John Lindblom is Assistant Professor of the Practice at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. He received his PhD in World Religions World Church at the University of Notre Dame, and MA in China Studies at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. His research examines connections between Chinese humanism and Christian spirituality in the work of Chinese Catholic writers.
Francis assured China’s Catholics that he prayed for them daily, and made decisions, even those felt as painful by China’s faithful, after "much time [spent in] reflection and prayer, seeking the true good of the Church in China."
The Christian life is lived in real, concrete situations: the union of the transcendent and the immanent, flesh and spirit. The “secret” to navigating this world successfully, as Wu says, is our “union with him,” and with his people.
![An image of John C. H. Wu with two Westerners. When he finally found the truth, Wu felt that it was just like “tripping blindly over [a] threshold and being thrown flat on his stomach into the House of Light.” In other words, one must give up believing he or she has the power to attain truth by oneself, and humble oneself to the point of realizing that it is a gift.](https://media.chinasource.org/uploads/2024/11/BL241111-ChinaSource-Chinese-Christianity-John-C.-H.-Wu-Republic-of-China-St.-Augustine-Beyond-East-and-West-300x164.png)
When he finally found the truth, Wu felt that it was just like “tripping blindly over [a] threshold and being thrown flat on his stomach into the House of Light.” In other words, one must give up believing he or she has the power to attain truth by oneself, and humble oneself to the point of realizing that it is a gift.
We hope you will see that Chinese Catholics live with a strong awareness of Our Lord Jesus’s presence with them amidst many challenges, that they live in hope in exceedingly challenging times, and they remain faithful to him in ways that can inspire us all.
Perhaps Wu’s important message for Christians (and perhaps former Christians, or “nones”) in the West, is that we need to recover to the experience of joy that follows from interior harmony, as was known by Christian mystics.
Many heroic Catholic Christians in China have considered what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the “cost of discipleship,” and followed the Lord Jesus, remained on the vine, and borne much fruit.
Above all, we hope you will see that Chinese Catholics live with a strong awareness of Our Lord Jesus’ presence with them amidst many challenges, that they live in hope in exceedingly challenging times, and they remain faithful to him in ways that can inspire us all.
Paul Mariani makes an essential contribution to the history of the Catholic Church in China during the twentieth-century when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) targeted religious organizations. Through research which includes previously unreleased classified documents and his multifaceted treatment of this turbulent period, he provides a gripping narrative of the gradual, but increasingly tension-filled, showdown between the CCP and the Catholic Church in Shanghai.