Joaquim Magalhães de Castro
Lent, a time of penance that precedes the great Easter feast of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, is a time of prayer, fasting and offering of alms all over the world. This is what the Catholic Church recommends to its sons and daughters.
And in China, of course, such a tradition is no exception. The local Catholic communities follow the Lenten path, redoubling their efforts in the works of charity usually practiced and in empathy for others, always ready to respond to emergencies and needs that most affect the daily lives of people in general. Alongside the traditional methods of offering alms to those most in need at the local level, other interesting initiatives have been implemented, “with flexibility and diligence to respond to the new needs and specific demands felt in the current historical phase”, as is well expressed in a statement issued by local religious bodies to the Fides news agency.
In Beijing, the San Francisco Foundation, whose work centers around the parish dedicated to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, invites believers to support parishes and ecclesial communities in areas most affected by natural disasters and those with population centers with the greatest financial difficulties. This year, the funds raised are destined for the communities of the village of Pingbian situated in the province of Yunnan.
The two charity sessions, scheduled for Palm Sunday, will raise funds to support the studies of 19 university students from the Miao ethnic minority. In the parish of Imaculada Conceição, the Group of Volunteers, founded two years ago, has already assisted in financing the studies of 41 young people from families that were unable to provide their children with access to higher education for economic reasons. During this Lent, volunteers received 58 scholarship applications from priests and nuns working in economically-disadvantaged areas.
In Shanghai, the Association of Catholic Intellectuals has collected donations that will allow it to offer free medical examinations to people with intellectual disabilities. Nearby, in Zhejiang Province, the Provincial Team of the Catholic Health Counseling Service visited Fenghua Parish in the Diocese of Ningbo to provide medical services to Catholics and the local population. Thirty volunteer Catholic doctors visited and provided diagnostic tests to hundreds of people. Medicines were distributed free of charge to those most in need.
Works of Charity and Celebrating Achievements
- Some of the initiatives include raising funds to support university students from economically-disadvantaged areas, offering free medical examinations to people with intellectual disabilities, and providing medical services to Catholics and the local population.
- In 2022, the Congregation of Saint Joseph, the first indigenous female religious congregation in China, also celebrated 150 years of great achievements in pastoral care and evangelization.
- The community has 50 nuns who work in the diocese, in different parishes, schools, hospitals, and a nursing home, providing spiritual support to the younger ones.
- The congregation was founded in Beijing in 1874 by Louis-Gabriel Delaplace, CM, Bishop of Peking, with the exclusive presence of sisters from the capital and surrounding areas.
In the parish of Xiangzhou, Zhuhai, located near Macau, parishioners visited the Fraternity Rest House “to put into practice the teaching of the Love of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Charity during their Lenten journey”. The volunteers talked to the elderly, cleaned their rooms and helped them with their personal hygiene. Thus, with small gestures, “they made known the love of God and the comfort of the Church, which continues to carry out all its pastoral and charitable activities in the best possible way”.
All this occurred shortly after two sisters of the Congregation of Saint Joseph in the Archdiocese of Beijing, took their perpetual vows. After 10 years of pastoral experience in China and South Korea, the two sisters belonging to the first indigenous female religious congregation in China pronounced their perpetual vows in the presence of the Archbishop of Beijing, Archbishop Joseph Li Shan. This was the first profession of vows liturgy after three years of confinement due to the pandemic. This community already has 50 nuns who work in the diocese, in different parishes, schools, hospitals and in a nursing home. The sisters also provide spiritual support to the younger ones. Unlike the past, the origin of these nuns is not limited to the diocese of Beijing as is the case with Sister Zhong Haihong (one of the two who took perpetual vows), who hails from Jiangxi and previously worked in the public sector from 2003 to 2010 after completing her university studies.
In 2022, the Congregation of São José celebrated 150 years “of great achievements in pastoral care and evangelization”. The sisters took advantage of the event to “trace the history of the Congregation”, recalling the charism of the founder, Louis-Gabriel Delaplace, CM, Bishop of Peking. Since 1872, the sisters have continued the “intense apostolic and missionary work” of this French prelate, cultivating a community life despite wars and tribulations, social changes, the pandemic and its consequences on the life of the Church.
According to historical sources, Delaplace, during a long period of meditation and prayer, sought inspiration from Saint Joseph to establish a Chinese religious congregation dedicated “to the service and the ecclesial and social mission”. This proposal of his would be discussed at the First Vatican Council in 1870. After two years of preparation, and thanks to the help from the Canossian Sisters, the Congregation of Saint Joseph would end up being founded in Beijing, counting in its rows the exclusive presence of sisters from the capital and surrounding areas.
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