Chinese Catholics Celebrate
The Diocese of Shanghai, China, is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the beginnings of Catholic life in the area. These can be traced back to the return from Beijing of the recently baptised Xu Guang Qi in early 1608.
Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian and Bishop Joseph Xing Wenzhi celebrated a Mass with the priests of the diocese on March 1 to mark the occasion in the 98-year-old cathedral of St Ignatius that now stands in the area of Xujiahui, literally "property of Xu family at the junction of two rivers."
Xu, a brilliant mathematician, was born in Shanghai, but spent most of his life in high positions serving in the Ming Court. He was a colleague of the famous Jesuit missionary,
Fr Matteo Ricci, and together they translated several classical western texts, most notably, a part of Euclid's Elements, into Chinese, which was published in 1607.
In 1603, Xu was baptised, taking the name Paul. However, he was forced to return to his home place in Shanghai in early 1608 to attend his father's funeral. He invited the Italian Jesuit, Fr Lazare Cattaneo, to preach to his family, all of whom received baptism.
The Nanjing-based priest went on to baptise 200 others and the Jesuits came to Shanghai to begin the nucleus of a Church there.
St Ignatius Cathedral was built on land donated by Xu's descendents in 1847.
It was later reconstructed between 1905 and 1910. Designed by the English architect, William Doyle, it is said to have been the grandest cathedral in the Far East. Closed by the government in 1966, it was reopened as a cathedral in 1978 and the spires restored in the early 1980s. Bishop Jin celebrated the first Mass in Chinese in the gracious building in 1989.
In 1987, the church was featured in the opening scenes of Stephen Spielberg's movie, Empire of the Sun. In 2002, a Beijing-born artist, Wo Ye, guided by an American Jesuit, Fr Thomas Lucas, began restoring the stained glass windows.
- Source: Sunday Examiner
Bishop Aloysius Jin sees a new future for the Church in Shanghai.
Bishop Joseph Xing Wenzhi belongs to the new generation of Chinese bishops.
