China’s Modern Martyrs: From Mao to Now

C atholic World Report ^ | 6/13/13 | Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.

[marshmallow]

The untold story of the Communist destruction of the Our Lady of Consolation Trappist Abbey at Yangjiaping in 1947

Part 1, Accusations

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.” John 1:10

I have just returned from another year in China where I have witnessed the Church grow. I have seen churches struggle to accommodate the crowds who come for Holy Mass, and I have listened to countless stories of Christian suffering under China’s Communist rule. Over the years I have traveled with, worshipped with, and prayed with Chinese Catholics. Priests have risked their safety to meet me at secluded places, accompany me on peasant-filled busses to remote places of Catholic martyrdom, and send me surreptitious messages about the continued suppression, suffering, and humiliation that China’s Catholics endure every day.

I once sat across from a crippled underground bishop, his spine permanently stooped over from 20 years of torture in a Communist prison because he refused to denounce the pope. The bishop’s eyes beamed with joy, despite his distorted face, and he said over and over, “Thank you, Lord.” At such times, when I am with holy Chinese Catholics who have suffered tortures for their faith, I recall the famous line from St. Augustine: “God had one Son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.” This holy bishop, Hu Daguo (1920-2011), was divinely connected to the suffering Son for whom he too had suffered.

For nearly a decade I have preserved testimonies, handwritten accounts, and archival documents that outline how China’s Church has suffered under its Communist authorities, and in the following series I will highlight some of those stories, stories that will help Catholics better understand China’s modern martyrs, from Mao to now.