Among the difficulties and
arrests, Chinese Catholics are preparing to celebrate tomorrow's World
Day of Prayer for China, established by Benedict XVI in his 2007 letter
to the faithful in China.
The day coincides with the feast of Mary Help
of Christians, venerated at the National Shrine of Sheshan, about 40 km
southwest of Shanghai.
In the past, on May 24th tens of thousands of official and
underground Catholics made pilgrimages to the shrine, in a common
gesture of prayer and reconciliation.
Since 2008, the date of the first
Day launched by the pope, the government has constantly placed obstacles
to the faithful’s participation, blocking underground Catholics,
limiting the influx from other dioceses and only allowing groups of
faithful from Shanghai access to the shrine.
AsiaNews sources confirm that this year
"security in Sheshan is very tight, with police and checkpoints with
video cameras placed everywhere." One priest, however, confirmed that
tomorrow Mgr. Xing Wenzhi, auxiliary bishop of Shanghai will go to the
shrine to celebrate a mass. The ordinary of the diocese, Mgr. Aloysius
Jin Luxian, 95, will not participate, having already presided at mass at
the shrine on 1 and 11 May last.
Sources in the underground community in Shanghai yesterday told AsiaNews that
their priests have been "taken away by police for a tour at government
expense" to prevent them from making the pilgrimage to Sheshan, as they
had planned.
Yesterday none of the city's underground community was able
to celebrate mass because of the absence of their priests.
Sometimes, some communities are able to circumvent controls. A
young priest said that in 2010 public security tried to stop them, but
he and his group managed to get to Sheshan. "We arrived at Sheshan on
May 24 with much sadness and difficulty, but we were happy to offer our
prayers to Our Lady on this special day."
It also reported arrests among the priests of the underground
community of North China. Some of them had prepared hundreds of copies
of the prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan, distributing them to the faithful.
Benedict XVI, in his letter, asks for prayers to show
"solidarity and concern" for the "past and present sufferings" of
Chinese Catholics. Various underground communities pray for their
bishops who disappeared in police custody decades ago, and whose fate is
unknown. Among them we recall Mgr. James Su Zhimin (diocese of Baoding,
Hebei), 77, was arrested and disappeared in 1996 and Mgr. Cosma Shi
Enxiang (diocese of Yixian, Hebei), 88, arrested and disappeared in the
hands of police April 13, 2001.
Catholics in Zhengding want to pray especially for their
bishop, Mgr. Julius Jia Zhiguo, who has been in hospital in Shijiazhuang
since May 18 with heart problems. Even in hospital, the bishop is under
police surveillance.
In Luoyang (Henan), underground Catholics are praying for their
Bishop. Li Hongye, who died last April 23 after spending ten years in
hard labor. "The community is still mourning - said one priest - and we
are very disappointed that the authorities have demolished the cross
erected on the grave of our bishop."
Yesterday in Hohhot (Inner Mongolia), Mgr. Meng Qinglu reminded
the faithful to offer prayers especially for those who do not go to
church, to help revive their enthusiasm for the faith and for unity and
communion with the universal Church.
In Taiyuan (Shanxi) communities, tomorrow will make a
pilgrimage to the local shrines of Mount of the Seven Sorrows and Mount
Guquan.
Other communities have jointly prepared rosaries, adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament and Eucharistic celebrations.
Some communities
have told AsiaNews that they know nothing about Benedict XVI’s
latest appeal for prayer for China launched on May 18 and that they will
not celebrate the Day of Prayer.