In accordance with many sources including the Chinese edition of Missale Romanum, the picture as printed at left is the only picture recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as the official portrait of “Our Lady of China.”  It was granted and promulgated, not just blessed, by Pope Pius XI in 1928, in response to the requests made by the 1924 Shanghai Synod of Bishops in China, the first national conference of bishops in China.  At the end of that conference, Archbishop Celso Costantini, Apostolic Delegate in China, together with all the bishops of China, consecrated the Chinese people to Our Lady of China, with this official portrait shown at left.  In 1941, Pope Pius XII placed the feast day of this official Our Lady of China in the liturgical calendar.  In 1973, after the Vatican II, the Chinese Bishops conference, upon approval from the Holy See, placed the feast day on the vigil of Mother’s Day, the second Sunday of May.

The above facts can be easily obtained by simple research. Crafting a mosaic that is modeled after the wrong picture, in the meantime making no reference to the official portrait, and placing it in a national basilica misleads and confuses the public. A few private individuals or any bishops outside the Chinese Catholic Bishops Conference have no authority to change a patron of such historic and national importance to the Catholic Church in China. The organizers and its sponsoring bishops should take immediate corrective action. Either the mosaic should be re-crafted, or it should not be referenced as “Our Lady of China.”  Failing to do so is a willful act of misleading the public.

The late Thomas Cardinal Tien had indeed promoted this mosaic picture shown at top right on a holy card in the 1950s to encourage prayers for the persecuted Church in China.  However, this prayer card did not refer to this picture as “Our Lady of China.”  The prayer titled “Union of Prayers for the Persecuted Church in China,” printed on the back of the said picture, carries a daily indulgence of 300 days, and a monthly plenary indulgence under the usual condition.  The prayer reads: “Almighty and eternal God, Comforter of the afflicted, and Strength of the suffering, grant that our brothers of China who share our faith, may obtain, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of our holy Martyrs, peace in Thy service, strength in time of trial, and the grace to glorify Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”  Inasmuch as there is a notation directly under the title of the Union of Prayer, saying: “Approved by the S. C. Propaganda Fide, Rome, March 10, 1952. Specially blessed by the Holy Father on May 17, 1955…..” without referring it in any way to the mosaic picture, this approval and blessing apparently pertains to the prayer only, not to the mosaic picture overleaf.  Moreover, as footnoted on the said holy card, this mosaic picture is a membership card of the Union of Prayers, not the official Our Lady of China.  It is intimately linked to the persecutions of the Roman Catholic Church in China. People should pray for the persecuted Church in China when looking at this mosaic picture.  Unfortunately, however, even though this mosaic picture was chosen by the organizers, they abandoned the Union of Prayer for persecution that was originally written for the mosaic picture by Cardinal Tien, and substituted a new prayer in its place without one word referenced to the ongoing persecutions for the last 52 years.  In another words, the organizers of the mosaic decided to use the image promoted by Cardinal Tien, mislabeled it as Our Lady of China, refused to use Cardinal Tien’s Union of Prayer for the Persecuted Church in China for the mosaic, and wrote instead a new prayer without any reference to the persecutions.

A few Chinese underground Catholics approached the mosaic organization committee beforehand and received the permission to sell some literature during the August 3 dedication ceremony.  However, this permission was suddenly rescinded and the books relating the persecution history of the underground Church were not allowed to be sold, while Maryknoll freely displayed the materials purported to be the “Catholic Church of China,” but which were in fact propagating the Patriotic Association.

Continued Persecution of the Underground Church in China

Bishop JIA Zhiguo, the underground Roman Catholic bishop of Zhengding, Hebei, was arrested on March 20, 2002. Bishop JIA is 67 years old and was ordained a bishop in 1980.  He was previously in jail for approximately 20 years.  He was released shortly after our press release and has been under strict surveillance for many years….. Father PANG Yongxing, 30 years of age, was arrested in his home in December 2001. On Easter Sunday, March 31, 2002, Father MA Shunbao, 50 years of age, was arrested while he was offering Holy Mass.  Father WANG Limao, 32 years of age, was arrested on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2002, also while offering Holy Mass. All three priests belong to the underground Roman Catholic Church in Baoding, Hebei. On July 7, 2002, they were sentenced to three years of labor camp for “disturbing the peace of society” under the “cult” law….. Six Roman Catholics from Wenzhou, Zhejiang went to DongLu in Baoding, Hebei for a pilgrimage in May 2002 and were arrested by the authorities.  They were fined a total of JMP 30,800 (US $ 3,850) for “illegal pilgrimage.” They were released soon after the fine was paid. …..On July 18, 2002, in Dong-An village, Fujian province, 31 underground Roman Catholics, 26 of whom were students under 18 years of age, were arrested during a summer vacation catechism class in a private home. Among the 31 arrested were a Catholic nun, Sister Chen Mei, 27 years of age, and four chaperons.  The children and chaperons were released after one day. The situation of Sister Chen Mei is unknown…..Bishop WEI Jingyi, 44 years of age, the underground Roman Catholic Bishop of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, was arrested Sept 9, 2002.  He was too released shortly after our press release.

Annual “Coast to Coast” Masses for the Underground Church in China

The Cardinal Kung Foundation is promoting the celebration of an annual Mass for the persecuted underground Roman Catholic Church in China. The Foundation has chosen, as the annual date for this Mass, the Sunday before October 1, which is the National Day of the founding the People's Republic of China and also the anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s canonization of the 120 blessed martyr saints of China. This year, approximately 300 Masses were celebrated worldwide.  This does not include many Masses, which we know have been offered, but are not reported to us.  It is not too early to reserve now the next year’s annual Mass on September 28, 2003, as the church’