Pope Francis urges prayers for Chinese Catholics “in the midst of difficulties”
He was speaking on the eve of the feast day of Our Lady of Sheshan
Pope Francis has urged Catholics worldwide to pray for their fellow believers in China, in remarks made at his general audience on Wednesday at the Vatican.
He was speaking on the eve of the feast day of “Our Lady of Sheshan,” a Marian title of the Virgin Mary venerated by Roman Catholics in China. The day has been celebrated worldwide as a “day of prayer for the Church in China” since 2007, as decreed by Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, in his “Letter to Catholics in China.”
Addressing the estimated 12 million Catholics in China, Francis said, “the Universal Church prays with you and for you, so that even in the midst of difficulties, you may continue to entrust yourselves to God’s will.”
Francis also prayed that believers in China would be “able to live their faith with generosity and serenity” so as to find ways “to make concrete gestures of fraternity, harmony and reconciliation” in full communion with the Holy See.
Our Lady of Sheshan is currently enshrined in the Sheshan Basilica, which was built in thanksgiving by the Superior of the Jesuit community after they were spared from attack during the Taiping Rebellion. Located in Sheshan Hill in Songjiang district, the basilica was consecrated in 1873 by Bishop Languillat of Shanghai. Her image in reported Marian apparitions was officially adopted in 1924 when the first conference of bishops met in Shanghai, and since then, she has been depicted with the Infant Jesus above her head with outstretched arms, and standing atop a Chinese dragon representing the Devil. Also venerated by Chinese Catholics as Our Lady of Good Luck, Mother of China, her feast day, which falls on May 24, is also marked as the “World Day of Prayer for the Church in China”, as decreed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.
In spite of earlier optimism that the Vatican and China were close to a deal on appointing bishops — a major stumbling block in bilateral relationships — new hardline rules imposed by Chinese authorities have seen the talks stall.
As a result of the new regulations, crosses have been taken down from churches, Chinese flags going up in their place, and minors prohibited from attending church services and Sunday school.
Among the staunchest critics of a rumored proposal for the Vatican to recognize seven Beijing-appointed bishops, and for two underground bishops named by the Pope to step aside, is Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong.
“How can you legitimize a schismatic church … they are completely under the guidance of the government,” said the former bishop of Hong Kong in a recent interview with Al-Jazeera. “The church doesn’t change just because you legitimize all the bishops … If all the bishops, or the majority of the bishops, are the slaves of the Communist regime, there is no improvement.”
“I said to him [the pope] ‘this is fake.’ Last word is not enough … Practically you are giving the power in the hands of the government … What do they [the Communist Party] know about the qualities required to be a bishop?” he added.
His successor, Cardinal John Tong Hon, is a lot more sanguine about Pope Francis’ negotiations with China.
“Pope Francis promotes the Holy See’s negotiations with China for the good of the church, to bring something good to the church and to the whole of humanity,” he said in an interview with the Jesuit magazine America. “I believe that time will prove he is right, even if it is after his death. History will prove him right.”
