Page 4, 12th December 1986

12th December 1986

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Page 4, 12th December 1986 — Martyrdom beyond the Great Wall
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Martyrdom beyond the Great Wall

Viewpoint
ONE cannot pick up a Catholic newspaper these days, without reading of dissent by some clergy, in various parts of the Western free world, against the ordinary magisterium of the Pope.
It is therefore a most
rewarding experience to read the book "If the Grain of Wheat Dies..." which is the lifestory of the humble priest Fr Francis Xavier Chu Shu-tech Si. He was born in China on December 14,
1913, the first born of nine children. The Chu family have been Catholic for 300 years, bearing the fruit of many priests.
Fr Francis was ordained to the priesthood in 1945, and appointed Prefect of Studies in Yu Hui High School, taking his final vows in the same year. Studied successfully for a PhD in Geography at the Sorbonne University in Paris. On his return to China in 1949, he was appointed Professor at Aurora University and the Spiritual Director of Catholic Students When the State took over all places of education and made Marxism a compulsory subject, Fr Francis was removed and made parish priest of Christ the King Parish in 1951.
Only two years later, June 15 1953, armed police arrested Fr Francis in his parish, along with many other priests in the diocese. He subsequently was to spend the next thirty years of his life in the severe conditions of prison and labour camps in China!
The following quote is the view of Fr Francis on the value and meaning of suffering. "There are many just people who have met discrimination, hostility, imprisonment, exile, faced the death of parents, separation from wives and children, the total ruin of their lives...! Has life any meaning and value for them? When we contemplate Jesus in His sufferings, willing to suffer still more for me, then if I can suffer for Him in return, I should feel glad and honoured, just like the disciples who after being scourged were happy because God had considered them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus (Acts 5.41)" The mother of Fr Francis, Martina, gave a courageous reply to the state-sponsored Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which was attempting to bribe her to break away from Rome, the Pope and join them. At this time her son Fr Francis and his priest brother and two brother seminarians were all held in prison.
Martina said, "I only know that to be a Catholic means we belong to the Church with the holy father as the visible Head. We will never join this Patriotic Association. This may be a crime but in God's sight it is not".
The result was her four remaining sons were sent from their seminaries to labour camps.
Fr Francis died a martyr in prison on December 28 1983. Let us pray for him and our fellow brothers and sisters in Chinese prisons and camps today, who are suffering for their precious faith; the faith that binds them in love, loyalty and total obedience to our Pope and Rome.
Inspired by the witness of Fr Francis and other present day Chinese martyrs, may we also pray for unity in our Church? Offering, by grace in the name of Jesus the same love, loyalty and total obedience to our dear Holy Father Pope John Paul II.
Should anyone wish a copy of the book or other information, regarding the Church in China today, please write, enclosing a 35p stamp to Mrs Dillon, 17, Stapenhall Road, Monkspath, Solihull, Birmingham B90 4XX.
Margaret Wrench




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