"OFFICIAL" CATHOLICS IN CHINA WELCOMED CANONIZATIONS, AIDE SAYS

Interview with Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 2, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Despite Beijing's opposition to the canonization of 120 China martyrs, many members of the state-controlled patriotic church "participated spiritually" in the event, a Vatican official says.

Archbishop Marcello Zago, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and one of the foremost Church authorities on Asia and Buddhism, gave his view of the Sunday canonization and their particular significance for the Church in China.

"Canonizations are a very important event for the Church - more than a beatification, because this rite has universal significance in itself," he said in an interview. "It proposes new saints for veneration by the whole Church, and not just a specific territory.

"This fact was especially evident in yesterday's celebration: The Chinese martyrs were canonized, but also North American Katharine Drexel, African Guiseppina Bakhita, and European Maria Josefa of the Heart of Jesus. Hence, it was a day in which the entire catholicity of the Church was manifested, and on the 1st of October, the month of missions."

Archbishop Zago, 68, a religious of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, was a missionary in Laos from 1959 to 1974. There, he founded the Center for Studies and Dialogue with Buddhists, directed by the bishops' conference of Laos and Cambodia. His interview continued:

--Q: The choice of October 1 was controversial, as it coincided with the anniversary of the foundation of the People's Republic.

--Archbishop Zago: It was a completely accidental coincidence. When the Jubilee calendar was made up, the date Oct. 1 was chosen keeping in mind the feast of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the missionary month, which has its tradition; it has been celebrated for 70 years.

Moreover, the entire month of October of the Holy Year will be marked by universality. This will be evident next week, during the Bishops' Jubilee and, at the end of the month, during World Missionary Day.

--Q: Yesterday's celebration, therefore, marked the tone of October of this Jubilee?

--Archbishop Zago: Certainly. Above all, it asks the Church to be missionary, as this is her specific task.

--Q: What effect will the canonization of the 120 martyrs have on relations between Rome and China?

--Archbishop Zago: Among the positions taken up, I think it is necessary to distinguish between the Chinese people and the government of the People's Republic.

If Beijing reacted in the way we know, it is because many of the martyrs died at the hands of the Boxers, whom the Communists have always regarded as their precursors. However, the attitude of Chinese Christians is very different. Many, including those in the so-called official church, participated spiritually in this event.

The martyrs allude to what the Church is, and show what it means to follow Christ to the point of giving up one's life. We are not all in agreement on this. I think there is a profound desire for unity among Chinese Catholics.

In an official document of the Patriotic Association, published for the occasion, although it refers harshly to this canonization, the document concludes by asking these saints to intercede for the Church. This evidences that they are figures venerated by all in China.

--Q: What can these 120 Chinese martyrs say to Christians of other continents?

--Archbishop Zago: That faith is something that can be proposed and lived at any time in any situation. There are missionaries and Chinese together in this group of martyrs. Among the laity there are fathers of families, women, elderly people and children.

It is beautiful to see how the faith has created a unity among them. Priests from distant lands, Chinese of long Christian tradition, and very newly converted faithful - [all] died together. All were united in fidelity to the Gospel and the Church, but also in their love for China.

--Q: Do the new Chinese saints tell us that Asia is the continent of the third millennium for Christians?

--Archbishop Zago: I believe so. However, let's not forget that the Chinese are not just in China. There are also communities in the diaspora. From the economic and cultural point of view, they have become a significant presence in all countries where they have settled. The martyrs are also a unifying element in this world, to which the Church pays great attention.

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