Easter 2003

Dear Friends:

I send you Easter greetings with the words of St. Paul in his Letter to the Colossians: “If then you have been raised with Christ…your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-3) My friends, the underground Church in China is surely among those in the universal Church who, more poignantly than others, experience and understand a life “hid with Christ in God” and, therefore, the hope of Christ’s Resurrection. As fellow members of the Body of Christ, the underground Church in China is to us a “living” Resurrection message, as they persevere in their faith in the face of severe persecution.  Let us, therefore, embrace them in the same hope and solidarity of Resurrection.

People have often asked us about this Foundation’s mission, its activities, how we spend our funds, the ratio of our administration expenses to our revenue, and many other good questions.  Often, some of these people rightly demand to know the facts before they contribute the first penny to us.  Still others cut all their donations or greatly reduce their donation because they have difficulty seeing the total picture of what we do and, therefore, do not visualize the direct negative impact of their decisions on the underground Church.  In order to give the public a better understanding of our mission and how its support serves the underground Church, we decided to summarize all our projects in this letter so that you will see a total picture of your partnership in this important missionary endeavor.

The missionof the Cardinal Kung Foundation is to promote the Roman Catholic Church in China, now under severe persecution, through increased prayers, financial support, and other appropriate projects.

In order to achieve the aforementioned mission, we have projects covering: 1) spirituality, 2) information dissemination, 3) education of seminarians, religious and school children, 4) Mass stipends, 5) social and apostolic services and 6) the preservation of Cardinal Kung’s legacy.

1) The spiritual dimension of our mission is to promote prayers.

1.1) As taught by “Cardinal Kung’s prayer for China”, we promote prayers not only for the underground Roman Catholic Church in China, but also for “our separated brothers and sisters” of the Chinese government-sponsored Patriotic Association so that they too will be filled with the Holy Spirit and be courageous witnesses of Christ.  Cardinal Kung published the following prayer in 1991 immediately after his elevation to the College of Cardinals:

“O Lord, comfort China and those persecuted for Christ in that great country.  Grant them joy in their communion with the universal Church. Bless them so that the seed they plant during their years of sufferings, patience and love will be richly harvested.  Grant mercy, Lord, to those brothers and sisters who chose to be separated from You, may they return to the one fold and one Shepherd.”

We promote Cardinal Kung’s prayer for the persecuted underground Church and for visible unity in a variety of ways.

1.2) In our “Prayer Sponsor” Program, a “prayer sponsor” promises to pray daily for a designated person, either for an underground clergyman or for a Patriotic Association bishop’s return to the universal Church. We give each “prayer sponsor” a wallet-size card with the name and brief biography of this person and Cardinal Kung’s prayer for China.

1.3)  With our Perpetual Rosary for China, friends of the Foundation pledge to pray at least one rosary each month for China on the same day of their choice. This program, which began in July 2002, already has approximately 380 registered members offering 14,000 rosaries each year. Moreover, many pledged weekly or even daily rosaries for China.

 1.4) The Sunday closest to October 1 of each year is the date for the Annual Mass for China.  October 1 is the anniversary (year 2000) of the canonization of 120 martyr-saints of China and is also the National Day of the People’s Republic of China.  We ask our donors around the world to offer a Mass on this date in their parishes for the persecuted underground Roman Catholic Church in China.  The donors offer the Mass stipends directly to their parishes.  Donors may also suggest to their pastors to say a few words about the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in China in their homilies or during the prayers of the faithful.  To those pastors who are not familiar with the situation in China, the Foundation sends an information package. Only two years in existence, this program had approximately 200 Masses offered worldwide in 2002.  The date of the 2003 Annual Mass is on September 28.  We urge you to both request a Holy Mass in your parish on that day and give us the details.

1.5) We distribute holy cards that include: Cardinal Kung’s Prayer for China, Cardinal Kung’s Prayer for Priests, Cardinal Kung’s Message on Fidelity to the Holy Father, Cardinal Kung’s Biography, “Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for China,” Our Lady of She-Shan, and Bishop Curtis’ Prayer to the Guardian Angels of Aborted Babies.  Soon, we will have Our Lady of China (re: Newsletter, Christmas 2002) with a prayer for the Consecration of the Chinese People to Our Lady.

2)  The information dissemination dimension of our mission features a variety of projects.

2.1)  Our Newsletter is published at least three times each year and is distributed to 28 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, England, France, Germany, Guinea, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United States, and Vatican City. The Newsletter informs the public about news and issues relating to the ongoing persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in China as well as its traditions and history.  Some of the articles’ features are: “Chinese Communist Secret Document – Their plan for eradicating the Roman Catholic Church in China,” “The Martyrdom of Bishop Joseph Fan of Baoding, Heibei,” “The Destruction of the Dong Lu Shrine,” “An Open Letter to the Vatican,” “The Underground Church and the Patriotic Association Church Are Not The Same Church,” “Stories of Martyr Saints in China,” “Pastoral Letter of the Underground Bishops Conference,” “Requirements for Establishing Causes for Cardinal Kung,” “The Wrong Mosaic Image of “Our Lady of China” in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.,” news of the persecution of the underground Church, and many others.

2.2)  Our Press Releases on persecutions in China are issued only after meticulous verification of the authenticity of the news.  These releases are acknowledged as the primary source of news worldwide relating to the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in China.  They are carried by all major news wires such as Association Press, Reuters, AFP, UPI, etc., and by most, if not all, major newspapers worldwide.  They are also recognized by many United States and foreign government agencies.  Typically, numerous interviews follow each press release, including from many foreign press bureaus located in China.

2.3)  Our Evangelization by Email Program involves the participation of donors in sending to their friends the following email message relating to the underground Church with a link to the Foundation’s website

Ø  Did you know that it is illegal to be Roman Catholic in China, and that many Roman Catholics are being severely persecuted? 

Ø  Did you know that the Cardinal Kung Foundation seeks to assist Roman Catholics in China in every way possible?

Ø  Please send this message to all your friends and associates, and have them do the same, to help spread the word about the suffering Church in China.

Upon receipt of the above message, the donors can then copy it and start emailing it to their friends who will, in turn, send it to their friends, thereby achieving a “snowballing” effect.  Our Holy Father said that we must make use of modern media to evangelize; and this is an effortless and effective way to give a voice to the silent persecuted Church.

2.4)  The Cardinal Kung Foundation Website, which receives an average of at least 500 hits daily worldwide, includes Cardinal Kung’s biography, press releases, past Newsletters, a list of those imprisoned and persecuted in China, and a variety of articles of religious, historical, and political significance.  Journalists as well as students have used this website for their research.

The Foundation has been very active in making Speeches and Exhibitions to a variety of religious, educational, and political organizations throughout the world, such as Harvard Law School; the Asia Society in New York City; the IHM Home School Conference in Washington, D.C.; the Marian Congress in Alexandria, South Dakota; the Fatima Conference in Canada; The Population Research Institute in Washington, D.C.; the Wanderer Forum; the Wetherfield Institute in New York City; Amnesty International in London; the Legion of Christ Seminary in Rome; the Serra Club in Hershey, Pennsylvania; Texas Lutheran University in Seguin; the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation; Catholics United for the Faith in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona; the Jubilee Mission Congress in St. Paul, Minnesota; a number of parishes; and many other places.  The Foundation has also been the focus of numerous newspaper, radio, and television reports and interviews by media such as Voice of America, Free Asia Radio, the New York Times, Catholic Views, Vatican Radio, ABC Radio, and EWTN, and has frequently assisted the research efforts of reporters in their writing special articles on the persecution in China.  Also, we have given public testimonies on religious persecution in China to the British Parliament in 1996, to the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the United States Congress in 1994 and 1996, the New York City Council in 1997, the California Senate in 1997, and the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission in 2002. We have assisted various legislators in their efforts to end the persecution in China, and have submitted timely briefings to the White House and the State Department in preparation for official U.S. visits to China.

For the last eleven years as of June 30, 2002, we have funded approximately $ 648,000 for the above programs to bring the news of the silent (underground) Church to the public.  Millions of people around the globe have heard us.

3)  The education of seminarians, religious and school children dimension of our mission includes projects by which we support priests, seminarians, nuns and school children financially.

3.1)  The Partner in Vocation Program is dedicated to support the education of seminarians studying in China. We invite the public to give $600 per year for each seminarian to cover his tuition, room, and board. We have funded 200 such scholarships, or $120,000, as of June 2002

3.2)  The Living Allowance Project, begun three years ago, assists seminarians and nuns of the underground Church who are studying outside of China. There are approximately 20+ such seminarians and nuns living in France, Rome, Spain, and Germany. They already have scholarships that cover tuition, room, and board, but are still in need of funds for books, clothes, medical and other personal needs. Depending on the individual needs, we offer them a monthly allowance of $50-100 each month. We have funded this project with approximately $55,000 as of June 2002.

3.3)  The English Training Project enables one or two priests or seminarians who are studying in Europe to come to the United States to study English during the summer months. An American priest in the United States organizes a summer school curriculum staffed by his friends, and provides the students with free room and board in his house. In exchange, the Chinese priests/seminarians assist in the parish in any way that they can. This program offers the opportunity for direct contact between the American Catholic community and the underground Church of China. Thus far, we have funded this project with $ 5,000. 

3.4)  The China School Children Education Fund is a new pilot program at the urgent request of an underground bishop from a very poor area.  Thirty underground grade-school Catholic children and 49 high-school children of his diocese must drop out of school because of dire financial situations.  The bishop pleaded for our help so that the next generation of these underground Catholics will be educated.  For $ 75 per year or approximately 20 cents a day, we can put a child through a grade school.  For $365 per year or approximately $1 a day, we can educate a teenager in a high school for a year.  There is no free education in  communist China!

4)  The HolyMass Stipend dimension collects and delivers Mass offerings to the clergy of the underground Roman Catholic Church both inside and outside (studying temporarily) China. We suggest a Mass offering of no less than $6.00 for each Mass, but have often received more. A $10 Mass stipend can provide four days of living expenses for an underground priest in China. To the 20+ underground priests studying in Europe, we promise a stipend for every Mass that they offer.  They rely on these  Mass stipends for living expenses as their own underground bishops have no financial means to support them.. Since 1994, we have sent approximately 37,000 Mass stipends — equivalent to approximately $271,000 — to the underground priests in both China and Europe. In thanksgiving to the Foundation’s donors, the underground priests offer approximately 200 Masses each year for the deceased and living members of the Cardinal Kung Foundation.  Currently, we are sending approximately 10,000 Mass stipends in the amount of approximately $ 80,000 each year. We need many more Mass stipends as we have so many underground bishops requesting help.  To put it into perspective, an average parish in the United States can only accept approximately 900 Masses a year. The Foundation would appreciate it if any pastor can channel Holy Mass requests that they cannot handle to the underground Church in China.

5)  The social and apostolic dimension of our mission involves our financial support of an orphanage for disabled children, dioceses in China, persecuted families in China, and underground Chinese Catholic refugees seeking asylum in the United States.

5.1) We have been providing substantial support for many years to an “illegal” orphanage that was founded by an underground bishop.  This orphanage houses approximately 100 physically and mentally handicapped Catholic orphans, and is in dilapidated condition.  It urgently needs to improve its basic services, such as toilets, running hot water and repairing the leaky roof.  They need help.  This orphanage was founded by necessity as too many abandoned babies were left at the doorstep of the bishop’s house.  Because of their past experiences, the villages do not trust that the government-operated orphanage will give the needed care to these handicapped orphans.

5.2) The Foundation provides financial aid to underground bishops for their apostolic work.  As an example, we recently provided $8,000 for medical insurance for a group of some 20 underground nuns in one diocese. Even though China is a communist state, it does not have socialized medicine.  We have also just been requested to assist the living expenses of a community of 80 nuns.  It costs US$ 440 for one nun per year, totaling US$ 35,200 for the community.  We are working on this project, and hopefully our readers could start sponsoring these nuns.  In communist China, since clergy are continuously arrested, nuns play a most critical role in the underground Church.  Over the years, we have sent $150,000 to various underground bishops for their apostolic work. This covers only a tiny portion of their needs.

5.3)  The Foundation has a program to assist families whose members have suffered persecution due to their leadership role in the underground Church. Many heads of families were arrested or tortured due to their underground Church activities.  We are assisting such families by paying their children’s school tuition while the father is in jail or unemployed. Over the years, we have provided $30,000 for this purpose.

5.4)  Whenever possible, we provide assistance to underground Roman Catholic refugees seeking asylum in the United States.  Occasionally, judicial and immigration officers in US as well as overseas, such as in Canada and Australia, have called on us to verify the state of the persecution in China in order to decide on certain asylum cases.  We have also been asked by attorneys to testify in court for the persecuted Catholic asylum seekers.  In 2002, we testified in court twice and won asylum for two families.

6)   Another very important project is to preserve the legacy of His Eminence, the late Ignatius Cardinal Kung.

6.1)  This work includes the collecting of the late Cardinal’s writings and making them available to the public.

6.2)  We have established a depository to collect information supporting the cause and process for the canonization of Cardinal Kung. As the depository, the Foundation is responsible for gathering documentation that will be used as evidence of the personal sanctity of Cardinal Kung and also for gathering written statements of personal favors received through the intercession of Cardinal Kung. If your spiritual life has been touched by Cardinal Kung or if you have prayed and received favors through his intercession, we would appreciate your writing to us.

6.3)  Cardinal Kung’s residence, which included his own private chapel, was a part of my residence in Stamford, Connecticut. We are attending to the upkeep of his final earthly residence for the benefit of those interested in making a spiritual pilgrimage for both themselves and the cause of the Cardinal’s canonization.

For the last eleven years as of June 30, 2002, we received a total of approximately $2,158,000 contributions and interests.  During that period, we spent approximately 13.2% of our income or $ 284,000 on administration, which is well below the average ratio of the administrative cost of a non-profit organization.  During our last fiscal year that ended June 30, 2002, we received $ 210,563 in contributions and interest income, of which we spent $ 255,739 on the aforementioned projects and administration, incurring a deficit of $ 45,176. In comparison with the fiscal year ended June 30, 2001, our regular contributions were down by 18 % for the year ended June 30, 2002.  At the current rate of contribution, our forecast for the regular contribution for this fiscal year, to be ended June 30, 2003, will be further reduced while our project costs will remain approximately the same or even higher because of many urgent requests from the underground bishops.  This will result in an even larger deficit.  In fact, we have enough requests from the underground bishops that would have us easily spend one million dollars each year.  One million dollars for approximately 50 bishops, averaging $ 20,000 each, is not a big sum, but we cannot presently afford it.  At a certain point, unless the contributions are significantly increased, we will have to cut our project costs.  If this happens, only the people of the underground Church will suffer.  All our financial data is certified annually by an independent certified public accountant firm with an unqualified opinion and is approved by the Board of Directors of the Foundation.

With this in-depth review of the Foundation’s work and of your donation’s impact on the underground Church, I hope you will maintain and increase your prayer and financial commitment in 2003 and years beyond as an ambassador of the underground Church in China to your friends.  May Our Lady of She-Shan bless you and your family for your commitment to the underground Church.

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Joseph Kung, President

Please Remember The Cardinal Kung Foundation In Your Will.
Thank You.