Church in Philippines rejects president’s call to revive death penalty

CNA Staff, Jun 5, 2020 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- State-sponsored Catholic authorities in parts China have issued regulations on the reopening of churches during the coronavirus pandemic. The new rules include a requirement that churches must preach on “… […]

Yangon, Burma, Nov 29, 2017 / 03:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a meeting with Buddhist monks in Burma on Wednesday, Pope Francis stressed that true and lasting justice and peace cannot be achieved unless the dignity of all people is protected.

“Authentic justice and lasting peace can only be achieved when they are guaranteed for all,” Pope Francis said Nov. 29.

He emphasized that his meeting with the Buddhist monks is an opportunity to strengthen the bonds of friendship between Catholics and Buddhists as well as “affirm a commitment to peace, respect for human dignity and justice for every man and woman.”

Pope Francis met with the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee, a group which oversees Buddhist clergy in Burma, at the Buddhist Kaba Aye complex, which includes Kaba Aye Pagoda, just 6 miles north of Yangon.

The meeting took place during the Pope’s Nov. 27-Dec. 2 apostolic trip to Burma – also known as Myanmar – and Bangladesh, which comes amid a serious uptick in state-supported violence against the Rohingya, a largely Muslim ethnic group who reside in Burma’s Rakhine State.

In recent months, the violence has reached staggering levels, causing the United Nations to declare the situation “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.”

“In every age, humanity experiences injustices, moments of conflict and inequality among peoples. In our own day these difficulties seem to be especially pronounced,” the Pope said.

Even though we’ve made great technological advancements, and people around the world are more and more aware of “their common humanity and destiny,” he said, still “the wounds of conflict, poverty and oppression persist, and create new divisions.”

“In the face of these challenges, we must never grow resigned,” he continued, because our “respective spiritual traditions” show us the way forward, “a way that leads to healing, mutual understanding and respect. A way based on compassion and loving kindness.”

Burma’s religious makeup is predominately Buddhist, with 89 percent of the population practicing the Theravada tradition of Buddhism. In the encounter, Pope Francis expressed his esteem for those who follow the Buddhist tradition in Burma, saying that through their religion, the people “have been formed in the values of patience, tolerance and respect for life.”

A great challenge of today, Francis said, is to help people be open to the “transcendent,” being able to know themselves in such a way as “to realize that we cannot be isolated from one another.”

But if we are to be united, we must work to overcome “all forms of misunderstanding, intolerance, prejudice and hatred,” he said, noting that the words of Buddha and St. Francis can offer a guide for how to go about doing this.

In Dhammapada, Buddha says to “overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth,” the Pope quoted.

A similar message can be found in a prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, he noted: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, let me bring pardon… Where there is darkness, let me bring light, and where there is sadness, joy.”

May the wisdom contained in these words, he said, continue to inspire patience and understanding, “to heal the wounds of conflict that through the years have divided people of different cultures, ethnicities and religious convictions.”

He stressed that overcoming conflict and injustice is not only the work of religious leaders, but of the whole of society, though it is a particular responsibility of religious and civil leaders to guarantee that everyone’s voice is heard.

Francis said that for this work to bear lasting fruit, religious leaders will need to work together in even greater collaboration, stating that in this, “the Catholic Church is a willing partner,” ready to continue to walk together the path of “peace and healing, compassion and hope.”

He also praised the two-day peace meeting held by the local Catholic bishops’ conference in April – which included leaders of different religious communities as well as ambassadors and representatives of non-governmental agencies – as “essential” for deepening understanding of one another.

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Beijing, China, Nov 24, 2018 / 04:43 pm (ACI Prensa).- Wang Jie (a fictional name) is a deacon belonging to the Chinese underground Church. He has spent several years studying in Europe, and for security reasons cannot use his real name, since Chinese authorities may not let him reenter his country if they knew he is preparing to become a priest.

The seminarian shared his story recently with media. He was born in China “in an area where most of the people are pagan.” None of his family members were Catholic, and in fact his parents “had never even heard the word ‘Christianity.’”

But one day his mother fell ill. They found what they believed to be a medical center with a cross on it. It was actually a church, where a nun received them.

After his mother recovered, Wang’s parents returned to thank the woman for caring for her.

“Then the nun began to gradually speak to them about faith, about Christ. My parents were very interested and after some time they converted,” he said. “We see it as a miracle so we would know the faith. God guided us to his house.”

In a sense, the conversion was natural, because his parents were already practicing charity and trying to help others in any way they could. Wang’s entire family was baptized when he was eight years old.

His family joined the underground Catholic Church. They could not openly practice their faith, as the government only recognized the “Patriotic Church” controlled by the Communist Party.

When Wang’s mother became pregnant again, they faced a challenge. The one-child policy, which was in effect at the time, prohibited families from having a second child. But as Catholics, his parents refused to abort. They looked for a way to avoid the heavy penalties imposed by the Communist government on families with more than one child.

“When my sister was born, we found a family that had just had another child, and we registered them as if they were twins. In fact, my sister doesn’t have my same last name [as I do] but that of the other family because according to those documents they are siblings,” he said.

Eventually, his parents befriended a priest who was a rector of the seminary. The rector explained that the seminarians had to move every three or four months to avoid being discovered by the authorities.

“My parents offered them our house, they could live on the ground floor and we on the top floor,” he said.

For the next 10 years, seminarians were living intermittently on the ground floor of the house. Touched by their example, Wang felt a call to the seminary.

He made the final decision after accompanying one of the seminarians to give some catechism lessons.

“When I returned home, it was as if something had set my heart on fire, I told my parents I wanted to be a priest. I had that seed of a vocation in my heart,” he said. “Now I’m a deacon and no words can express the very profound joy I have in my heart.”

The seminarian said that even though he is studying in Europe, his desire is to return to China as soon as possible to preach the Gospel there.

Life as a Chinese Catholic is difficult. Mass is celebrated in family homes, and people must be careful not to talk about their faith explicitly, because the authorities could be listening. However, living with the risk of arrest is worth it, Wang said, because “we want to have the Truth, it’s what you have to do despite the cost.”

One of the worst moments he faces, he said, is when he has to enter China without the authorities discovering that he is a seminarian.

“When I’m in line to enter and I have the passport in my hands, I start praying to the Virgin: ‘My mother, help me. My mother, help me.’ And everything has always gone well even though the dangers are real. God always helps me,” he said.

Regarding the recent accord between the Holy See and the Chinese government which initiates the integration of the underground Church with the Patriotic Church, the seminarian stressed the importance of unity.

“There are some who say the accord is good, and others who don’t think so. But above all we have to pray a lot and follow what the Church says, because the Devil wants to divide the Church and knows how to do it,” he said.

“God gave the key to the papacy to Saint Peter and that’s part of our faith, and either we unite ourselves to Peter or we’re not going anywhere.”

Wang Jie is currently studying and receiving formation as a priest in Europe thanks to the Fundación Centro Académico Romano de Formación (Academic Formation Center Foundation of Rome).

This foundation grants scholarships to seminarians and priests from dioceses in need from all over the world so they can receive formation at the University of Navarre, Spain, of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, Italy, to later return to their dioceses.

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