A Pilgrimage to China (Continues)     A New Heaven and A New Earth in China   Fr Augustine Mundackatt VC      
After a prayer-filled tour of five days in the province of Unaan, we boarded a plane for Beijing, the capital of China.
 
On July 20th China-Unaan Airlines landed at Beijing International Airport. The city of Beijing comprises six districts and one hundred and fifty townships. The sophistication of Beijing, with its well-equipped airport, the magnificent roadways, the mighty skyscrapers, the streets flanked by rows of trees and illuminated by fluorescent lights and filled with an endless flow of foreign-made vehicles, is on a par with any European or American city. On seeing such splendours, many of my fellow-travellers, who had toured America and Europe several times, began wondering, "Is this communist China or a capitalist country?"
 
We went straight to the heart of the capital city from the airport- to Tien An Men Square. This Square is the resting place of the deceased Communist leaders. There, in front of an important doorway were inscribed the words: "The gate of heaven". Tien An Men Square is the largest square in the world. It can hold 10 lakhs of people at the same time. There were, on those days, more than ten thousand people come from various parts of the world to visit China. Every day a festive atmosphere prevails. From 1987 onwards, China has been welcoming foreign tourists. Among them are numerous Christians, too. We stood amidst these thousands and raised our voices to say "Alleluia" and prayed in the name of Jesus in front of Mao's tomb. When the Alleluia songs resounded, many turned round to have a look at us. Soldiers bearing arms and security guards opened their eyes wide and stared hard at us. Whether their fingers fiddled with the trigger, I do not know. They must have wondered if these foreigners calling out to Jesus and praying in his name, in Tien An Men Square, which is the nerve centre of communism, were trouble-makers. We ignored the possibility of harassment, walked steadily on, following Chen Qin Shi, our guide, who strode holding the red flag aloft. We kept repeating "Praise the Lord" and "Alleluia" at the top of our voices.
 
In our ears resounded the rumblings of revolution and rebellion of thousands of young people who were mercilessly crushed under the iron wheels of gigantic military tanks. As we walked on the sands drenched in their blood, the soles of our feet began tingling. Unconsciously our minds murmured: " Very soon Communism will come to an end here. The red flag is fading. The prophecy of Isaiah, will be fulfilled: '... Iam about to create new heavens and a new earth...be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating'"(Is 65:17-18) The war cry of a new revolution is in the making: "Workers of the world unite! What you lose are only these chains. What you gain is another world!" This is the second revolution that will win the whole world for Jesus, the Almighty Lord! Atheism will be banished from within the frontiers of China. What will then be lost are only the shackles of sin and diabolical bondage. "He who sat upon the throne said, 'See, I am making all things new'" (Rev 21:5). The result of this renewal will be a new world. "See,the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away"(Rev 21:3-4). This is going to be a reality very soon in China.
 
In Beijing, the hot house of communism , there are one crore and thirty lakhs of people. Of these, 50,000 are Catholics. Seven of the seventeen churches of Beijing are in the heart of the city,forty priests assisting the Archbishop of Beijing, minister to the people in these seventeen churches. There are three monasteries housing fifty young monks and ten novices aged about twenty years. There are two Major Seminaries in China. One of them is in Beijing. Forty seminarians are undergoing training in this seminary. There are altogether 30 convents, more than 3000 nuns and around one thousand brothers in China. To govern these 120 dioceses, there are only 70 bishops. In the whole of China the Catholics number about 50 lakhs.
 
All the people in China do not have the freedom to relate to the foreigners who visit the country. The tourists can visit and contact only those places and people specified by the government. There are priests specially chosen to maintain relationships with foreigners. The four chief churches in Beijing are known as East Church, West Church, North Church and South Church. One of them, the Church of the Immaculate conception, is the Cathedral of the Archbishop of Beijing. It was after going there on two consecutive days that the church was opened for us for a visit. On the third day, Fr Lawrence, again with special permission, gave us an interview. Fr Lawrence had joined the Seminary in 1940. In 1966 and during the years of persecution, he went underground . It was only in 1971 that he appeared in public. At present the Catholic Church in China is slowly becoming independent. About 500-600 new converts come into the Church every year. All those who wish to receive Baptism, have to undergo a faith-training course(RCIA) every six months. Numerous people including youth wish to be baptised.
 
The Church in China is financially very poor. No government aid is available for constructing or maintaining the churches. Help is sent from Singapore and Taiwan. Most of the churches are in a dilapidated condition and badly in need of repairs. Bibles in the Chinese language, rosaries, crucifixes and other devotional objects sent from Taiwan and Hongkong are readily available. On some week days we went to the churches in Beijing to participate in the Mass. We saw about 100-300 people attending the 6.30 am Eucharistic Sacrifice with great devotion. The people who kept coming to the church from 5 am onwards were mostly the older generation. The custom of reciting the rosary before Mass still prevails. The Office for the Dead and the Way of the Cross are conducted publicly after Mass. Once we saw a seventy-seven year-old man walking alone along the streets saying the rosary. He told us that during the years of persecution he would recite the rosary secretly and pray through the intercession of our Blessed Mother. He had been sure, he added, that sooner or later, the Church would regain its freedom.
 
China has developed much socially and economically. Though privatisation has only just been introduced, private business, buildings, expensive cars and such commodities have already become common. The government has taken a rigid stand regarding birth control. One child for a couple-that is the order. The second child must be aborted. The government sees to the expenses. Like a terrible curse on the nation, every day, thousands of abortions take place. O God, who will abolish the curse and punishment of this merciless mass murder! The Church is not permitted to preach or instruct the people that abortion is a sin.
 
We had a long chat with Archbishop Fu, the ecclesiastical head of the Archdiocese of Beijing. He has great hopes as regards the future of the Church in China. He mentioned that there is a loosening of governmental control. He expects a re-establishment of Church relations and diplomatic ties with the Holy See and the Pope, he added. The Archbishop recalled the visit of the former Archbishop of Delhi and Mother Teresa to Beijing.
 
We were privileged to participate in the Mass in the Archbishop's Cathedral along with the congregation. Though official relationships with the Vatican are not permitted, the Mass offered under the auspices of the National Church of China, follows meticulously the rubrics of the Latin Mass. There are also intercessory prayers for the Pope during the Mass.
 
During the oppressive rule of the Communist government, there was a vain effort made to destroy the Church by casting bishops and priests along with women, into prison. But God did not allow any priest or religious to be destroyed in this manner. Thus God showed his providential care over his Church.
 
We spent five full days in Beijing. The ten days spent in China were days of blessings. We were able to offer concelebrated Mass and pray for hours together. The Management of the hotel we stayed in, made all the arrangements for celebrating Mass. From China we made our way to Ulaan Bator, the capital of Mongolia.
 
 
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