Reflection on the final day of the Week of Prayer for the Church in China and the peoples of China

Say a prayer for China and her people.

Prayer to our Lady of China

 

Today is the final day of the Week of Prayer for the Church in China and the peoples of China that is being held from Sunday May 23rd until today, Sunday May 30th.

The GlobalPrayerforChina.org was created by an informal coalition of lay Christians from six continents who have joined together to facilitate a response to Cardinal Bo’s Global Call for Prayer for the Church and Peoples of China.

14 years ago, in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI published his letter to the Church in the People’s Republic of China, and designated May 24th, the Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, a Worldwide Day of Prayer for the Church in China. Cardinal Charles Bo extended it in 2021 to a week of prayer.

This past week has been an opportunity to focus prayers on China, but also to observe events unfolding that are cause for great concern. The Center for a Free Cuba on Monday announced that it had joined in the Global Prayer for China. 

Praying for the Church in China and the peoples of China from May 23rd to May 30th and will highlight ongoing religious repression there. https://t.co/aH4d0IC2ks https://t.co/vWnMJO0ut6 pic.twitter.com/Qt47MC3bXU

— John Suarez ن (@johnjsuarez) May 24, 2021

Through these days of prayer, signs have also appeared on the consequences of bending the knee to the Chinese dictatorship. On May 24, 2021 two events occurred that demonstrate the increasing international power of the People's Republic of China and the negative consequences for not only the Chinese people, but the world at large.

On May 24, 2021 the actor and wrestler John Cena made an abject apology in Mandarin for having correctly identified Taiwan as a country. Communist China does not recognize Taiwan, a free and sovereign country with 23.57 million inhabitants living in a representative democracy. 

Proof that physical strength does not equal moral courage: @JohnCena grovels in public apology to CCP after **correctly** referring to Taiwan as a country. https://t.co/MM6IfCaWNA

— Marion Smith (@smithmarion) May 25, 2021

A more egregious action was revealed the same day when Taiwan's Foreign Minister and Health and Welfare Minister expressed their "deep displeasure at Taiwan’s exclusion from the virtual 74th World Health Assembly." 

Taiwan is a free and democratic country with a free and prosperous people. #STANDWITHTAIWAN pic.twitter.com/ndZByGkxLR

— John Suarez ن (@johnjsuarez) May 26, 2021

In a time of a global pandemic to play politics to exclude the participation of a country that early on successfully contained the outbreak, and today needs help with vaccinating their entire population is an outrage against global public health.

On May 26, 2021 the City of Vienna's Mayor, Dr. Michael Ludwig, gave the Ambassador of Communist China "the Great Gold Medal for Services to the State of Vienna" in a public ceremony. 

Vienna award for Chinese ambassador sparks international criticism https://t.co/ggPtJ8LoCQ

— Uyghur Bulletin (@UyghurBulletin) May 28, 2021

Dr. Yang Jianli, Tiananmen Square massacre survivor, former political prisoner, and founder of Citizen Power Initiatives for China responded, along with others in a press release from the Forum for Religious Freedom Europe: 

It is a great shame for Vienna to honor Chinese Ambassador Li Xiaosi, because Li does not represent himself, but a government that opposes values that the people of Vienna cherish. The Chinese government responded to the COVID-19 epidemic by covering up its outbreak, cracking down on whistleblowers, falsifying casualty data, and misleading the world. Furthermore, the Chinese government has erected all kinds of barriers to prevent independent experts from investigating the origins of the coronavirus, placing all of humanity, including the people of Vienna, at risk for a future crisis.  The Great Gold Medal for Services to the State of Vienna awarded to a representative of such a dictatorial government not only disregards the dignity of the direct victims of this repressive regime, but also insults the integrity of the people of Vienna.   I hope this deplorable episode serves as a wake-up call to Vienna, Europe and the free world.

Finally on May 29, 2021 was dismayed to learn that after 31 years of nonviolent protests in Hong Kong to observe the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre that Hong Kong’s Security Bureau "warned Hongkongers not to take part in this year’s Tiananmen Massacre vigil on June 4, or commemorative long-distance run this Sunday." If one promotes these acts of remembrance they are subject to a year in prison, and if they attend - they face a five year prison sentence.

For three decades, this event took place peacefully and lawfully, a moderate yet solemn expression of resistance and dissent. https://t.co/M2OpOIy2Bq

— Yuen Chan (@xinwenxiaojie) May 29, 2021

Today, on this final day of this Week of Prayer for the Church in China and the peoples of China I pray for the end of communism in China, and the freedom of the Chinese peoples from genocide and totalitarian rule.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)