Dear Friends:

In his letter to the Colossians, Saint Paul writes: "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) Surely the underground Church in China is 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. I wish you all a most blessed Easter, even as I invite you to join me in embracing the underground Church in the same hope and solidarity of Jesus' Resurrection..

Good Bye, Dear Bishop Tsien.
Thank you for your never ceasing effort for the Church in China.
When you gaze at God's holy face and enjoy eternal life,
please intercede for us and for the Roman Catholic Church in China.

Bishop Andrew TSIEN Chih-Chun, Bishop emeritus of the Diocese of Hwalien in Taiwan, a frequent advisor to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, a tireless spokesperson and defender for the underground Roman Catholic Church in China, and a passionate promoter of dialogue between the underground and official churches in China, died from a heart attack at the age of 83 on February 17, 2009 in the Hwalien hospital. 

Bishop Tsien was born in China in 1926, and was baptized along with his family as a child. He entered the seminary at the early age of 13. He later earned his Ph.D. from the Catholic University in Milan where he met Cardinal Montini, Archbishop of Milan, and the future Pope Paul VI. Andrew Tsien was ordained a priest in 1953 in Genoa, Italy.

Returning to Taiwan in 1960, he served as a pastor at various parishes. In 1966, he was appointed Dean of the Philosophy Department at the Fu Ren Catholic University in Taiwan, and later the first Director of the University's Art Institute in 1984

When he was appointed Bishop of Hwalien in 1992, he requested to be consecrated by an underground bishop of China. At that time, there were only two underground bishops living in the free world: Cardinal Kung and Archbishop Dominic Tang, S.J. of Canton. As Cardinal Kung was 91 years of age and just recovered from 3 months of hospitalization, Cardinal Kung could not go to Taiwan. Archbishop Tang, S.J. was living in exile in Hong Kong. At the age of 84, Archbishop was happy to travel to Taiwan as the Principal Consecrator of this great friend of the underground Church. Father Andrew Tsien was well respected by all underground bishops who were very excited at this news.

I first met Father Tsien when he came from Taiwan to Stamford, Connecticut to pay his respect to the late Cardinal Kung in 1989 when Cardinal just arrived in the United States. Since then, he came to US to share many important occasions of Cardinal Kung. They became very good friends. Bishop Tsien followed the work of the Foundation closely, always bringing us the news on their developments, trials, sufferings and needs of the underground dioceses. With his guidance, the young Foundation in the 1990s was able to participate in many projects of the underground Church.

At his retirement, Bishop Tsien said: "I am retiring, but I will never be idle…..I will always work to promote communion in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." Approximately a year after his retirement, his health was failing. He needed dialysis regularly. He was forced to abandon his travel plan to visit Cardinal Sepe, the then head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican, to update the Cardinal on the situation in China. He found other ways to continue his work for the underground bishops. He diligently wrote and dispensed his findings to Rome regularly. He shared their sufferings, and continued to be their spokesperson until God called him home suddenly with a cardiac arrest on February 17, 2009. I firmly believe that he will again find a new way to advocate for the underground bishops in another way. He will join Cardinal Kung, Archbishop Tang and many of his underground bishop-friends to storm heaven for grace and blessings for the underground church, and for China to be one fold and One Shepherd. We love you, Bishop Tsien. We thank God for your ministry.

Patriotic Association and Senate Bill 1098 in Connecticut

Shortly after the Chinese communists took over China approximately 60 years ago in 1949, the atheist Chinese government immediately started horrific persecutions on the Roman Catholic Church, hoping to destroy it. Failing to wipe out the Catholic Church after a few years of intense persecution, a Chinese government-sponsored movement was launched for an independent Catholic Church according to which the Catholic faithful and bishops were instructed to be responsible to only the Religious Bureau and to be independent of the Vatican, thereby independent from their local bishops, under the slogan that the Church must be self-apostolic, self-financed, and self-administered, the front runner of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association which was finally officially established in 1957. Thousands of faithful rejected this communist order, knowing well that for a priest and a bishop to report to a lay authority and sever their allegiance to the Pope would render them non Catholic. They bravely swore their allegiance to their local bishops and to their Magisterium, the Pope. Thousands, including my own sister, went to jail or labor camp for 10, 20, 30 or more years for this course. Many offered their lives as martyrs. Some of the fortunate ones, after having been released from labor camp, succeeded in immigrating to this country and enjoyed the religious freedom as citizens of the United States. Many are living in Connecticut. Early this March, they were totally shocked to hear from their pastors at the pulpit that some legislators in Connecticut proposed a bill, Senate Bill 1098, to require Pastors to report to an expanded, parishioners-elected lay Board which would control all finances of the parish. Neither the pastor nor the bishop would have a vote on this Board. In essence, with full control of the finance of the parish and independent of the bishop, the board could require the pastor to take the parish to whichever direction the board so desires, including to the extreme of selling the parish assets, using parish funds to support projects that may not be abiding to the principles of the church, etc. They could even appoint a pastor of their own choosing since they would control all assets of the parish. The memories of 60 years ago in China flashed back vividly before these former Chinese Catholic prisoners of conscious. They supported their bishop 60 years ago, then Bishop Kung, to the point of going to jail. They would not want their religious freedom in US eroded before their eyes. One of the supporters of this bill 1098 is Dr. Paul Lakeland, an ex-Jesuit priest and the Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the Jesuit's Fairfield University in Connecticut. He is also a member of the Voice of the Faithful. The small group of Chinese and former prisoners of conscience of China, never involved in any political action in US, eagerly joined other parishioners across Connecticut, started emailing the legislators of Connecticut, including the Governor. Some of them joined the 5000-people rally at the State Capital in Hartford on the day of the public hearing of Bill 1098 on March 11, 2009 which was scheduled in a great hurry, only three working days after its introduction, but was subsequently postponed. Under the leadership of His Excellency Bishop Lori, the Bishop of Bridgeport in Connecticut, together with bishops of other two dioceses in Connecticut, a powerful rally and campaign was carried out to protest this Bill. One of the protest signs read, "This is America, not China". The legislators were overwhelmed. This protest successfully forced the Judiciary Committee to table this bill for the duration of this legislative session, which lasts until July. This bill 1098 is, therefore, not dead, but only postponed. Not only should the citizens of the Connecticut keep guard against this bill so that it will not be rekindled; Catholics in other states should keep guard against a similar bill that might come out from their Judiciary Committee. Such legislation should have never been proposed.

Reaction to Our Christmas 2008 Newsletter

Last Christmas, we printed a number of letters that we received from the religious of the underground Catholic Church in China that are studying for advanced degrees overseas in Europe, including at the Vatican. We did so in order to share with you their thoughts and feelings, their anxiety, even despair and anguish, so that you might have a better understanding of the position of the underground church in China today. We received a number of letters from you reflecting your concerns about the situation that we have reported. One lady wrote a letter to these religious students and we translated it in Chinese and sent it to our students in Europe. She wrote:

"My eyes fill with grateful tears when I think of the great benefit your sufferings have brought to those parts of the Mystical Body which are near death. Yours is the blood spilled for the sins of those of us in the Western world that have not renounced our faith but merely turned away from Christ in apathy. We are the ones Jesus spoke of when he said "because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Rev. 3:16).

It is not the idleness of wealth or the allurement of pleasures that draws Catholics in this country and Europe away from the Church. It is the indifference and this is the sin most difficult to atone for and the one that requires much suffering by the rest of the Body of Christ.

The underground Roman Catholic Church in China is the means by which Christ will save many of us in the West and I am more grateful for your faithfulness and perseverance that I can ever convey. Therefore, I entrust each and every one of you to the One Heart in which all our hearts beat as one, Jesus Christ, the Morning Star and the One who is to Come. Maranatha!"

In addition, a newly established magazine, Traditionalist, published an insert of our Christmas 2008 newsletter in its first issue published in Spring 2009. One reader from Germany wrote to the magazine that he found that the most significant piece in this first issue of Traditionalist was the one compiled by this Foundation about China and the Church there. 

On Line Donations

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Yours sincerely in Christ,

Joseph Kung
President