THE MARTYRS OF CHINA: THE SILENCE OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC.
BY JAMES MADISON.
Seized by a frenzy of vengeful blood lusts after weeks of suffering outside the walls, the victorious Crusaders poured through the streets, breaking open houses, shops, and mosques to butcher every man, woman, and child they could find… One of the reports to the pope read, “If you would hear how we treated our enemies at Jerusalem, know that in the portico of Solomon and in the Temple our men rode through the unclean blood of the Saracens, which came up to the knees of their horses.”… Word spread that the local Moslems sometimes swallowed their gold as the surest way to hide it, and disemboweling thereafter became a common practice in the search for plunder… Hoping to avoid the maniacal slaughter, Jews crowded into their principle synagogue to give notice that they were not Moslems. The Crusaders burnt down the synagogue, killing them all.[i]
One might think that the gory scene described above is from an age long past. From a time when humanity was not as civilized or advanced. Since the time of the Crusaders, we have witnessed the reformation, the enlightenment, the rise of social sciences, Freud, the American and French revolutions, and ultimately the Vatican Council II with its Declaration on Religious Liberty—Dignitatis Humanae. Unfortunately, with all of these progressions in philosophical notions of liberty, human dignity, human rights, freedom of consciousness and law, there are those that are still persecuted for their beliefs, even killed, tortured, maimed and imprisoned.
As of May 2005, fifty Bishops of the underground Roman Catholic Church in China were either in jail, under house arrest, under strict surveillance or in hiding. Some were even sent to labor re-education camps.[ii] In September five members of an evangelical Christian group were sentenced to death, with others receiving sentences from one year to life.[iii] In November, 16 sisters of the Congregation of Franciscan Missionaries of the Sacred Heart were insulted and beaten as they tried to stop the demolition of a diocesan school which the government illegally sold to a construction company.[iv]
The list goes on. In July, a baptismal service in Henan Province was raided by police with the pastor and others being sentenced to “15 days administrative detention”. Others present were fined. Mr. Cai Zhuohua is in prison still awaiting sentence for printing bibles.[v]
100 High School students were arrested in July at a Vocational Bible School, later interrogated and ordered not to gather again. 43 South China Church Pastors and believers were imprisoned in August with all but two being released. Having suffered “torture, humiliation and beatings”, He Baobao, a 17 year old had to be hospitalized. The two remaining in prison are reported to having been “savagely and repeatedly beaten into unconsciousness.” Two American Theology students were part of the arrest and were interrogated for hours and had their bibles seized. On August 7th another raid on a house church resulted in 30 arrests with ten of the women being “stripped and paraded naked”.[vi]
Later in August, 35 students were arrested along with church leaders at a Sunday School training class. Six were prosecuted for criminal offenses. Twenty-seven more house church pastors and five American church leaders were also arrested. It is not known where they are being detained.[vii]
On November 12th, Roman Catholic Priest, Father Yang Jianwei and ten seminarians were arrested for not agreeing to submit to state registration and oversight. After three days of detention, six of the seminarians were released with Father Yang and the rest remaining in custody. There whereabouts are unknown.[viii]
China has a long history with Christianity. The Nestorians were the first to bring the faith to China under the Tang Dynasty in 635 C.E. Then the Franciscans evangelized it under the Mongols in the 14th century. Matteo Ricci and the Jesuits came in 1601 and finally Robert Morrison the first Protestant missionary arrived in 1807. By 1926, China had 8000 Protestant missionaries.[ix]
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came to power in 1949. With the country being wracked by war and civil strife for more than a decade, the economy was stagnant with inflation reaching 700 percent. Railroads had ceased to operate and the merchant fleets had fled for Taiwan. Unemployment was rampant, as the cities were crowded with refugees.[x]
As time passed and atheistic socialism was instilled, Christian institutions were taken over by the state. Missionaries, mission boards and ecumenical councils were alienated as conflicts between Christians and the state ensued. Loyalties clashed as many Christians saw themselves as patriotic Chinese. Some, facing tremendous pressure, even renounced the faith.[xi]
Brown summarizes the CCP position on religion as follows:
(1) Religious freedom is narrowly defined. It is something that is permitted within the four walls of a mosque, temple, or church, or something that takes place within the privacy of one’s home. This freedom does not include the right of religious ceremony or display in public places.
(2) Party and government have an obligation to promote atheism. The state is not neutral. Atheism should be promoted through education, scientific research, and propaganda, but not by force.
(3) A distinction is made between superstition and religion. Superstitious practices are harmful to the people and cannot be tolerated. The state has an obligation to protect innocent and gullible people from exploitation by fortune tellers, shamans, and the sellers of magical potions. Religion is viewed as something quite different. Though misguided, it does have some legitimacy due to its historical and social origins.
(4) Christianity is a special case. Christianity was viewed with a greater degree of antagonism and suspicion because of its historical links with the Western Powers who oppressed China and with the capitalistic system that exploited the people. Christians could be singled out and deprived of their rights as citizens, not because of their religious faith, but because of their “rightist sympathies” or because of their relationship with foreign missionaries. This was particularly true in the early years of the People’s Republic when China and the United States were at war in Korea.[xii]
With the advent of the Korean war animosity towards the West and especially the United States, came to the fore. Y.T. Wu (Wu Yaotsung), a Protestant leader who had attended Union Theological Seminary in N.Y. and was influenced by the Christian Socialist movement in the 1930s led a group of Christian leaders to meet with Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing to discuss future government relations. Zhou ordered no more missionaries from the West inside China and restricted Chinese Christian movement. He urged the church to “rid itself of all imperialistic foreign influences”, implying that this would secure state protection of Christianity. With this in mind, Wu wrote The Christian Manifesto which was approved by the premier and published in 1950. By 1952 forty prominent Christian leaders and over forty thousand Christians had signed it.[xiii]
The Manifesto asked Christians to raise their “vigilance against imperialism”, “to hasten the building of a Chinese church whose affairs are managed by the Chinese themselves”, support the “common political platform”, “oppose bureaucratic capitalism” and “purge itself from imperialistic influences.” Any domestic Churches should discontinue personal and financial aid with the West as soon as possible and work towards self-reliance. The United States was singled out for “its plot to use religion in fostering the growth of reactionary forces.”[xiv]
In October 1950 a meeting of the Chinese National Christian Council adopted the Manifesto and implemented the “Three-Self Reform” (self-government, self-support, self-propagation). This reform under the direction of the government’s Religious Affairs Bureau eventually became the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement in 1954 with Y.T. Wu as its president. With the World Council of Churches approving United Nations intervention in the Korean War, T.C. Chao the Dean of the Yenching University School of Religion and one of the WCC’s six presidents resigned his position. His resignation broke all international and ecumenical relationships with the West.[xv]
Initiation training classes for preachers and other Christian leaders began in 1953 under the guidance of the Three-Self Committee and the Religious Affairs Bureau. In order to complete the course one was expected to write an essay about the affects of imperialism and how ones thinking had changed. “A confession of wrong doing and an affirmation of complete support for the New China was required.”[xvi]
One aspect of this period was the “accusation meeting”. Missionaries and those who had refused to sign the manifesto were singled out for special treatment. Accusations were in a set pattern beginning with a sweeping denunciation of the accused followed by a list of specific charges, including cultural aggression, support of American imperialism, and connection with missionaries. The most famous of all denunciations was that of Rev. Wang Mingdao the pastor of an independent Protestant church in Beijing. After refusing to sign the manifesto and criticizing the Three-Self Movement, he was subject to public denunciation, arrested and sentenced to a year in jail. He was released in broken health and forced to sign a confession. After release he repudiated the confession and was arrested again. He remained in prison for 22 years being released at the age of seventy nine in December 1979.[xvii]
Roman Catholics in China suffered more than Protestants. Two factors made resistance inevitable. First was the Vatican recognition of Taiwan and second the necessity of the papacy to make all appointments of bishops. These factors “accentuated the foreign nature of the church in the eyes of the Chinese.” With only one native Chinese being consecrated by the Church in the 17th century and none during the next two hundred years, four-fifths of the bishops and two-fifths of all priests were foreigners in 1949.[xviii]
The “Riberi Affair” forced a break between the Vatican and the People’s Republic. Archbishop Antonio Riberi was sent as apostolic nuncio by Pius XII in 1946. When the People’s Republic was established in 1949 the Archbishop remained at his post. With the Vatican recognition of the Nationalists in Taiwan a diplomatic impasse was created. The People’s republic waited two years for Vatican recognition while the Archbishop continued to warn of the dangers of communism, urging missionaries to stay, even in the face of persecutions and martyrdom. With the Archbishop’s organization of the Legion of Mary which translates into Chinese as the “Army of the Holy Mother”, the wrath of the Communist party ensued. In 1951 after a repudiation of the patriotic movement, the Archbishop was placed under house arrest and later escorted to the Hong Kong boarder and “unceremoniously expelled from the country.”[xix]
Later the People’s republic tried to organize Catholics into an movement called the “Three Autonomies” which was similar to the “Three-Self Movement. Catholic Bishops countered with a statement entitled “The Church in China: Declaration of Principles”, which instructed Catholics to reject any pressure from outside to organize its inner structure, denied imperialistic connections, warned of a schism with Rome, prohibited priests from political activity, claimed the Church was moving toward leadership by native bishops and charged Catholics to love their country. In spite of the pressure, the “three Autonomies” movement was a failure. In 1954, 115 out of 143 dioceses were still resistant to the patriotic movement.[xx]
The resistance continued with Father John Tung (Tung Shih-chih) who refused to denounce Riberi and was imprisoned in 1951.[xxi] Father Beda Chang was also arrested in 1951 for opposing student control of Catholic schools and died from repeated beatings in prison three months later. In September of 1955 Bishop Gong Binmei (Kung Pinmei), 22 priests, 2 nuns and 300 laity were arrested, with Bishop Gong being accused of spying. A month later 15 priests and another 700 laity were arrested. With the combination of arrests and denunciation meetings sponsored by the Catholic Patriotic Association, organized resistance was finally broken.[xxii]
With many Bishoprics being empty due to old age, expulsion and imprisonment, the Patriotic Association issued a call for the election and consecration of new bishops to meet the shortage. Two names were sent to the Vatican with the Chinese hierarchy insisting that the election was according to canon law. The Holy see declared the elections invalid and warned of excommunications. 30 new bishops were consecrated anyway. The Vatican later announced these consecrations as “valid” but “illicit.”[xxiii]
At present, the Vatican estimates that there are 13 million Catholics in China with approx. 8 million worshiping in underground churches.[xxiv] Father Ricardo Ramirez, speaking on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that:
“the unregistered Catholic church suffers far greater unacceptable restrictions. Its bishops, priests, religious and lay leaders are under constant surveillance, many have been arrested and jailed for simply carrying out their sacramental ministry, and not a few have paid the ultimate price for their uncompromising fidelity to their faith.”[xxv]
At times persecutions can take on the appearance of economic and nationalistic protections. Those who would proclaim religious liberty can be no better than a crusader whose horse has blood on its knees, if they remain silent while others suffer for their faith. This is the issue facing the American Catholic. Can we remain silent?
Dignitatis Humanae, the Declaration on Religious Liberty put forth by Vatican Council II, declares:
That the human person has a right to religious freedom. Freedom of this kind means that all men should be immune from coercion on the part of individuals, social groups and every human power so that, within due limits, nobody is forced to act against his convictions nor is anyone to be restrained from action in accordance with these convictions in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in associations with others.[xxvi]
The document goes on to say that the right to religious freedom is “based on the very dignity of the human person”. One must not be “forced to act contrary to his conscience.” It continues:
But there are forms of government under which, despite constitutional recognition of the freedom of religious worship, the public authorities themselves strive to deter the citizens from professing their religion and make life particularly difficult and dangerous for religious bodies…This sacred council gladly welcomes the first of these two facts as a happy sign of the times. In sorrow however it denounces the second as something deplorable. The council exhorts Catholics and directs an appeal to all men to consider with great care how necessary religious liberty is, especially in the present condition of the human family.[xxvii]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us:
No.1816: The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: “All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks.” Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”[xxviii]
Pope Benedict XVI recently stated in an address to the ambassador of Eritrea, “The Catholic Church, accordingly, is deeply concerned that all citizens should be free to practice their faith and that no one should feel under threat or coercion of any kind in this regard.”[xxix]
As Catholics these documents and statements make clear what our opinion of the actions of the Chinese Government should be. As Americans what should we think?
According to the U.S. Census bureau, as of October 2005, China is our third largest trading partner, second only to Canada and Mexico. This ranks China above Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Korea, Taiwan, France and a host of other countries. The U.S. exports 33.7 billion dollars worth of goods a year to China (4.5 %) and imports 200.6 Billion (14.6 %).[xxx] Obviously trade with China is in our national interest.
Established in 1998, The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom sets forth its mission in the following introduction to its annual report:
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRFA) to monitor violations of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad as defined in the IRFA and set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress… The Commission is the first government commission in the world with the sole mission of reviewing and making policy recommendations on the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom globally. By providing reliable information and analysis, and careful and specific policy recommendations, the Commission provides the U.S. Government and the American public with important tools necessary to promote this fundamental freedom throughout the world.[xxxi]
In the report, religious freedom is said to be “A national security, as well as human rights imperative.” After September 11th 2001, promotion of religious freedom has become a “keystone of regional peace and American security.” It is in our “self interest” to pursue foreign policies that assist those persecuted for their religious beliefs and “ensure that international rights to religious freedom be respected for every individual.” Quoting President Bush, the report states that “engaging in this struggle requires a political as well as military approach” and the commissions serves to promote such a political strategy in the following ways [Italics mine]:
(1) by encouraging governments throughout the world to adopt policies that promote the right of each individual to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief, along with policies to prevent abuses and punish perpetrators of abuses, so that religious differences and potential fault lines within societies may be addressed in ways that increase freedom, prosperity, and stability; (2) by encouraging the adoption of new structural and constitutional arrangements that ensure religious freedom and related human rights so that debate and dissent from prevailing orthodoxies within majority traditions, and alternative voices from within those traditions, can be given the breathing room necessary to emerge; (3) by confronting the global propagation of government-funded ideologies that are rooted in religious hated and extremism, especially in the case of Saudi Arabian regime’s propagation of Wahhabism, a highly intolerant form of Islam that directs Muslims actively to hate those who hold different views and to reject democracy as “un-Islamic”; and (4) by denouncing arbitrary and abusive repression of persons, organizations, or activities by governments on account of religion, on the basis that such repression can be counterproductive and can fuel religious extremism, hatred, and violence that spill outside national boarders.[xxxii]
In regards to China, it “continues to engage in systematic and egregious violations of religious freedom.” In 2004, conditions for religious freedom “deteriorated”. Religious leaders continue to be “confined, tortured, imprisoned and subjected to other forms of ill treatment” and since 1999 the Commission has recommended that China be designated as a “country of particular concern” or CPC.[xxxiii]
In November of 2004, the Chinese government announced a new set of regulations on religious affairs but experts say these regulations are not issued to protect the security of religious believers, but “to regularize management practices which give Party leaders more extensive control.” The regulations are heralded by Chinese leaders as “a significant step forward in the protections of religious freedom.” Contained in the regulations are fines and criminal punishments “for groups engaging in religious activities without having registered with the official ‘patriotic’ religious organizations.”[xxxiv]
Provincial level directives, “prohibit participation of minors in religious activity or education” and the “campaign against evil cults” has targeted long established Protestant and Catholic groups who have refused to register. Pastor Gong Shengliang of the South China Church was sentenced to death for founding an “evil cult” and his family remains in jail facing “serious charges and are allegedly subject to torture and other ill treatment.”[xxxv]
Protestant groups that refuse to register are subject to “intimidation, extortion, harassment, detention and the closing of their churches.” In 2004 the government carried out large-scale raids on several house churches, with over a 100 pastors being detained, and then released. 18 remain in custody. Church historian Zhang Yinan was arrested along with 100 others and was sentenced to two years of “re-education through labor”. Others were sentenced to terms of one to three years for sending materials on Christian persecutions to organizations in the U.S. One woman died in custody while being detained for “distributing bibles.”[xxxvi]
Repressions of the unregistered Roman Catholic Church continue. Twenty priests are under arrest, imprisoned or detained including Bishop Su Zhimin, who has been in detention or under surveillance since the 1970s. In 2004 Bishop Gao Kexian died of unknown causes while in prison. “In September 2004, the Vatican issued a statement condemning the arrest of eight priests and two seminarians during a religious gathering.” A Bishop and two priests were arrested for refusal to register two weeks after the death of Pope John Paul II in April 2005.[xxxvii]
Under threats from the State Department to introduce a resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Chinese Government made a public announcement that “religious education of minors is consistent with Chinese law and policy” and new regulations were enacted that “exempt small family or home worship activities from governmental registration.” The report says that “similar promises were mentioned the last time the United States decided to forgo a resolution.”[xxxviii]
In summary, the commission continues to recommend that China be designated as a CPC and that the U.S. government should:
· Urge the Chinese government to end its crackdown on religious groups. Respect fully the “universality” of the right to freedom of religion, and Ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
· Provide incentives, including breaks on Export-Import Loans and OPIC insurance rates to U.S. companies who promote international standards of human rights including the promotion of religion.
· Endeavor to establish an official U.S. government presence in Lhasa Tibet to monitor religious freedom.
· Expand public diplomacy efforts in china by, supporting exchanges between Chinese government officials and U.S. academic experts and religious communities.[xxxix]
On November 9th 2005 just days before the visit of President Bush to China the United States Commission on Religious Freedom held a China Human Rights Forum on Capitol Hill entitled Talking with China about Human Rights: Assessing the Future of Bilateral Human Rights Dialogues. USCIRF Chair Preeta D. Bansal testified at the hearing on the current situation with respect to Chinese repression of religion. She stated:
Advancing the freedom of religion and belief cannot be considered a marginal issue, but is foundational to a whole range of U.S. interests. Respect for the freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief is a critical indicator of stable trading partners, stable allies and stable regions. The government of China does not treat religion as a side issue, but views religious adherents, religious communities and religious leaders through the lens of security. The United States should not ignore this fact and should fashion policies and actions that integrate the right of thought, conscience, religion, and belief with security and economic interests.[xl]
The Commission issued new recommendations that included, strengthening bilateral human rights dialogues with China, advancing a multilateral resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights, organize meetings of involved nations to coordinate technical cooperation and capacity building programs in China, Provide incentives for U.S. businesses to promote human rights in china and review all U.S. foreign aid funding and public diplomacy programs for China to include the promotion and protection of religious freedom, as required by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA).[xli]
President Bush visited China on November 19th 2005. After attending a state sanctioned church service he made it clear that he had found the worship genuine. “The spirit of the Lord is very strong inside your church” he told Du Fengying, who gave the sermon. The President added that his “hope is that the government of China will not fear Christians who gather to worship openly.” Later that week in Japan, Bush urged China to allow its people, “to worship without state control and to print bibles and other sacred texts without fear of punishment.”[xlii] According to BosNewsLife News Center, Zhang Mingxuan an influential house church leader and his son who were kidnapped by Chinese security forces, was released on Monday, November 21 just hours after President Bush left China although it is unclear whether pressure from the President played a part in the decision to release the detained Christians.[xliii]
After Pope Benedict XVI indicated in November 2005 that he wished to restore diplomatic relations which were severed in 1951, China responded by saying the Vatican must not interfere in China's internal affairs and must sever ties with Taiwan.[xliv] Even with this said indications of a “thaw” in relations between the Vatican and the Chinese government are appearing. An issue of La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit Journal, contained an article entitled China Is Opening Up by Jesuit Hans Waldenfels. He wrote there were, “signs of a future understanding” due to a tacit deal on the nomination of bishops. According to Waldenfels, Bishops consecrated by the official community in China usually seek to obtain nomination by the Holy See. This assessment matched a report by the Archbishop of Hong Kong in a speech given to bishops gathered in Vatican City . According to the Archbishop, Bishops who had not been certified by the pope were being refused by clergy and congregations in China. He also said that the Vatican was moving to recognize Bishops appointed by the government.[xlv]
Where does all this place the Catholic American? With more Christians killed in the 20th century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined,[xlvi] what does one do to stop this oppression? Although my reading of the Annual Report of the U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom alludes to the fact that the U.S. can and will use its military might to intervene in states that cannot or will not work to provide its citizens the rights of freedom of conscious, armed conflict with China is out of the question. In November Pope Benedict XVI, in an address to Nepal’s new ambassador to the Holy See stated, “The use of violence as a tool for political change must always be avoided, while the building of mutual understanding and the constructive exchange of ideas is at all times to be upheld.”[xlvii] With this in mind we must continue to pressure China on religious freedom issues. Although the Commissions recommendations are valid they are not enough. Members of Catholic organizations such as Pax Christi, Catholic Charities, The Knights of Columbus, The Legion of Mary, Opus Dei, Catholic Relief Services, and The National Association of Catholic Families, should be alerted to this oppression and asked to stage a boycott of American companies that do business with China unless those companies press the Chinese government for reforms. Pamphlets about the issue should be distributed to parishes around the nation, while letters could be written to Fortune 500 companies demanding action. The only way to force the Chinese government into compliance with the “universality” of the right to freedom of religion, is through attacking the capitalistic structures that feed it.
It is my further recommendation that those concerned with this issue, write his or her local Bishop requesting prayer services and mass for those martyred in China. These services and masses should alert the American Catholic to the persecutions of their fellow Christians. Once the issue is well known, surely the Holy Spirit will begin to move the American Church.
Lastly, a letter, call, fax or email to Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang, regarding the Christian Persecutions would continue the pressure that the Commission on International Religious Freedom, the UN, The Vatican, and those in the underground Churches in China are applying.
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: (202) 328-2500 Fax: (202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
Email: Chinaembassy_US@fmprc.gov.cn
In conclusion, I ask you to remember the words of St. Justin Martyr:
To all our persecutors we say: “you are our brethren; apprehend, rather, the truth of God.” But when neither they nor you will listen to us, but you do all in your power to force us to deny Christ, we resist you and prefer to endure death, confident that God will give us all the blessing which He promised us through Christ.[xlviii]
[i] Robinson, John J. Born In Blood: The Lost Secrets Of Freemasonry. N.Y.: M. Evans and Company, 1989. Pgs. 64-65.
[ii] “Religious Repression Accompanies China’s Desire To Establish Ties With Vatican: Substantial Change Needed Before Religious Freedom For Catholics Is Reality”; Available at www.freedomhouse.org/religion/news/bn2005/bn-2005-05-19.htm. Accessed December 05, 2005.
[iii] “Furor Over Death Sentences of 5 in Chinese Church Group”; Available at China Aid Online, http://www.chinaaid.org/english_site/stories_detail.php?id+24. Accessed December 18, 2005
[iv] “Religious Freedom a Key to Peace, Says Holy See”; Available from Zenit News Agency, http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid+81218. Accessed December 12 2005.
[v] Kendal, Elizabeth. China: Defiantly Intensifying Persecution. Christian International News, Available at http://www.christiannewstoday.com/CWN_810.html. Accessed December 18, 2005.
[viii] “In china, President Bush Should Press For Religious Prisoner Releases: Underground Roman Catholic Priest and 10 Seminarians Arrested on Eve of President’s Visit”. Available at http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/news/bn2005/bn-2005-11-18.htm. Accessed December 5 2005.
[ix] Brown, Thompson G. Christianity in the People’s Republic of China. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1986. Pg. 10.
[x] Brown, pg. 62
[xi] Brown, pg. 75
[xii] Brown, pg. 77-78
[xiii]Brown, pg. 80-83. It should be noted that the Anglican delegation refused to sign the Manifesto.
[xiv] Brown, pg. 83-84
[xv] Brown, pg.. 84
[xvi] Brown, pg. 85
[xvii] Brown, pg. 86.
[xviii] Brown, pg. 86-87
[xix] Brown, pg. 87
[xx] Brown, pg. 88
[xxi] Brown states that “reports in 1965 indicated he [Father Tung] was working in a labor camp in a remote area and in good spirits.” Pg. 89 I could find no further information on Father Tungs whereabouts beyond Brown’s work.
[xxii] Brown, pg. 89
[xxiii] Brown, pg. 90
[xxvi] Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Ed. Austin Flannery, O.P. Vol. 1, N.Y.: Costello Publishing, 2004. pg. 800, chapter 1:2
[xxvii] Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Pg. 800,801,811-812, chapter 1:2,3; chapter 2:15.
[xxviii] Catechism of the Catholic Church. N.Y.: Doubleday, 1997. The two quotes inside the passage are from LG 42; cf. DH 14 and Mt. 10:32-33.
[xxix] “Papal Address to Eritrea’s New Ambassador: Concerned That All Citizens Should Be Free To Practice Their Faith.” ; Available at www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=81094. Accessed on December 18 2005.
[xxx] Top Trading Partners-Total Trade, Exports, Imports. http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/highlights/top/top0510.html. Accessed on December 18, 2005.
[xxxi] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. Available at www.uscirf.gov. Pg. 1
[xxxii] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. pgs. 2-3.
[xxxiii] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. pg. 55
[xxxiv] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. pgs. 55-56.
[xxxv] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. pg. 57
[xxxvi] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. Pg. 58
[xxxvii] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. pg. 58
[xxxviii] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. pgs. 58-59
[xxxix] Annual Report Of The U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom. May 2005. Pgs. 59-60. There are more recommendations but they do not apply to this paper.
[xl] Focus, “China Forum and Testimony on Capital Hill”; available at http://www.uscirf.gov/hearings/18/Nov04/testimony.php3; accessed December 05, 2005.
[xli] http://www.uscirf.gov/hearings/18/Nov04/testimony.php3 [Italics mine]
[xlii] Goodenough, Patrick. Bush’s Visit to Beijing Church Emphasizes Religious Freedom.; Available at http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/1364523.html. Accessed December 18 2005.
[xliii] BosNewsLife News Center. China Releases Kidnapped House Church After Bush Visit.; Available at http://www.worthynews.com/christian-persecution/china-relieases-kidnapped.html. Accessed December 18, 2005.
[xliv] “U.S. Backs Vatican Improved China Relations.”; Available at http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=17753. Accessed December 18, 2005.
[xlv] Williams, Daniel. Thaw Seen In Vatican-China Relations. The Washington Post.; Available at http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=5523. Accessed December 18, 2005.
[xlvi] U.S. House Resolution. Scripps-Howard News Service, September 28, 1996. Available at http://www.worship.com/help/. Accessed December 5 2005.
[xlvii] “Papal Discourse to New Nepalese Ambassador: Violence as a Tool for Political Change Must Always Be Avoided.” ; Available at http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=81165. Accessed December 18, 2005.
[xlviii] The Book Of Catholic Quotations. N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1956. pg. 583.
