Divided but hopeful, the Catholic Church in China is still recovering from its turbulent past, says Anhui’s new bishop
　　
　　When Father Joseph Liu Xinhong was ordained bishop of Anhui diocese at St. Joseph Church in Wuhu, a mid-sized city beside the Yangtze River in east China, he knew his consecration would attract some attention. But, he told Beijing Review he had no idea it would make news around the world.
　　This spring China ordained three Catholic bishops and one assistant bishop in a month-long blitz of appointments. Liu, 42, is one of the two bishops ordained without the recognition of the Vatican, a move that drew sharp international criticism for the Chinese Catholic church’s defiance of the authority of the Pope and alleged undermining of rapprochement efforts between Beijing and the Holy See. China and the Vatican haven’t had relations since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.
　　According to Liu, Chinese Catholic worshippers didn’t enjoy equality in religious belief before 1949. “As a young bishop, I feel aggrieved that the growth of Catholicism at its infancy in China was accompanied by the cannons of Western colonialists, which ran against Catholic advocacy for peace and greatly humiliated the Chinese people as a nation.”
　　When foreign clergy started to leave China after 1949, the country was immediately confronted with an acute shortage of bishops since over 80 percent of bishops had been foreigners. In 1958, China elected two bishops and submitted a report to the Vatican for papal approval. The Vatican declined the request and claimed it would excommunicate those who attended the consecrations. In order to continue spreading the Gospel in China, representatives of priests and followers from across the country decided to ordain bishops on their own, a practice China adheres to. “This is a historical choice Chinese Catholics were forced to make,” Liu said.
　　“As a Catholic and a bishop, of course I believe the Catholic Church is the sole Church of Christ, which in the creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic, and the Pope is the supreme head of the church,” Liu continued. On the walls of his simple 10-square-meter office in suburban Hefei, capital city of Anhui Province, framed photos of the late Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI hang next to a painting of the Virgin Mary.
　　Liu, who began his service in the Anhui diocese upon graduation from a seminary in Shanghai in 1990, said he is acutely aware of the inner turmoil he faces being both a Catholic and Chinese, but has come to terms with the situation. “Here is my logic: Even without a papal mandate, I could do a good job in spreading the Gospel as a bishop and be blessed by God. On the contrary, even if I had confirmation from the Pope, if I were not a competent bishop, God would not bless me anyway.”
　　Liu makes it his business to keep up to date on the Pope’s schedule and knows about the Holy Father’s daily agenda at the Vatican, as well as the Holy See’s administrative structure. He is proud of the fact that he arranged for priests and nuns to watch the funeral of Pope John Paul II and the ordination of Pope Benedict XVI in a hotel room that carried a live broadcast from a Hong Kong television channel, because the events weren’t shown on regular Chinese TV.
　　According to him, the 4,000-odd bishops across the world pay visits to the Vatican every five years to report on the situation of their dioceses, but no bishop from the Chinese mainland has made the official trip to date due to the lack of formal ties. “I sincerely hope Beijing and the Vatican can resume their relationship as soon as possible, although it is a complicated matter,” he said.
　　What would he say on meeting the Pope? The answer came without hesitation. “Holy Father and the shepherd, please give more care to your flock in China.”
　　According to statistics from the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and Chinese Catholic Bishops’ College, of China’s 97 Catholic dioceses, more than 40 don’t have a bishop and over half of the current bishops are over 80 years old. A spokesman for the administrative body was quoted as saying in a May 6 report from the official Xinhua News Agency that China would continue to elect and ordain bishops independently out of the acute demand of normal church operations and the need to spread the Word of God.
　　
　　A hard decision
　　
　　Biasius Chen Qu, 67, a Catholic from Wuhu, was appointed director of the bishop election and ordination office of Anhui diocese in September 2005. Chen said he was “more than shocked” by reports from foreign media that the ordination of mainland bishops without Vatican authorization was intended to provoke the Pope. “Since we attempted to elect a new bishop in March 2004, we have done a lot of work, including communicating with the Vatican. I believe the fairest judgment is in front of God,” he said.
　　Despite the lack of formal ties, some Chinese dioceses choose to privately seek the Vatican’s support before prospective bishops take up posts. In the case of the Anhui diocese, efforts in this regard started in August 2004. “Our appraisal and election procedures are based on canon law, regulations of the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ College and the practical situation of Anhui diocese,” Chen explained.
　　He said that efforts by his office failed to elicit a timely response from the Vatican. “The competence review takes such a long time and we couldn’t wait any longer,” he said, citing “urgent affairs” that needed the attention of a bishop, such as the ordination of nuns in the diocese.
　　“It was also out of the strong desire of worshippers in our diocese that we thought we should elect a new bishop immediately,” Chen added.
　　In July 2001, the Catholic Church in Anhui Province went through an overhaul: three dioceses--Bengbu, Wuhu and Anqing--were merged into one, without informing the Holy See. According to Bishop Liu, there was a shortage of priests at the time, with fewer than 20, and the integration of dioceses was the only means to guarantee the quality of religious services. “I hope the Holy Father could prioritize the spreading of the Gospel over legal procedures,” Liu argued.
　　His predecessor, the late Bishop Zhu Huayu, was hospitalized for coronary heart disease and kidney failure in 2001 at the age of 83 and could no longer deal with the daily affairs of the diocese. Liu began to work as his assistant.
　　Liu said that Zhu, who passed away in February 2005, wrote a statement recommending him as his successor while “in a clear mind” during hospitalization. In November 2005, priests, nuns and Catholic representatives elected Liu from four candidates across the diocese.
　　According to Chen of the bishop election and ordination office, “I have been convincing visiting priests and nuns from abroad that the election process is as democratic as possible and we are under no pressure from the Communist Party of China or from the government.”
　　Liu said that of the 20 priests and 43 nuns in Anhui diocese, with the exception of those too ill or too old, all attended his ordination ceremony. “That meant a lot to me, since they must have suffered from internal turmoil themselves,” he added.
　　“I would be lying if I said I was under no spiritual pressure to assume the post without papal approval. But the strength seeing me through the spiritual pressure of being ordained without papal authorization is the support from my fellow priests and nuns,” Liu explained.
　　Liu views his twin role of being Chinese and a Catholic bishop with equal importance. “I love my country, my family [priests and nuns] and my flock equally and I will try my best to contribute to the dissemination of the Gospel and the maintenance of social stability.”
　　
　　New generation of bishops
　　
　　Of the three bishops and one assistant bishop ordained by China in April and May, all four are in their early 40s or younger. By coincidence, Suzhou Bishop Joseph Xu Honggen and Kunming Bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin were Liu’s classmates back in his seminary days.
　　This new generation of bishops shares a lot in common. Born into pious Catholic families, they are mostly third-generation worshippers, following in the steps of their parents and grandparents. Different from the bishops they are replacing, this generation studied at Chinese seminaries full-time after graduating from high school, rather than being led into the path by foreign priests.
　　More significantly, they don’t have firsthand memories of the suppression of religions during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Almost all religious activities in churches came to a halt in this period, with a large number of bishops imprisoned or sent to work on farms. “Generally, we are still at the stage of slow recovery and reconstruction in the wake of the devastation, both mentally and from a structural point of view,” Liu said.
　　Liu’s itinerary shows how versatile the new generation of bishops has to be. The most pressing work he now faces is to retrieve church properties confiscated during the Cultural Revolution since income from renting out property is the main funding source of Anhui diocese. This is no easy task since the transfer of these properties took place so long ago and the amounts of money at stake make it a long, drawn-out process. The reclamation of one property, despite supportive government regulations, could involve negotiations among three or four parties. “This is a problem faced by churches nationwide,” Liu said, adding that the problem in his diocese is being addressed with the support of the government.
　　Property management is also a demanding job. The church is compensated with cash when its former properties are not retrievable, so Liu plans to buy new properties with these payouts, and then rent them out for extra income. “Property is our diocese’s lifeline,” he said.
　　Liu estimates that with efficient management the annual income of church property would be between 700,000 and 800,000 yuan, while the expenses of his 26 churches, priests and nuns each year are between 500,000 and 600,000 yuan.
　　Without having to worry about financial problems, he could focus more attention on the work of spreading Catholicism by giving greater personal care to his congregation. Training of priests and nuns is also high on his agenda.
　　Wu Xiaoman, 38, is a nun working in the bishop’s office of Anhui diocese. She received financial help from the church to study full-time for a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Anhui University’s School of Journalism and Media. Wu, soon to graduate, is excited by the photography and news editing skills she learned in class and the new friends she made on campus. Last Christmas, she invited several of her roommates to attend mass, their first time visiting a church.
　　Asked about her post-degree plans, Wu said her skills would be very useful in helping to continue the work of the church. “We plan to launch a magazine or a newspaper for Anhui diocese to give ourselves more publicity, like many other dioceses in China have done,” she said.
　　Split and integration
　　Liu said a lot of his energy is devoted to restoring the unity of the Catholic Church in his diocese, which split over the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
　　A group of church staff back then believed they would be forced to abandon their religious beliefs since the Communist Party is officially atheist. Instead of continuing their church services, they chose to host religious ceremonies in private venues despite the communist government’s attitude, which demanded only political cooperation from the church and allowed Catholics’ accord with the Vatican in religious beliefs. During the Cultural Revolution, all religious activities were cracked down on and secret services became the only way to meet the spiritual demands of worshippers.
　　This led to the underground church, which is still very much in evidence today. “Many of the worshippers at these private services find it hard to get away from the shadow of the Cultural Revolution mentality,” Liu said. “They think it is only safe to worship God privately, especially those who were tortured or imprisoned during the upheaval of the church.”
　　“Some clergy members of these private services lied to their followers, saying that the ‘public Catholic Church’ claims loyalty to the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ College while they are loyal to the Holy See,” he said. “This is a myth; we are also loyal to the Holy Father [the Pope] spiritually and I would like to reveal the truth to the participants of underground services.”
　　Liu said he believes the reason for creating such a myth is that the priests of underground churches can be free of any restrictions. “These priests collect donations from their followers and preach as they like. They don’t want me to get consent from the Vatican because then they would have to listen to me.” However, he said he would openly welcome any priest from the underground church who wished to join his staff.
　　“The unity issue is of utmost importance to soul shepherding in China and will not be thoroughly resolved until China and the Vatican resume their relations,” he said.
　　At a Pentecost Mass held at St. Joseph Church in Wuhu on June 4, Liu led the congregation for the third time since assuming his post.
　　Ye Yuanxiang, a 70-year-old worshipper and Wuhu native, attended the ceremony. “I regard the Holy See as my father and my homeland as my mother and it is difficult for a child to pick sides when parents have a fight,” he said. “I pray that they will be on good terms soon.”

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