China's Divided Catholics Unite, if Just to Mourn

China's Divided Catholics Unite, if Just to Mourn

By JIM YARDLEY

Published: April 7, 2005

HIJIAZHUANG, China, April 6 - With a large, framed photo of Pope John Paul II propped atop a makeshift altar, a Chinese priest named Father Joseph stood before a few hundred peasants on Wednesday and led a memorial Mass that broke the law.

The Mass, videotaped and later shown by the priest to a reporter, was held in a dusty courtyard rather than a church. Father Joseph said villagers had kept watch outside as he slowly raised a wafer above his head for the consecration. Then parishioners hurriedly paraded in the village holding aloft the portrait of John Paul II before dispersing.

Father Joseph and his flock in central Hebei Province are among the several million Catholics who worship in illegal underground churches that retain allegiance to Rome and the pope. The "official" Catholic churches ultimately answer to the Communist Party.

"This is the principle of our church," said another priest, Father Thomas, who assisted in leading the service. "The pope is the highest leader of the whole Catholic church in the world, including China."

China's 12 million Catholics are mourning the death of John Paul II, but his passing is also a reminder of an unfinished legacy: the division of Chinese Catholics from the rest of the church, and from each other. Indeed, if John Paul II helped bring down Communism in Eastern Europe, the Communist Party that rules China proved resilient. The two sides never came to agree to normalize relations between the Vatican and China and end the diplomatic break that began more than a half century ago under Mao.

On a personal level, the pope never achieved his goal of visiting China.

Even so, his death has underscored his enormous influence among Chinese Catholics, those underground and those in the official church. It also has offered a glimpse at how the church here has changed and become harder to define.

If years ago the Vatican had little influence with the mechanics of the official church in China, that is now very different, priests and other Catholics say. Often, candidates for bishops in the official church also use informal contacts to seek permission from Rome. For several years, priests in some official churches have increasingly referred to the pope as their spiritual leader. And if the laity once had little access to information about the pope, the rise of the Internet has changed that, and the government allows more information in the Chinese media.

An underground priest in central Hebei said he had learned about the pope's death only a few hours later on the Internet. He quickly organized a Mass for about 300 people.

"We prayed for the pope," said the priest, Father Peter, who like others interviewed would only allow his Catholic name to be used. "Chinese love the pope even more. We know the pope has written many times to China."

Here in Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei, the country's first Catholic nongovernmental social services center, Beifang Jinde, operates a newspaper and a Web site that has been a clearinghouse of information about the pope. The Rev. John B. Zhang, director of the center, said the Web site posted regular reminders for people to pray during the pope's illness, then carried an immediate bulletin when he died, without any government reprisals.

Since then, scores of Catholic churches across China have sent photographs of memorial services to be posted online.

"The death of the Holy Father brings all the Catholic communities together," Father Zhang said. "They pray very hard. They show to the world and to the universal church that we are the same Catholics."

Chinese Catholics were divided from the universal church, and each other, in 1951 after Mao established a "patriotic" association to oversee Catholic churches. The association rejected papal authority and placed church affairs like appointments under government control.

It left Chinese Catholics with a difficult choice, and many who had been raised in parishes founded by European missionaries went underground. Persecution of underground priests and bishops continues, and two elderly priests in Hebei have been detained in the past few weeks, according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, a group based in the United States that monitors underground churches in China.

Interviews with six underground priests found that governmental pressure differs from region to region. In Shijiazhuang, Father Joseph and three other priests rotate locations for holding Mass and choose remote, inaccessible villages. They say they understand they run the risk of arrest. Yet, Father Peter said, officials are more relaxed in his area. Still, government officials sometimes take underground priests to visit famous sites of the Communist Revolution as an "educational tour" in which they are lectured on the primacy of the government.

"The government just wanted control and to brainwash us," Father Peter said.

Normalizing relations with China will be a challenge for the next pope. The Vatican is the last European government with diplomatic ties to Taiwan, instead of China. The Vatican wants to regain authority over church affairs in China - control that the Communist Party is loath to relinquish. Already, Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong has predicted that the Vatican would be willing to sever ties with Taiwan but only as part of negotiations with Beijing.

Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, is to attend the pope's funeral on Friday, a trip that is sure to infuriate the Chinese government and complicate the prospect of normal ties with the Vatican.

Officials reportedly came close to normalizing ties in 1999, only to see the deal collapse. Later, John Paul II spoke publicly about his desire to reconcile with the Chinese church. In 2001, the pope offended some conservatives by apologizing to China for "errors" made by Catholic missionaries in colonial times.

"Once the misunderstandings of the past have been overcome, a dialogue would make it possible for us to work together for the good of the Chinese people and for peace in the world," the pope said at the time.

Father Joseph and the other priests said that in recent years, there has been much more dialogue between the underground and official Catholic "communities."

Many people believe normalization between Rome and China is the only way to heal the whole Catholic community in China.

"That is the future, that is our hope," said Father Zhang, the social services director. "Normalization is a key issue for reconciliation and for the future of developing the church in China."

On Friday, the day of the pope's burial, there will be more Masses in China, both Roman Catholic and "official" Catholic. Priests on both sides say John Paul changed Catholic China for the better, even if he didn't achieve his goal of reconciliation.

"We talk about him all the time," Father Joseph said. "When we are eating, when we meet with people, through text messages and by telephone."

Liu Jinghe, 84, is the bishop of the official church in Tangshan. He said he is deeply proud that he was born in the same year as John Paul and tears well in his eyes when he describes learning about the pope's death.

"We are very sad," he said. "We lost a very good pope. I know he likes China and Chinese priests very much."

Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong for this article.