The Seven Sorrows of China, Part V

This morning, I am traveling on a fast train through provinces in this huge Chinese country, en route to a privileged meeting with an underground bishop. After a preliminary call a few days ago to a contact person for the bishop, the bishop agreed to meet with me at great personal risk to himself. Typically, bishops who refuse to have any cooperation with the Government-run Patriotic church are forbidden to speak to foreigners, receive outside financial aid, and have experienced a long history of abductions, imprisonments with extended terms of solitary confinements, and hard labor. They are also under near-constant surveillance by the Religious Affairs Bureau and the police. Exactly how this meeting is to take place, I am unsure.

Although I have an extended train ride to the general area where the bishop lives, I cannot use public transportation for the last hour of travel, as officials will notice me. The bishop and those assisting him have arranged that a driver will pick me up from the train station and drive me for the final hour of the journey.

As I begin Morning Prayer on the train, I am happily shocked to discover that today, July 9, is the optional memorial of the Chinese martyrs canonized by John Paul II in the 2000 Jubilee Year! From the seventeenth century to the present day, Chinese Catholics have suffered numerous occasions of violent persecution. In 2000, John Paul II canonized 120 Chinese Catholics and foreign missionaries martyred from 1648 to 1930. St. Augustine Zhao Rong (+1815) was one of the 29 priests, including six bishops, martyred in this group.

I cannot help but think that I am soon to meet in person a bishop who ranks in the company of the other Chinese bishops, priests, religious, and laity whom we invoke on today’s feast. Bishop C, like most all underground bishops, is greatly loved by his faithful flock, and has repeatedly shown his willingness to offer his life for Jesus, for the Vicar of Jesus in Rome, and for the Church of Jesus in its fullness without compromise.

When I arrive at the train station, I am met by a woman who instructs me that I will be taking a taxi somewhere, and I should say nothing about the bishop or anything Catholic in the taxi. She also informs me that there are cameras all over the station and to say nothing. I follow her to the taxi station.

We ride to the outskirts of this city and stop on the side of a gas station. There is a car and a driver waiting there. We get into the black car with darkened windows and ride in a new direction. My translator asks if it is OK to speak freely and the woman, who we find out is a religious sister, responds yes, we may speak freely.

During the car ride, the sister explains that Bishop C has spent over fifteen years in prison or some form of isolation, as is the average for most underground bishops. Because he refuses to join the Government-influenced Patriotic Church, he is routinely taken away to prison without notice.

As we arrive at an extremely poor village (even for third-world standards), I am taken down a primitive dirt road. We arrive at a building. The bishop will meet us there. The house of meeting is humble. We are taken to a location where the underground prayer groups often meet. After a few minutes, a man of simple attire walks in. It is the bishop. His face beams with humility and a gentle smile as walks over to greet us. He immediately displays a trust in us, as we have been introduced by a reliable source as true supporters of the Holy Father and our Chinese underground brothers and sisters. Indeed, he has risked his freedom and perhaps even more for this meeting. Frankly, my eyes begin to tear as I kiss his hand. He radiates the lowly presence of a saint.

We sit with the translator, a young and relatively new convert, whose eyes also fill with tears in the presence of this holy man. Before we begin the interview, I thank the bishop for this honor that words cannot describe, and ask for his blessing that the Holy Spirit will guide our brief time together. We kneel, he blesses us, and we begin.

At this point in the interview, the bishop receives a call on the cell phone at the same time the driver enters the room. The bishop must leave immediately. He excuses himself and leaves with a peaceful haste. The sister comes in and lets me know that her contact has called and informed her that the police are arriving at his residence. They are afraid that they have come to take the bishop away again and ask me to please pray for his protection. The sister puts her head down in prayer and I begin to pray, with a return of tears for what new dangers might be awaiting him.

A half hour has passed. I cannot help but wonder if our meeting had anything to do with the abrupt visit by the police. I also begin growing anxious as to how I may have squandered the few precious minutes with this holy bishop without getting more quickly to vital subjects, such as his imprisonment, his view of Pope Benedict’s letter to the Chinese, the one-child policy and the like.

After a few more minutes of prayer and worry, sister walks in and proclaims the news, "Thank God, the bishop is returning!" Moments later, in walks the bishop. I let out a sigh and thank God for his safe return. His smile of recognition for my relief remains humble and peaceful.

I ask him if he can inform me as to the reason for this visit from the police. He informs me what happened. Although too much detail could too easily identify Bishop C, suffice it to say he was encouraged not to publicly support or promulgate the Pope’s new letter. He responded to the police visit with the courage, unwavering loyalty to Rome, and the supernatural wisdom that has made him, along with the other underground bishops, a spiritual force that the People’s Republic of China must reckon with. In his weakness, he is so very strong.

I asked him if all underground bishops are treated this way. He answered that in general, yes, they were. I then told him I wanted to include his over 15-year combined time of imprisonment and isolation in my published account of this interview, but that I was afraid it would too easily identify him. He responded that almost all underground bishops have spent at least 15 years in prison and therefore it wasn’t a problem to include the information.

With a renewed gratitude for the gift of this man and this time with him, the interview continues.

At this point, the bishop must leave the interview to speak to an underground priest who is on the run.

I then ask the religious sister who accompanied us here some questions about her bishop.