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What being a bishop in China is like

Chinese prelate recalls two key incidents that changed his life forever
What being a bishop in China is like

A file image of St. Ignatius Cathedral in Shanghai, April 27, 2013, the day that the long-serving Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxin of Shanghai died. (Photo by AFP)

Published: June 29, 2016 06:32 AM GMT
Updated: June 29, 2016 07:39 AM GMT

Bishop Matthew Hu Xiande of Ningbo Diocese reflects on his dealings with the late Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxin of Shanghai that fundamentally strengthened his outlook as a priest in China. Bishop Jin for decades trod a delicate path of working with the government and the Vatican. He passed away in 2013.

 

 

Two encounters with Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian changed my life in an enduring way. Though Bishop Jin and I were not really that well acquainted, there were two times when I had dealings with him that he made a distinct impression upon me.

 

Guiding me on the right path at the crucial moment

In 1983, the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) and the Church Affairs Commission of China held a joint meeting in Beijing. I was a seminarian at that time and the priests in Ningbo Diocese were very old. So I was sent to attend the meeting.

Around this time, some people were attempting to separate the China church from the universal church. One of them was Tu Shihua (an illicit bishop not recognized by the Vatican) who wrote an article for the first issue of the state-run publication Catholic Church in China, which ran the headline "Run the Church Independently and Self-Autonomously to Develop the Spirit of Apostolic Tradition."

The third issue of this publication carried articles written by (an illicit bishop) Fang Zhigang and proposing an autonomous church independent of the Vatican.

There was also a booklet in circulation, written by Du Li, called Questioning the Papal Primacy of Rome. This small fraction of the Catholic people in China misled the government into making decisions that violate the objective principle of the Catholic Church.

In such an environment, the dominant ideology at the joint meeting in Beijing was to have a church in China independent of the universal church.

The delegations from Zhejiang and Shanghai were in the same group. In the group discussion, some delegates, such as Gu Meiqing (the vice director of Shanghai's Catholic Patriotic Association), ferociously supported this kind of split.

I said in a discussion "the characteristic of the Catholic Church is its universalism embodied in the Pope in Rome. How could it be called the Catholic Church if it does not have a Pope?"

I was criticized for this remark.

Xu Jilin, leader of the Zhejiang delegation told me later, "The officials from the central government asked: 'Couldn't you people in Zhejiang province find an appropriate delegate? How could you let someone like Hu Xiande attend the meeting?'"

News of the incident quickly spread among all delegates.

Bishop Yu Chengcai of Haimen of Jiangsu province also learned about it. He was invited before the meeting to come to Ningbo for my priestly ordination on the Sacred Heart of Jesus feast in 1984.

He had accepted the invitation arranged by the religious affairs department. But he kept a distance from me after the Beijing meeting, and informed us that he would not preside at the ordination. I found that remarkable. But I would have regretted it my whole life if I had been ordained by him.

By chance I met Father Guo Bole who worked for (underground) Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang of Shanghai. He was willing to introduce me to the bishop who would ordain me as a priest. While considering what to do, I accompanied a delegation from Ningbo Diocese to visit Shanghai and Suzhou Dioceses and then visit Sheshan seminary, where I met Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian.

I told Bishop Jin that Bishop Yu feared to preside over my ordination because of the remarks I made in Beijing. Bishop Jin immediately responded with an offer.

"You could come to Sheshan seminary and revise your theology study! I will ordain you as a priest," he said. This acceptance from Bishop Jin guided me to walk on the right path at a crucial moment of my life. Bishop Jin suggested what Jesus had taught us: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

My fellow seminarians in Sheshan were Wan Jie, Yu Chengxian and Du Renyuan. They all said that Bishop Jin accepted those elderly seminarians that remained loyal to the pope.

Yu Chengxian also told me that Bishop Jin dropped the vow that is against the pope in his own episcopal consecration. From then I was very willing to accept Bishop Jin's invitation and I arrived at Sheshan in May 1985.

Not long after I was ordained as a priest by Bishop Jin on Nov. 21, together with Man Jie, Yu Chengxian, Xu Jiawei, Cao Xiangde, Du Renyuan and Zhang Qingzeng at Xujiahui Cathedral.

From this incident, I could see the superb wisdom of Bishop Jin. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the China church does not separate from the universal church according to the wishes of a small fraction of people.

I am grateful to Bishop Jin for his acceptance. If he had refused me, I might have gone to the underground church.

But had Bishop Yu ordained me, I would have regretted it all my life. I do not mean to look down on Bishop Yu. But it is more related to other factors than him.

During 1984, my conscience wondered if such an ordination was ethical. If I accepted such an ordination while my conscience was troubled, I certainly would have regrets for life.

In 1985, when Father Joseph Lu, director of the Psychology Department at Taiwan's Fu Jen Catholic University, visited his relatives in the city Yuyao I met him and asked about this ethical problem. His answer was in accord with the spirit of the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983.

"The last article of the new code stipulated that 'the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the church, is to be kept before one's eyes,'" he said.

The law also stipulated that "both the bishop, who without a pontifical mandate, consecrates a person a bishop, and the one who receives the consecration from him, incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See."

However, Father Lu also told me it does not know of any rules or laws that ban explicitly a bishop who is consecrated without papal approval ordaining priests.

As Ningbo Diocese faced a serious shortage of priests at that time, he said I could accept the ordination by Bishop Jin for the salvation of souls. After talking to Father Lu, the conscientious worries were removed and I was at peace when I accepted ordination by Bishop Jin.

 

A Bishop Jin lesson that benefited me for a lifetime

Several days after our ordination, Bishop Jin greeted the new priests and made some significant and lastingly important remarks to us:

"A bishop outside China gave me a prayer a couple of days ago. Now I give it to you," said Bishop Jin. This was the prayer. "God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference."

I had not read at that time volume two of Bishop Jin's autobiography Struggling for Survival in Niches but I knew then the feeling he describes in it. I also felt I was surviving in niches.

For example in 1992, the 10th anniversary of the Sheshan Seminary, Bishop Jin invited me to represent new priests who had graduated from the seminary to report on our pastoral and evangelization work since our ordinations.

My report received some criticism. Some Catholics from Hong Kong and Taiwan thought I sang too much praise for the communist's religious policy while government officials thought I did not speak enough about patriotism.

As well, people overseas, even a bishop outside China, blamed our bishops in China for being spineless, slaves of the communists, deceitful opportunists, and asked us to confront the Party.

However in China, we are those who have been singled out to receive frequent lessons on patriotism because we are the types that the Party does not feel confidence in.

And the underground church regards us as betrayers while seeing themselves as loyalists.

Being in the niches, it is really a difficult issue on how to follow the teachings of our Lord: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." It is necessary for us to insist the principle of faith but also to adapt to China's circumstances.

During these moments, I always believe in the blessing of God and entrust all matters to Him. Just as it says in Psalms 55:22: "Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you." I pray for guidance and inspiration from the Holy Spirit so that I could make a right decision.

Finally, I remember the prayer taught by Bishop Jin where we ask for the appropriate grace, patience or courage and the wisdom to discern in different circumstances.

For the past 30 some years, I have gained much from the prayer taught by Bishop Jin. I always miss him and thank him in my heart.

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