Gratitude, patience, waiting. Three words for the Church in China Interview with the new Cardinal John Tong Hon, Bishop of Hong Kong Interview with Cardinal John Tong Hon by Gianni Valente Cardinal John Tong Hon presents himself as a simple, smiling person. He prefers soft tones and a low profile. Among the new cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI in the Consistory of 18 February 2012, his life story stands out for several reasons: a basketball player, an expert of Taoist and Confucian thought, a ‘second generation’ Christian. But now, the current bishop of Hong Kong will be for everyone above all the seventh Chinese cardinal in the history of the Church. Called on to offer with more intensity and authority his contribution of advice and balanced judgments with respect to the crucial issue of relations between the Holy See, the Church of China and the Chinese government. You are now a bishop and cardinal. But if one looks at your biography, it can be seen that your parents did not come from Christian families. None of your grandparents were baptized. JOHN TONG HON: That is so. My mother was the first who had the opportunity to enter into contact with the Catholic faith. As a girl she attended a high school run by the Canossian Sisters, where there were also many Italian nuns. One day she also happened to meet the nuncio in China, who was visiting her school: the nuns had selected her to present a tribute of flowers to the representative of the Pope and she was very proud of this. She had also begun to study catechism, but without immediately receiving baptism, because there had never been a Catholic in her family. She decided to be baptized only after the Second World War, when I was already born and was six years old. They were terrible years, those of your childhood. When the Japanese conquered Hong Kong, we fled to Macao. Then I was entrusted to my paternal grandmother, who lived in a village in Guangdong. Only at the end of the war could I reunite with my parents in Canton. They were the years of the civil war. Communists and nationalists were fighting internally in the north. While the refugees and wounded soldiers arrived in the southern provinces. The American missionaries who were in Canton welcomed and helped whoever was in need with all-embracing love, regardless of whatever side they belonged to. My mother and I also helped them to distribute aid to survivors and refugees. Looking at the witness of my pastor Bernard Meyer and his Maryknoll brother missionaries, I began to think that I too, when I grew up, could become a priest. It happened that you studied in Rome precisely during the years of Vatican Council II. The Council helped me greatly to broaden and deepen my vision. I was ordained a priest, the Council had just closed a few weeks previously, by Pope Paul VI on 6 January 1966, with another 61 deacons of 23 mission countries, all students of Propaganda Fide. Nearly half a century later, at the last Consistory, it was you who delivered a speech in front of the Sacred College to explain the situation of the Catholic Church in China. What did you say to your fellow cardinals? To describe the situation in China, I used three words. The first is wonderful. It is a wonderful fact that in recent decades, the Church in China has grown and continues to grow, even if it is subjected to many pressures and restrictions. This is an objective fact, it can also be verified with numbers. Catholics in China in 1949 were only 3 million, now they are at least 12 million. In 1980, after the reopening ordered by Deng Xiaoping had begun, there were 1,300 priests. There are now about 3,500. And there are also about five thousand nuns, two thirds of whom belong to the open church community registered with the government. And also 1,400 seminarians, one thousand of which are being trained in seminaries funded by the government. There are ten major seminaries recognized by the government and six similar centers related to the underground community. Since 1980, three thousand new priests have been ordained, and about 4,500 young nuns made their vows. Ninety percent of priests are aged between twenty-five and fifty. So, all is well? The second word with which I described the situation of the Church in China was the word difficult. And the most difficult test that the Church faces is the control imposed on ecclesiastic life by the government through the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (PA). I quoted a letter sent to me by a highly respected bishop of mainland China, who wrote: "In every socialist country, the government tries to come up with a method, using some nominal Christians to set up other organizations outside the Church structure itself, in order to control the same Church". The Chinese Patriotic Association is an example of this modus operandi. And in the Pope's letter to Chinese Catholics in June 2007 it is written that these organisms are not compatible with Catholic doctrine. It was seen again in the illegitimate episcopal ordinations imposed on the Church between 2010 and 2011. But why does the Chinese superpower still feel the need to keep the life of the Church under such strict control? According to analysis conducted by Leo Goodstadt – the well-known scholar in Hong Kong who was also an advisor to the last British governor, Chris Patten – there are several reasons. The communist regimes fear the competition of religion in influencing people's minds, their ideas, and eventually their actions. They realize more and more that religions are important in people’s lives and are not going to disappear from the horizon of human societies, and that on the contrary the number of followers of religions is increasing and they are frightened by this. And after the event of 11 September, the anxiety has increased, since it was seen again that religious ideas can also lead people to go to war. Finally, the new leaders who are preparing to come into office in 2012 must at this time show themselves to be loyal communists. As the Pope clearly wrote in his Letter to Chinese Catholics, "the Catholic Church which is in China does not have a mission to change the structure or administration of the State; rather, her mission is to proclaim Christ to men and women". How is it possible that the government of a powerful nation like China should be afraid of the political interference of the Vatican? We live in society and our real life has to do necessarily with the political dimension and is related to it. But certainly the Church is not a political entity. It's not really our problem or our goal to change the political systems. And moreover, in our case, it would be quite impossible to do so. Let's return to your speech at the Consistory. What was your third word? The third word I used to describe the condition of the Church in China is the word possible. To understand the rationale behind this choice, I read other passages in the letter from the bishop that I have already mentioned. That bishop said he was serene, peaceful and confident with regard to the present, also because he looked at the problems of today remembering the experiences he had lived through in the turmoil of the decades of persecution, between 1951 and 1979. He, in those past ordeals he had gone through, had been able to experience that everything is in the hands of God and God arranges things very well so that the difficulties may eventually contribute to the benefit of the Church. Thus we see that in itself it is not the increase of activities of control by the government that can quench the faith. Indeed it may happen that the effect is to increase the unity and awareness in the Church. Thus, the future may also appear bright. And we can quietly await with confidence the grace of God. Perhaps the solution of certain problems will not come about tomorrow. But neither will it be necessary to wait for a far off time. Some say that in addressing the problems it is necessary to choose between two alternative ways: either the way of dialogue, or the way of the defense of principles. But do you think the two are really incompatible? I for my part am inclined to be moderate. It is better to be patient and open to dialogue with everyone, even the communists. I am convinced that without dialogue no problem can really be solved. But while we should be open to dialogue with everyone, we should at the same time firmly maintain our principles, without sacrificing them. This means that, for example, a new bishop can accept episcopal ordination only if there is papal approval. We can not renounce these principles. It's part of our Creed, in which we confess the Church as one, holy, catholic and apostolic. And then also the defense of the value of life, the inviolable human rights of the person, the indissolubility of marriage... We can not renounce the truths of faith and morals as they are also outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Sometimes one gets the impression that some Catholic circles in Hong Kong have the task of ‘measuring’ the degree of catholicity of the Church of China. Is this the mission of the Church in Hong Kong? Faith does not come from us. It always comes from Jesus. And we are not the controllers and the judges of the faith of our brothers. We are simply a sister diocese in relation to the dioceses that are on the mainland. So, if they want, we are happy to share with them our experience and our pastoral work. And if they are in more difficult situations, while we enjoy a greater freedom, our aim is only that of trying to support them. Praying that all can keep the faith, even under the pressures they are subjected to. In certain comments, a large area of the Church in China is always described as if it were on the boundaries of fidelity to the Church. At the same time, the great devotion of Chinese Catholics is recognized. How do the two things go together? It never seems appropriate to me to speak of China, which is so immense, in an all-encompassing as well as generic way. I am not convinced by the affirmations according to which the "faith is strong in China", nor by those that emphasize the opposite. Everything depends on the people. There are so many good witnesses of the faith, who offer their lives and also their sufferings to Jesus, and then there are also some people who, driven also by the environmental pressure, sacrifice their principles. These are just a few. For example, those priests who have agreed to receive episcopal ordination without the approval of the Pope. This is not correct, and we must say so. It is precisely on the young bishops that the attention of many is focused. According to some they are allegedly fragile, and there are some opportunists among their ranks. What is to be done with them? Isolate them? Condemn them? Justify them always and whatever the case? No, no, no isolation. First of all, let us pray for them. Also for those who have committed obvious errors. And if some people can approach them, and be their friend, they can urge them to recognize what was not correct in their choices. And also to send a letter to the authorities to explain how things came about and possibly ask for forgiveness. This is simply a form of fraternal correction, of healing, not of punishment. Do the divisions between the two groups of Catholics, the so-called ‘official’ and the so-called ‘underground’ have as the sole triggering factor the pressures and submissions imposed by the government? Unfortunately not. There are also many other factors and reasons. Even in China, the growing phenomenon of internet sites that attack Catholics about doctrinal and moral issues– starting with the bishops – accused of having betrayed the faith and the Church because of opportunism or cowardice, giving in to the illegal demands of the regime. What do you think of this? I think that fraternal correction which I spoke of earlier is made through dialogue, not through internet attacks. The difficulties experienced by the Church in China concern the bond of communion with the Bishop of Rome. Over time, do you see the danger that this bond will be perceived with less intensity among the clergy and the faithful? InChina I continue to register a great devotion to the Pope. They love the Holy Father, this is certain. They are under pressure on this point. They are hindered in their desire to have normal contact with the Successor of Peter. It is also for this reason that their desire becomes stronger. I would say that it is almost normal. I want to ask you a question about an event of a long time ago. Is it true, Your Eminence, that you were present at the episcopal ordination of Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, that occurred twenty-seven years ago? Yes, I was present at that mass. It was 1985. I was then a priest of the diocese of Hong Kong and since 1980 was directing the Holy Spirit Study Center [the influential research center on the life of the Church in China, ed.] Jin asked me to be present. He asked me to show my support, at that time. He told me that he had been in prison, that he wanted to keep his own faith and his communion with the universal Church and that he would send letters to Rome to confirm his submission to the Apostolic See and the primacy of the Pope. He said he had weighed all in conscience, and that at that historical moment it seemed that there was no other way except to accept the episcopal ordination. Given the circumstances, it seemed to him an obligatory choice to sustain the diocese of Shanghai and save the church and the seminary there. Seven years ago the Holy See accepted his requests and recognized him as the legitimate bishop of Shanghai. But these are things of the past. Now we must look to the future... Precisely looking at the present and future, what have you learned from the experiences of those times? I learned that time can tell, can prove, time can give an account of things. Sometimes only in the long term can you see clearly whether something is right or wrong, whether a choice was dictated by good reasons or not. In the transitory immediacy of the moment you can not clearly judge how things are. But in the long run it emerges whether the intention of the heart was at least good. Sometimes situations are complicated in China. One is put under pressure, you do not find people to discuss things with. But if you make the choices having the love of Jesus and the Church in your heart, the right intention at the end can be verified by all, in the long run. And what, with respect to the controversial events in which Chinese catholicity is involved, does this imply? We can not fix on a single point, can not attempt to review every decision, and expect that every action and every decision made by members of the Church in China are always perfect in every moment and every situation. We are human, we are human beings! We all make mistakes and fall many times along the way. But then you can ask for forgiveness. But if each error is isolated and becomes a reason for condemnation without appeal, who can be saved? It is in the long run that you see whether a priest or bishop has a good intention in his heart. You see whether what they do is done for the love of God, the Church and the people, even with all their human errors. This is important: to discover that people persevere in fidelity because they are moved by the love of Jesus, also in difficult situations. In the end, in the long run, everyone will see it. And certainly God sees it, who searches the hearts of all of us. Source: http://www.30giorni.it/articoli_id_78288_l3.htm |
Tác giả: Gianni Valente
Nguồn tin: Website HĐGMVN
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