ROME, Sep. 28, 00 (CWNews.com/Fides) - Catholics of both the state-controlled and unofficial churches are eagerly looking forward to the canonization of China's 120 martyrs in Rome on October 1.
Several bishops of the unofficial or «underground» Church in China have asked for biographies of the new saints and the text of the Mass to be celebrated by Pope John Paul II so they can celebrate a Mass at the same time, according to Father John Qiu, chaplain of the Chinese community in Rome, some 60,000 people of whom 250 are Catholics. Father Qiu has been in Italy for 13 years and is head of the Agostino Chao Center founded by Father Joseph Wang thirty years ago and dedicated to one of the new saints. The center provides Chinese citizens in Rome with linguistic and administrative assistance.
Father Qiu, a former parish priest in Taipei, has received a letter from bishops in mainland China. «We are unable to take part in this canonization, but we look towards the holy city: at this moment our sentiments are united with yours and there is great joy in our hearts. The Catholic Church in China has come through three centuries of persecution, which still continues. We would like to have material on the canonization: the biographies of the Saints, the program, the text of the Holy Mass to be celebrated by the Pope,» they said.
«The bishops,» Father Qiu explains, «intend to celebrate a Mass at the same time in communion with the Holy Father and universal Church.»
The canonization is an event for which Chinese Christians have prayed and hoped for a long time, but the desire to have their own saints has not been voiced only in prayer. In the past, Chinese Bishops have made explicit requests of the Holy Father. Sources say no less than 57 bishops of mainland China, official and unofficial, sent a signed petition to the Pope asking for the canonization of China's martyrs.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs