Nine Underground Catholic Priests Arrested in China

This story comes from AsiaNews.it It reminds us how blessed we are to live in a country with "freedom of religion." Catholics in many parts of the world struggle against intolerance and outright persecution.

"Nine underground priests arrested in HebeiThe priests had gathered together to study. The reason for their arrest is unknown. For some time now, the Patriotic Association has been conducting a harsh campaign to clamp down on unofficial communities. Rome (AsiaNews) – Police of the northern province of Hebei arrested nine unofficial priests of the diocese of Baoding on 27 December.

"The nine priests are: Fr Wen Daoxiu; Fr Li Shujun; Fr Li Yongshun; Fr.Wang Quanjun; Fr Wang Qiongwei; Fr Pang Yongxing; Fr Pang Haixing; Fr Dong Guoyin and Fr Liu Honggeng.

"The group had met to study in a place around 30km south of Baoding. The reason for their arrest is unknown. It is likely that they were arrested just because they were meeting for a time of prayer during the Christmas season in a place unknown to the government.

"Hebei is the region with the highest number of Catholics (1.5 million), most of them belonging to the underground Church that refuses to be subject to the control of the Patriotic Association (PA), an organization set
up by the Communist Party that aims to build a church detached from me. The PA has launched a campaign of arrests of bishops, priests and believers of Hebei in a bid to subdue them. According to information of AsiaNews, at least six underground bishops of Hebei disappeared after arrest. Among them is the Ordinary of the diocese of Baoding, James Su Zhimin, 73 years, who was arrested in 1996.

"The auxiliary bishop of Baoding, Mgr Francis Shuxin, was released on 24 August by the Chinese authorities after 10 years imprisonment."

"If you just have heart it can take you places beyond belief"

I received the following message from Sargeant Ryan (a.k.a. "Rudy") Kass who is stationed in Iraq. I've known Ryan since 1995. I've watched him grow up. He's a great kid. Please keep him and all our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is your daily prayers.

Hey everybody,

First off let me wish everyone a Happy belated
Christmas! I hope everyone of you had a great Christmas. I apologize on the being late with the seasons greetings but unfortunately we have had a few soldiers pass and when that happens they cut the internet and phones. I would also like to wish everyone a happy new years too.

Not a whole lot is really going on as of right now to put your minds at ease. They keep me busy doing the normal work we do. Such as paperwork and inventories and basic daily operations. It keeps me really busy because I'm what they call the section sergeant it's kind of like a managers position, so I'm responsible for all the different equipment that we are running over here but hey it makes the time go by faster so I can't complain.

For those of you who do not know I went to the promotion board in December and did pretty well. Now all I have to do is to wait and see if I made the points on Jan 15 if I do then I will be promoted to E-6 on the 1st of Feb. Other than that nothing is really new over this way.

They feed us really good they have a little stir fry bar that you can go to or they have hamburgers and hotdogs and lots of other stuff too. This go around is much better than last cause this time I have my own little room to live in with A/C and heat (believe it or not it actually gets quite cold here) and we actually have showers and toilets that flush, so that is much better than last time.

Well thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and support. It makes a world of difference knowing that we are fighting for people like you guys. Well I wish you all the best and hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Talk to everyone later bye.

Love,
Ryan

PS: If you just have heart it can take you places beyond belief.

"Islam and Western Democracies" by Cardinal George Pell

Cardinal Pell is Archbishop of Sydney is Australia. For the full text of his talk on Islam to Legatus go to his diocesan web site at:

http://www.sydney.catholic.org.au/Archbishop/Addresses/200627_681.shtml

For reaction to the Cardinal's talk check out the following sites:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1631670.htm

http://mliccione.blogspot.com/2006/05/cardinal-pell-and-outrageously-obvious.html

Swiss Guard Not Happy

Check out: "You Know All's Not Well...." at Whispers in the Loggia. Make sure you put Whispers in your favorites. It's worth viewing on a daily basis.

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/

According to Catholic World News the Vatican denies story of Swiss Guard "Mutiny". Check it out at:

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=48396

The Sacred Heart of Jesus and 9/11

Check out this site.

http://www.dearallofyou.com/sacredheart

DAY 2 (December 30,2006) of Nicaraguan Mission Trip by Julliet Martinez

On the second day of our mission trip experience, all missionaries at Hogar Belen were awakened by a herd of animals serenading us outside the crusty windows. First came the roosters next door with their classic good morning song…then the dogs…then...the cow?!!...and then the men heard (or claim to have heard- not that we can trust them fully on this) an animal that would cry out “GAZEBO!” in the early dawn. Needless to say, this was not the only strange occurrence of the day. After breakfast- which we were told was to be at seven every morning- one group was selected to clean up while the rest of us meandered outside while waiting for our daily chores.

Hogar Belen has such a carefree system, which could be very much influenced by the tropical breezes wafting the scent of ripe papaya and coconuts to us. Or the fact that the ladies in charge are of Jamaican descent and stick with the motto “No worries!”. So when we finally did get our jobs assigned to us, it was close to noon and most of us had already been exhausted by the over-enthused children. There were basically only two jobs that needed to be started on right away. One was the repainting of the play area, which was in desperate need of a colorful touch up and some friendly designs. So a handful of talented young artists volunteered to begin that. We started off with a nice new coat of baby blue- rolled on to freshen up the crumbling stone. A trim of yellow was then added to the border and some sketches were created for the mural. Most of these sketches were based on characters from the children’s coloring books and then copied onto the wall with chalk.

While that project was well underway, the second group was collecting supplies for their chore. This group had offered to pave the room of an autistic sixteen year old boy by the name of Omar. Omar had been living by himself in a room set apart from the rest of the children, spending most of his time half naked on the dirt floor. Materials were bought for the cement mixture and the group began. Halfway through their job however, the teens were told that the method they were using was not the one that was going to get the job done. So the men started again, this time guided by a native Nicaraguan. When Omar was brought out of his room he fiercely seized the nearest teen, before moving on to the next. This left a lot of us frightened and uncomfortable but some teens have really come out of their comfort zone in order to get to know him.

The task of helping these Nicaraguan kids with the things they needed the most was such an awesome experience. By the end of the day, all of us were way beyond exhausted but nobody complained- we were all so glad to have been a part of it.

-Julliet M.

DAY 3 (December 31, 2006) of Nicaraguan Mission Trip by Kathy DeSanto

My love for the youth of Our Lady of the Rosary increases daily. They have taught me so much about Jesus in their actions, smiles and perseverance. I had come to Hogar Belen with a pre printed schedule and a semi retreat format. By the second day I had to offer up the fact that I was not in control (and that´s hard to do as a youth minister). Jesus was alive and working on the hearts of our teens without me having to feel the adults had to constantly guide them or help them out. Last night was amazing. We shared as brothers and sisters in Christ and not as adults and teens. They were open and honest.

The challenge for the day was for us adults to trust the teenagers to be responsible by taking 11 disabled children to Mass in the local town, and if that wasn’t enough, we also took them to the local mall. Every single teen rose to the occasion and once again made us believe in the future of the Catholic faith. Not only where they responsible with these precious children, but they fed them with their own money (some even had ice cream for lunch) without being asked to and took them on some rides.

Proud is not powerful enough to express my feelings for not only the teens but the adult leaders as well…Speaking of the adults, oh boy! They are going to need a chiropractor awaiting at TIA!!

Blessings
Kathy