Group links China, American Catholics

Rev. Michael Farano, pastor of St. Pius X Church in Loudonville, knows that faith is thriving in China because he's seen it firsthand.

In the mid-1990s, he took part in a religious study trip there with the U.S. Catholic China Bureau, an independent organization that furthers communication and friendship between American Catholics and China.

From March 18 to April 3, the Bureau will sponsor its tenth trip, allowing participants to view the growth of faith, lay involvement and vocations in China. The visit will include stops at the Great Wall, the Qin-dynasty terra cotta warriors and the Forbidden Palace in Beijing.

Faith in China

According to Doug Lovejoy, the Bureau's executive director, the tour will include stops at local churches, rural and city seminaries, houses of formation for women religious, and the tomb of the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci.

Half-a-century ago, religious life in China was suppressed by the Communists. Church buildings were confiscated, and religious orders dissolved. Many Catholics practiced their faith behind closed doors as an "underground church."

In the early 1980s, a state-sponsored Catholic faith was re-established under the Chinese government, with no official connection to the Vatican. Still, Chinese Catholics "held on to their faith in a way that is very inspiring," Mr. Lovejoy said.

'Ambiguity'

Father Farano said that westerners often see in China in black and white. But he saw lines crossing between "registered" and "unregistered" churches, and believes that Chinese Catholics have found ways for faith to thrive within their particular religious situation.

"I am blown away by the ability of the Chinese Catholics to live with ambiguity," he explained. "They can be perfectly at peace in a registered church and still pray for the Holy Father by name. They are willing to say that 'we are on a journey. Eventually, the problems will be solved; but, in the meanwhile, we are faithful to our Church, to our government and to our culture.'"

On Father Farano's trip, the group visited a registered seminary whose rector was from the unregistered church, met a Catholic bishop that had spent nine years in a re-education camp, and spoke with priests, sisters and laypeople highly involved in Catholic life.

New era

Mr. Lovejoy looks forward to gauging firsthand the attitude of Chinese Catholics to the death of Pope John Paul II and election of Pope Benedict XVI, both of whom have made overtures to the Chinese government.

"China is the kind of place that changes almost daily," he noted. "When John Paul II died, there was a great upswell of popular reaction to that. We also are going to get a better sense of the issues, the developments and how the Chinese are maturing as a local church."

On his trip, Father Farano was particularly impressed with learning about the lives of Chinese nuns.

"The women religious are phenomenal," he said. "In the early '80s, when some of Mao's policies began to be reversed, some of the old women re-established their communities. They remembered their novitiate and were rewriting their constitutions to bring them up to date with [the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s]. And the young sisters are so enthusiastic. They're building the Church there, just as they did here."

(For information about the trip, call the U.S. Catholic China Bureau before Feb. 24 at 973-763-1131. The costs is about $3,500.)

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