Occasionally, stories from the Underground Catholic Church in China make it through the bamboo curtain to give us a glimpse of their valour and devotion. One I heard years ago was about a missionary who visited China and stayed with a Catholic family in a rural area. In the middle of night, he heard everyone moving around and asked what was going on. “We are going to the Wall” they answered and he accompanied them as they crept out of the house and made off across the fields to a clearing in a forest.
Many other people had gathered there, coming from all directions, some climbed trees and kept watch in case anyone had been followed by the authorities. One person then approached an old wall (perhaps part of a derelict building) and removed a brick to reveal the Blessed Sacrament.
All knelt in silent adoration for a holy hour, replaced the brick and went home.
No one knows just how much they have suffered at the hands of the atheist Communist government over the last few decades; persecutions are varied, from economic sanctions like fines and loss of work, to harassment by Police and neighbours or torture, imprisonment and martyrdom. The regime has been quite consistent in its desire to control every aspect of the lives of its people and to single out the menace of religion for particularly brutal attention.
When Neville Chamberlain attempted to avoid conflict by signing the Munich agreement with Hitler, I imagine he was sincere, if a little naive as the full horror of Nazism had not yet been revealed but the recent agreement between the Vatican and the Chinese Government over the apointment of bishops is quite incomprehensible: their character is already known.
The faithfulness of the Underground church is an incredible witness to the rest of the Catholic world; let’s hope and pray that the church they love can prove worthy of their sacrifices for it and stand with them now.
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