Is this Religious Freedom?
Patrick Kar-wai Poon
Committee Member and Coordinator of China Affairs Group,
Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese
Catholicism is one of the five recognized religions in China, the other four being Protestantism, Buddhism, Taoism and Muslim. Since 1950s, the Catholic Church in China has been sadly divided into two families – the officially sanctioned Church registered with the government and headed by the Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) and the Bishop Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC) and the underground Church community which refuses to register with the government. According to Chinese government statistics, there are about 7 million Catholics in China, while China observers estimate that the figure should be much higher by including underground Church members.
Restrictions on Government-sanctioned Catholic Church
Although the Catholic Church resumed activities in early 1980s after the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976 and Beijing initiated the “open door policy” in 1978, there have been endless disputes among people who are concerned about the situations of the Catholic Church in China. Experts on Catholic Church in China, such as Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kun (retired bishop of Hong Kong Diocese) and Belgian scholar priest Fr. Jeroom Heyndrickx, acting director of Ferdinand Verbiest Institute of Catholic University of Leuven, have been strongly debating how the government-sanctioned Catholic communities should maintain their faith while dealing with the Chinese government’s various restrictions on the Church in China and how the Vatican should react. Cardinal Zen reminds Catholics in China and the Vatican that we should firmly follow the Church’s principles and Canon Law while Fr. Heyndrickx and some overseas China Church observers and some clergies belonged to the official Church in China plead for compromise in some principles for the sake of “development” of the Church in China. We have to bear in mind that these disputes actually manifest the effect of the Chinese government’s control of the Catholic Church in China and it is exactly what the Chinese government wants to see the splits within the Catholic community in China and between those who support the Catholic Church in China.
Among all the disputes, the most controversial issue, however, is the appointments of bishops. Appointments of bishops can affect a local diocese’s development for decades. If young clergies in their 40s who submit to government control become bishops of their dioceses, the local Church communities will encounter very difficult situations. In some cases, the clergies and lay Catholics are split among themselves on whether they should accept these new bishops and attend Mass liturgies celebrated by them. The most recent controversial bishop appointment is the illicit ordination in Chengde Diocese in Hebei province in November 2010. Some bishops of other dioceses were forced to concelebrate the installation ceremony while some were lured by monetary rewards to attend it. It also created distrust among the clergies and lay Catholics in the diocese.
Another event which created much distrust among Church people of the government-sanctioned Church was the Eighth National Congress of Catholic Representatives. Dozens of bishops were forced to attend the meeting while some were lured to attend it as the government offered to give them financial assistance to help their dioceses’ development, according to sources. It again created much distrust within the government-sanctioned Church community, especially among the bishops, the priests and lay Catholics in their dioceses who felt very much confused on how to follow Catholic principles. By attending such a meeting organized by the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, it sent a very wrong message to the Catholic Church community in China and the Vatican that the bishops who attended the meeting recognized the legitimate control of the Catholic Patriotic Association. Afterall, we need to ask one question: is it really religious freedom when the government has exerted so much control on the administration of Church affairs?
Oppression of the “Underground” Catholic Church
Since bishops and priests of the “Underground” Catholic Church refuse to be controlled by the government by refusing to register with the Catholic Patriotic Association, many bishops and priests have been subjected to crackdowns and harassments over the years. According to information collected by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, nearly 20 clergies in Hebei province have been illegally detained, tortured or forced to join political “classes”.
The horrible cases of torture and ill-treatment include: 1) In September 2007, Father Yu Zhongxun (宇中勛) was hanged to a basketball stand overnight and he was subjected to various torture, including being tied to a chair (老虎櫈) for more than 10 days, hurt by cigarette butts, forced to drink chili water (灌辣椒水); in June 2009, during the last six days of his six-month detention, Father Liu Jianzhong (劉建忠) was not allowed to sleep and he was made to stand in a pose a soldier, squat and push up for more than 10 hours every day.
Hebei province is traditionally a stronghold of the Catholic community in China, especially “underground” Catholics, probably due to the fact that many European missionaries preached in the area during Ming and Qing Dynasties. One of the most famous cases is Bishop Su Zhemin (alias Su Zhimin) (蘇哲民) of Baoding Diocese in Hebei province. Bishop Su was arrested at a lay Catholic’s house in Xinji city, near Shijiazhuang on 8 October 1997. After the arrest, he was held in detention in Qingyuan County, Baoding. For years, nothing was heard of him. Bishop Su had previously been arrested for at least five times and imprisoned for nearly 27 years. Another example is Father Lu Genjun (鹿根君) of the same diocese. Father Lu and another priest Father Guo Yanli were arrested when they were receiving a friend at Baoding railroad station on 17 February 2006. Father Guo was sent to Xushui detention center in Hebei and his current situation was not clear. As of October 2010, the whereabouts of Father Lu was unknown. Bishop Shi Enxiang (師恩祥) of Yixian (易縣) diocese in Hebei was in Beijing on Good Friday on 13 April 2001. Nothing was heard of him since then. He has previously spent 30 years in prison. Recently, three more young priest in Hebei were taken away. In mid-March, Father Wang Lifang (王立芳) of Zhengding (正定) diocese was cheated by plainclothes officers to perform sacraments for the sick and he was then taken away. Nothing has been heard of him. Another 40-year-old priest Father Zhang Guangjun (張廣軍) was taken away in mid-January 2011 and he was not allowed to sleep for five days during detention and had been subjected to ill-treatment and insult. He was briefly released during the Chinese New Year and then was taken away again on 8 March 2011. It was believed that he was tortured again. His whereabouts is unknown. Father Chen Hailong (陳海龍), a 29-year-old priest who was only ordained two years ago, of Xuanhua (宣化) diocese on 8 April 2011 was taken away by plainclothes when he was travelling with two young people to visit Catholics.
Support needed
The above-mentioned situations and cases are only the tip of the iceberg. There might be more unknown situations of control on the government-sanctioned Church and more unknown cases of harassments of underground Church people. We, the Justice and Peace Commission, together with other organisations and individuals will continue to call for more attention and support to the Catholic Church in China, both the open and underground Church communities. At the same time, we also pay attention to the harassments of protestant house church members and other faith communities.
