Wang Jie (a fictional name) is a deacon belonging to the Chinese underground Church. He has spent several years studying in Europe, and for security reasons cannot use his real name, since Chinese authorities may not let him reenter his country if they knew he is preparing to become a priest.

The seminarian shared his story recently with media. He was born in China “in an area where most of the people are pagan.” None of his family members were Catholic, and in fact his parents “had never even heard the word 'Christianity.'”

But one day his mother fell ill. They found what they believed to be a medical center with a cross on it. It was actually a church, where a nun received them.

After his mother recovered, Wang’s parents returned to thank the woman for caring for her.

“Then the nun began to gradually speak to them about faith, about Christ. My parents were very interested and after some time they converted,” he said. “We see it as a miracle so we would know the faith. God guided us to his house.”

In a sense, the conversion was natural, because his parents were already practicing charity and trying to help others in any way they could. Wang’s entire family was baptized when he was eight years old.

His family joined the underground Catholic Church. They could not openly practice their faith, as the government only recognized the “Patriotic Church” controlled by the Communist Party.

When Wang’s mother became pregnant again, they faced a challenge. The one-child policy, which was in effect at the time, prohibited families from having a second child. But as Catholics, his parents refused to abort. They looked for a way to avoid the heavy penalties imposed by the Communist government on families with more than one child.

“When my sister was born, we found a family that had just had another child, and we registered them as if they were twins. In fact, my sister doesn't have my same last name [as I do] but that of the other family because according to those documents they are siblings,” he said.

Eventually, his parents befriended a priest who was a rector of the seminary. The rector explained that the seminarians had to move every three or four months to avoid being discovered by the authorities.

“My parents offered them our house, they could live on the ground floor and we on the top floor,” he said.

For the next 10 years, seminarians were living intermittently on the ground floor of the house. Touched by their example, Wang felt a call to the seminary.

He made the final decision after accompanying one of the seminarians to give some catechism lessons.

“When I returned home, it was as if something had set my heart on fire, I told my parents I wanted to be a priest. I had that seed of a vocation in my heart,” he said. “Now I'm a deacon and no words can express the very profound joy I have in my heart.”

The seminarian said that even though he is studying in Europe, his desire is to return to China as soon as possible to preach the Gospel there.

Life as a Chinese Catholic is difficult. Mass is celebrated in family homes, and people must be careful not to talk about their faith explicitly, because the authorities could be listening. However, living with the risk of arrest is worth it, Wang said, because “we want to have the Truth, it's what you have to do despite the cost.”

One of the worst moments he faces, he said, is when he has to enter China without the authorities discovering that he is a seminarian.

“When I'm in line to enter and I have the passport in my hands, I start praying to the Virgin: 'My mother, help me. My mother, help me.' And everything has always gone well even though the dangers are real. God always helps me,” he said.

Regarding the recent accord between the Holy See and the Chinese government which initiates the integration of the underground Church with the Patriotic Church, the seminarian stressed the importance of unity.

“There are some who say the accord is good, and others who don't think so. But above all we have to pray a lot and follow what the Church says, because the Devil wants to divide the Church and knows how to do it,” he said.

“God gave the key to the papacy to Saint Peter and that's part of our faith, and either we unite ourselves to Peter or we're not going anywhere.”

Wang Jie is currently studying and receiving formation as a priest in Europe thanks to the Fundación Centro Académico Romano de Formación (Academic Formation Center Foundation of Rome).

This foundation grants scholarships to seminarians and priests from dioceses in need from all over the world so they can receive formation at the University of Navarre, Spain, of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, Italy, to later return to their dioceses.

205 decessi e 329 casi registrati di contagio. È questo il drammatico bilancio dell’epidemia di ebola che ha colpito le province del Nord-Kivu e dell’Ituri nell’est della Repubblica Democratica del Congo (RDC). Secondo il Ministero della Sanità congolese il bilancio dell’epidemia di quest’anno ha superato quello della prima epidemia, registrata nella storia nel 1976 a Yambuku, nella provincia dell’Equatore, nell’allora Zaire (come si chiamava all’epoca la RDC).

Per il Ministero della Salute congolese, nessun'altra epidemia di Ebola è stata così complessa come quella attuale. L'insicurezza, la densità della popolazione e la resistenza della comunità rendono più difficile il lavoro degli operatori umanitari.

La settimana scorsa, tre agenti della protezione civile e un epidemiologo sono stati brevemente presi in ostaggio da un gruppo di miliziani Mai-Mai nel villaggio di Matembo, tra le città di Beni e Butembo.

In una dichiarazione congiunta, il Dipartimento delle operazioni di mantenimento della pace dell'ONU e l'Organizzazione mondiale della sanità (OMS) denunciano che le squadre di soccorso incontrano forti resistenze da parte delle popolazione della aree colpite dall’epidemia, dove decenni di guerra hanno contribuito “alla diffusione di disinformazione e alimentato la sfiducia di alcune popolazioni locali che sono riluttanti a consentire alle équipe sanitarie di somministrazione i vaccini necessari a bloccare la diffusione della malattia e a seppellire dignitosamente le vittime in sicurezza”

A fine agosto Sua Ecc. Mons. Ecc. Mons. Melchisédech Sikuli Paluku, Vescovo di Butembo-Beni, aveva lanciato un appello alla popolazione perché collaborasse con le autorità sanitarie nel soccorre i malati e nel cercare di bloccare l’epidemia (vedi Fides 1/9/2018). (L.M.)

Top Catholic prelates in Israel are asking the government to repeal the recent Nation State Law, which they say paves a path for discrimination against non-Jewish citizens.

“Although the law changes very little in practice, it does provide a constitutional and legal basis for discrimination among Israel’s citizens, clearly laying out the principles according to which Jewish citizens are to be privileged over and above other citizens,” the Catholic leaders said in their statement, dated Oct. 31.

“We, as the religious leaders of the Catholic Churches, call on the authorities to rescind this basic law and assure one and all that the state of Israel seeks to promote and protect the welfare and the safety of all its citizens.”

The Nation State Law’s provisions, which have the weight of a constitutional amendment, define Israel as the “historic homeland of the Jewish people” who have “a singular right to national self-determination within it.”

The passage of the law by a 62-55 vote July 19 with the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition drew widespread international criticism, including from influential groups like the American Jewish Committee.

Following the passage of the law, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem voiced concern that it had downgraded Arabic from an official language to a language with a “special status.” It also objected to the law’s “commitment to work on the development of Jewish settlement in the land, with no mention of the development of the country for the rest of its inhabitants.”

The Oct. 31 joint statement was signed by more than two dozen Catholic ordinaries of the Holy Land, representing Roman, Syrian, and Armenian Catholic, as well as Greek Melkite churches. Signatories included Archbishop Georges Bacouni of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Israel, Maronite Archbishop Moussa El-Hage of Haifa, and Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

The bishops warned of the focus on Jewish identity at the expense of equality and democracy.

They particularly criticized a clause in the law that promotes “the development of Jewish settlement as a national value,” saying that by doing so, “the law promotes an inherent discriminatory vision.”

The law ignores the Palestinian Arabs living in the region, as well as the Christian, Muslim, Druze and Baha’i communities – all of whom should be treated as equal citizens, the bishops said. They added that the law violates international law standards.

“As Israelis and as Palestinian Arabs, we seek to be part of a state that promotes justice and peace, security and prosperity for all its citizens,” they emphasized.

Domenica 23 settembre i “maratoneti del Papa” che fanno parte del team Athletica Vaticana e 100 migranti ospiti della cooperativa “Auxilium” correranno insieme la Half Marathon “Via Pacis” e la “Run For Peace” per lanciare un messaggio di pace e di speranza e per proporre una testimonianza concreta di accoglienza, inclusione e integrazione.

Appuntamento alle ore 9 in Via della Conciliazione con 8000 runner di 42 nazioni, e di tutte le religioni e gli orientamenti culturali. Il percorso della competizione dai forti connotati interreligiosi tocca alcuni significativi luoghi di culto oltre alla Basilica di San Pietro: la Sinagoga, la Moschea e le Chiese ortodossa e valdese.

Il “gemellaggio” tra Athletica Vaticana – la rappresentativa podistica formata da dipendenti della Santa Sede – e “Auxilium” non è occasionale: da aprile, infatti, fanno parte della squadra biancogialla due giovani migranti, accolti in risposta alle indicazioni di Papa Francesco.

"Il nostro tempo ha bisogno sempre più di ponti, e non di muri. Lo sport è un linguaggio universale, che unisce tutti, e possiede anche radici profondamente religiose. Lo sport, come l’arte e la cultura, ci aiuta a ritrovare la nostra comune umanità” dichiara il Cardinale Gianfranco Ravasi, presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura (a cui è affidata Athletica Vaticana) che ha promosso l'iniziativa con Roma Capitale, in collaborazione con la Federazione italiana di atletica legerra (Fidal).

Monsignor Melchor Sánchez de Toca, sotto-segretario del Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura e presidente di Athletica Vaticana, spiega che “l’evento è stato preparato insieme a fratelli di altre comunità con la volontà di costruire insieme qualcosa”. E a proposito di integrazione e “gemellaggio” con i migranti di “Auxilium”, afferma che “esistono già diverse esperienze positive attraverso lo sport come cambiamento sociale che cambia la vita: è il caso, ad esempio, di molti oratori parrocchiali nei quali la maggior parte dei ragazzi sono figli di immigrati e molti di loro non sono nemmeno cattolici”.

In particolare la “Via Pacis” 2018, fa presente monsignor Sánchez de Toca, “si ispira molto alla figura di Nelson Mandela, un grande leader che ha saputo fare dello sport uno strumento di coesione nazionale. Famosa la sua citazione ‘lo sport ha il potere di cambiare il mondo’, ed è vero”. L’appuntamento romano di domenica 23 settembre è stato inserito dalla “Nelson Mandela Foundation” tra gli eventi internazionali commemorativi del centenario della nascita del leader sudafricano, al quale è stata anche dedicata la medaglia dei finisher della “Via Pacis”.

"Hay bastantes parroquias involucradas, pero tenemos que avanzar", afirma el delegado de Migraciones

Desde que comenzó la crisis de refugiados en Europa en 2015, varias parroquias madrileñas se han movilizado para acoger a inmigrantes, algunas de ellas abriendo sus puertas de forma literal y otras con alternativas como el pago de alquileres o la búsqueda de viviendas cedidas por congregaciones.

"Estoy muy contento", dice a Efe Tarek (nombre ficticio), de 22 años, que hace más de dos llegó con su familia procedente de un país de Oriente Medio para pedir asilo.

Tras agotar los recursos de las administraciones acabaron en la ONG Pueblos Unidos que, a su vez, les puso en contacto con la parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe para impulsar una comunidad de acogida entre los feligreses.

La parroquia está involucrada con la acogida a inmigrantes desde que en 2015 el arzobispo de Madrid, Carlos Osoro, instara en una de sus cartas pastorales a ponerse "manos a la obra".

Allí, una de las comunidades de laicos dispuesta a acoger a inmigrantes formó en 2017 la asociación A2I (Ayuda, Acoge e Integra) para dar respuesta a las necesidades de éstos y otros inmigrantes.

Una congregación de religiosas les cedió una casa que no estaban usando en la que Tarek y su familia viven desde el pasado mes de abril.

Los gastos de la vivienda como la luz y el agua corren a cargo de los miembros de la asociación, que también comparten momentos de ocio con el grupo, les acompañan al médico cuando es necesario y les echan una mano con el idioma y los trámites administrativos.

El papeleo es la mayor dificultad para Tarek, que en un castellano bastante correcto agradece todo lo que ha aprendido en España, un país de "oportunidades" en el que acaba de conseguir su primer trabajo en la misma empresa donde hace unos meses hizo un curso de seguridad informática.

"Me apetece seguir en España, voy a tener mi futuro en este país para casarme aquí, trabajar aquí y ayudar a la gente como me ha ayudado", cuenta.

Por su parte, María Eugenia, uno de los miembros de la asociación, integrada por cerca de 30 personas, asegura estar "encantada" y muy "agradecida" de vivir esta experiencia de acogida, que en un principio se prolongará durante dos años.

"Es ayudarles a construirse un futuro, no es darles comida sin más. Estamos haciendo algo con lo que ellos van a poder valerse por sí mismos", explica.

En la parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Europa, próxima a Madrid Río, un grupo de 10 inmigrantes subsaharianos, todos ellos hombres jóvenes, vive desde el pasado 18 de junio en una zona del edificio.

Allí cuentan con una sala para dormir, un salón de actos habilitado como comedor, varios lavabos y una ducha.

Además, hay una habitación donde cada noche duermen dos voluntarios procedentes de la Delegación Diocesana de Migraciones.

Por otro lado, voluntarios de la propia parroquia se encargan de llevar los desayunos y las cenas a los inmigrantes, que pasan el día en la ONG capuchina Sercade, donde comen y reciben clases de español, así como asesoramiento jurídico.

"Son muy válidos, se organizan perfectamente, hacen sus turnos de limpieza. Se les ve contentos pero su futuro es incierto a más no poder", cuenta a Efe uno de los sacerdotes de la parroquia.

El grupo fue acogido previamente en la parroquia de Nuestra Señora de las Angustias de Madrid, pero lo trasladaron para repartir el trabajo con otros centros.

La Iglesia católica en Madrid ha dado pasos en su compromiso con este tema desde que Osoro pidiera en su carta pastoral de septiembre de 2015 una respuesta "conjunta y coordinada" a la crisis de refugiados en Europa.

Esto desembocó en la creación de la Mesa por la hospitalidad, integrada por Cáritas, Confer, Sercade, Justicia y Paz, Sant Egidio, Delegación de Migraciones y Pueblos Unidos.

Este órgano, encargado de organizar la oferta de ayuda de instituciones y particulares, se ha reactivado recientemente ante la llegada de más inmigrantes a España.

"Hay bastantes parroquias involucradas, pero tenemos que avanzar", dice a Efe el delegado de Migraciones de la Archidiócesis de Madrid, Rufino García.

El religioso defiende el papel de "hospitalidad" de la Iglesia, aunque cree que no debe suplir a las administraciones, al entender que son las que deberían dar una respuesta en primera instancia en la acogida a inmigrantes.

"Tienen que cumplir sus deberes", reclama.

(RD/Efe)