tools are money, but also prestige, honour or positions in society.
"What we need most today is to be faithful to the true nature of the Church -- one, Catholic, apostolic, founded on the rock of Peter" he continued, adding that he hopes for the day when Catholics "now still under the slavery" of the schismatic and heretical Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association reconcile with the faithful Catholics of the underground community.
"Humanly speaking, we see no intention of the government willing to recognize religious freedom," said the cardinal. "But God, through Our Lady Help of Christians, can work miracles."
Dear Catholic readers, your prayers for the "underground church" -- the true Church -- in China are needed not only on one special day, but every day of the year. Implore Our Lady to help the millions of Chinese who are not allowed by their diabolical government to worship God and His Divine Son in freedom and peace.
Previous posts on this topic: "The Church in China -- persecuted but still growing" (27/4/12), "Where religious persecution bites hardest" (4/9/11), "Zen Catholicism" (10/9/10).
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