The Seven Sorrows of China, Part VI

MM: Why is this province so exceptionally Catholic?

Fr. P: [Fr. P throughout interview] Because there are so many Catholics here. There are about x. number of Catholics and over x. priests [extremely large numbers for any Chinese region]. The priests are united under the bishop, our hearts are united. In the case of the priests, our hearts are united. And with all the faithful, are hearts are united.

Fr. P: When I was at the seminary I did not feel any pressure directly from the Government, but inside my heart I felt pressure from the Government, because the seminary is a Patriotic, Government-run seminary.

MM: How does your diocese resist the pressures of the government to compromise the Church’s teachings in regards to loyalty to Rome and respect for unborn human life?

Fr. P: This diocese is just great, very strong. It is such a great diocese the Government can’t do anything. They put so much pressure in other places but they can’t here.

MM: What about government enforcement of the one-child policy in your diocese?

Fr. P: It doesn’t happen here the same way it happens in other places. The people are too united. They just refuse to follow the Population Police. Many families have many children. We help each other, and we stand together. The faith is so strong and without compromise. There are too many of us for them to control.

We are united in heart with the bishop, clergy, and faithful, and the people make many sacrifices and pray very much. When the Population Police come to fine the people, the people fight back and say, "We don’t have the money, we cannot pay," and that’s it. There are too many of us united in faith under the Pope. Mary also protects us, and the blood of the martyrs.

MM: What is the relationship between the Patriotic Church and the underground Church here?

Fr. Q: In this diocese, there is no underground Church and no aboveground Church. There is no separation, it is all one.

MM: How did this happen here, especially in light of the division between the two that exists throughout the vast majority of the country?

Fr. Q: At the time of Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, the government wanted to appear more open and make religion legal through an official Patriotic Church. But here there has never been any separation. When they were trying to force this Open Church situation here, all the people gathered together; they were reading the Bible together, and praying Rosary together, and it did not happen.

The Patriotic Association is an attempted bridge between the Catholic people and the Government. The bridge is not created by the Catholics, but by the Government. The people that are leading in this bridge are people with the same mindset as the Government.

The Patriotic Association is guided by the Government and listens to the Government. That is how you get a separation of the two. The Patriotic Association does exist here, but with very few members. They call the bishop and say this or that, and if they tell the bishop to do something that is okay he will do it. If it is not okay, something not according to the faith, then he will not do it.

MM: But why is it different here? In most other provinces, if the bishop doesn’t do what the government says, they take him away.

Fr. Q: This is a very special situation. China just has a lot of different situations. Because here there are so many Catholics in the area and so many priests, we just stand together and the Government lets us go our way.

So the local Government has never had any problem with us praying for the Pope in the Mass, or the Rosary, or any other time. The Government has never demanded that we join the Patriotic Association. The Catholics are not giving the Government any trouble, so since the people don’t give the Government any trouble, the Government does not give them any trouble.

The Church is also doing works of mercy, they are doing things for the people, so the Government lets them do the work.

MM: Again, there are other places where the Church is helping people through works of mercy, but the Government continues to persecute the local Church. Why the greater freedom of the Church here?

Fr. Q: If you want to be Catholic, you have to have a straight line to the Pope and if the Government does not demand that we do anything different than that, that is just the way it is. If there is a division in that straight line from Pope to Catholic then you are no longer Catholic, so you have to have that straight line!

From the beginning of the local Patriotic Association, a small group organized by the Government, they followed the good ideas and vision of the bishop. They cannot control, because everything here is done according to the Church. Our Church has always been free, not like in other places. No, here from the very beginning, all the time the Church is open, it is connected with the Government, but with no suppression and no compromise.