TomGrace.com - The Pub

China jails bishop in response to Vatican meeting

2009-04-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

In late March, Pope Benedict XIV convened a meeting of the Commission on the Church in China. Invitations were once again extended to mainland Chinese bishops, both registered and unregistered with China's government controlled Patriotic Church. While bishops from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan did participate, none from mainland China were permitted to attend.

Beijing's response to what it views as foreign interference in its internal affairs was to take an elderly Roman Catholic bishop residing under permanent house arrest out of his home and place him into prison. Bishop Jia of Zhengding has served over twenty years in prison and has endured numerous arrests, incarcerations and periods of intense re-education in the years since his release. During the Olympic Summer Games last August, he was arrested and imprisoned just hours before the closing ceremonies because the government learned that a foreign reporter was attempting to meet him. Rather than risk an interview, the government hid Jia in its prison system until after all the press were gone. The meeting in Rome lasted just a few days, but Bishop Jia has yet to resurface. Bishop Jia is the ongoing reality behind the fictional title character of The Secret Cardinal.

Vatican Office in Venezuela Attacked

2009-01-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

On Jan. 21, attackers hurled tear gas canisters at the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Caracas. It was on of several attacks made against critics of the Venezuelan government and President Hugo Chavez. The Catholic Church in Venezuela opposes changes to the constitution that would eliminate term limits, allowing Chavez to run for a third six-year term of office in 2012. A similar proposal was defeated in 2007, but Chavez called for another referendum last November.

On a related note, El Cardenal, the Spanish version of The Secret Cardinal, is well into its 17th month atop the best seller list in Venezuela, according to the Associated Press. The novel's premise of a church-state conflict mirrors in many ways the situation in Venezuela, which may explain its appeal to readers in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Zen Asks Mainland Bishops for Courage and Loyalty

2009-01-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

Drawing inspiration from the martyrdom of St. Stephen, Hong Kong's Cardinal Joseph Zen called on mainland bishops in China's patriotic church to show courage in refusing to compromise with the Communist Regime. Zen's remarks, made in a Jan. 4th article in Kung Kao Po, build on statements made in both Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 Open letter to the Church in China and a 2008 letter from Cardinal Bertone to all mainland bishops that the time for a public show of unity with Rome has come. Most of the bishops in China's state-run church have privately sought and received Rome's blessing, but only one is known to have publicly expressed his loyalty to Rome. China's few remaining Roman Catholic bishops are either in prison, under house arrest or in hiding.

The timing of Zen's remarks coincides with the quinquinnial National Congress of Catholic Representatives, which will be called sometime in 2009. Bishops attending the congress elect chairpersons to run the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and the Bishops Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC). Rome does not recognize either organization and views both as detrimental to the Church in China. Zen has specifically called for the mainland bishops to boycott the congress, demonstrating the irrelevance of the CCPA and BCCCC.

Should the state-run apparatus running the Catholic Church in China fail, then the patriotic organizations controlling the other four legal religions might also falter and Beijing would lose control of the practice of religious faith in China. 2009 could be a very interesting year for religion in China.

China's Shields Up, Bishops Mail Slow

2008-12-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

Clear of the thousands of foreign press encamped in Beijing earlier this year, China's netminders have raised the nation's Great Firewall back to full strength. Subversive websites detailing human rights abuses by the Chinese government or those promoting democracy or even Tibetan autonomy are once again fully blocked, and blogs with questionable content disappear along with their authors.

At the same time, many Catholic bishops of both the patriotic and underground variety are just now receiving copies of a letter sent by the Vatican last April. The letter, penned by Cardinal Bertone, elaborates on Pope Benedict XVI's letter of 2007 to the Church in China, clarifying how bishops can act upon the papal directives toward resolving the conflict between the open and underground Church communities and fostering a respectful and direct dialogue with civil authorities.

Bertone's letter was sent to 90 Vatican approved bishops in China. Since April, four bishops have died and no new bishops have been ordained. Of the 86 remaining bishops, approximately 26 have never registered with the Patriotic Church. These loyal bishops are all either in hiding, in prison, or under house arrest. Some have disappeared into state custody and it is not known if they are alive or dead.

At the 50th anniversary of the selection and consecration of the first bishops of the Chinese Catholic Church, Central Committee spokesman Du Qinglin reiterated that relations betwen China and the Vatican will improve only after the Holy See severs diplomatic ties with Taiwan and renounces any interference in the internal affairs of China, even under the guise of religion. Bertone's letter calling China's bishops to action would certainly qualify as the kind of interference Beijing finds so objectionable.

The Secret Cardinal a #1 International Best-Seller

2008-10-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

As foreign editions of The Secret Cardinal continue to reach book shelves around the world, a new milestone was reached this month. According to an Associated Press list of books sold in several American countries, El Cardenal (the Spanish translation) hit the top ten list in two of the listed countries, and has held the No. 1 spot in Venezuela for well over a year. All I can say is Ole!

Chinese Bishops Blocked from Rome Synod

2008-10-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

On Oct. 26th, Pope Benedict XVI closed the three-week long synod of bishop in Rome with a “special thought” to the Chinese bishops barred from attending the gathering.

“I would like to speak on behalf of them,” the Pope said, referring to the bishops of China, “and thank God for their love for Christ, their communion with the universal Church and their faithfulness to the successor of Peter.”
Beijing bans its Catholics from recognizing the authority of the pope and forces Chinese Catholics to worship in the state-run Patriotic Catholic Church. A majority of China’s Catholics and other Christians practice their faith illegally in unregistered churches and are subject to official harassment and imprisonment.

Dalai Lama gives up on Tibetan Autonomy

2008-10-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

Even as talks between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and the government of China resume after breaking off in July, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader expressed his fears that an agreement over Tibetan autonomy would never be reached. Aides hinted at a major policy shift toward China in light of the failed talks and commented that the Dalai Lama had lost hope in trying to reach a solution with the present Chinese leadership. In April, protests against Chinese rule sparked a violent Chinese crackdown in Tibet that drew worldwide condemnation.

In 2007, China passed a law granting Beijing sole authority in the naming of the Dalai Lama's successor. The law declared that reincarnation could only take place inside China, and that only the government could declare some one to be a soul child--the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama. As with the bishops in the Catholic Church, China intends to replace lamas who are pro-Tibet with those who would be loyal to Beijing.

Bird of Prey Comes True

2008-10-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Bird of Prey, my fourth Nolan Kilkenny adventure, explored the commercial satellite industry, the placement of space-based weapons in orbit, and the Chinese manned space program. At the time, it was a pretty forward look at what I saw happening above us as more countries pushed their way into space. Some of what I wrote was considered prescient enough that Bird of Prey was mentioned in a National Security Briefing on the Chinese Space Program and space-based weaponry.

On September 25th, an incredible coincidence of three events happened that could have been drawn from the pages of Bird of Prey. First, the United States military launched a rocket to test a satellite-based portion of the SDI missile defense shield. Then, Sea Launch placed a commercial satellite in orbit from its ocean-based launch platform in the Pacific. Lastly, China launched Shenzhou-7 with a crew of three astronauts into orbit. The astronauts performed China’s first space walk and successfully returned to Earth, faring much better than the Shenzhou-7 mission featured in Bird of Prey.

The Beijing Olympics and Bishop Jia

2008-10-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

Beijing promised much with regard to improving human rights in its bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and in the end delivered little. Tibetans were beaten in the streets in April and the Marian Shrine near Shanghai—the holiest Catholic site in China—was effectively shut down for the month of May to prevent large gatherings on pilgrims.

The closure of the Shrine at Sheshan is part of the official response to Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 Letter to Chinese Catholics. The letter, which is banned in China, calls for a universal day of prayer for the Church in China on May 24th, and the authorities feared that gathering of more than 100,000 was possible if left unchecked. Of particular concern was Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong, who had sought permission from Beijing to lead a pilgrimage to Sheshan. Cardinal Zen’s request was denied and he remained in Hong Kong.

Cardinal Zen, long considered a threat by Beijing, also did not receive an invitation to attend the opening ceremonies of the Summer Games in Beijing. Bishop John Tong of Hong Kong represented the Holy See at the opening ceremonies, though his presence was carefully monitored. He did not meet with officials of the government, and his request to meet or even talk with the state-selected bishop of Beijing was denied.

Religion in Beijing for purposes of the Olympic Games was carefully managed by the state. Venues were established to deal with the religious needs of foreign guests, and Roman Catholic clergy from outside China were invited to assist in this effort. Aside from the officially sanctioned religious venues, all other religious activities within the Olympic zone were curtailed by order of the state. House church leaders were relocated outside the Olympic zone, and all churches, both registered and unregistered, were barred from celebrating any religious services.

Bishop Jia, whose Zhengding diocese lies approximately 100 miles south of Beijing in Hebei province, lives under permanent house arrest. At 73, Jia is in frail health and has already endured 15 years in prison and has been arrested numerous times since his 1989 release for the purpose of re-education—the state is every hopeful Jia will denounce Rome and join the patriotic church.

For the duration of the Olympic Games, Jia’s house arrest was augmented by a 24/7 police guard stationed at his home. He was not to receive visitors of any kind, nor was he to celebrate mass. The police abruptly arrested Jia just hours before the closing ceremonies, which left many wondering what the elderly bishop had done to warrant another round of imprisonment. Jia’s arrest immediately brought to mind Bishop Han, who died under very mysterious circumstances in September of 2007 while in police custody, and several other bishops whose whereabouts remain unknown years after their arrests.

Thankfully, Bishop Jia was returned to his home, where he again resides under house arrest. While no official comment has been made regarding Jia’s month-long incarceration, credible reports have surfaced indicating the arrest was to prevent a foreign reported from interviewing the bishop. Rather than risk someone slipping into Jia’s home, Beijing placed him in prison until all the foreign press had left the country.

Beijing promised much, and delivered little.

China Arrests Catholic Bishop

2008-08-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Just hours before the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, a detail of six security agents arrested Bishop Julius Jia Zhigou at his cathedral in Zhengding and his whereabouts remain unknown. Bishop Jia, age 73 and in frail health, endured 15 years in prison under Mao, and has been arrested at least a dozen times since, all for the crime of his faith and loyalty to Rome on matters of religion. He has been living under house arrest since 1989.

Jia's diocese in Hebei, 100 miles south of Beijing, is home to 100,000 Catholics. In the weeks leading up to the start of the Olympic games in Beijing, Jia had been ordered not to celebrate mass or to meet with any foreigners. A guardhouse was erected on the grounds of Jia's church to maintain around-the-clock security on the bishop. Jia was last arrested in 2007, and it is unknown what precipitated this most recent arrest.

There are an estimated 40 underground bishop in China, who are either in prison, under house arrest, under surveillance, or in hiding. The rulers of China boast that their constitution guarantees the right to religious belief, but the manner in which that belief is exercised is greatly impacted by the state.

The Two Old Men China Fears Most to meet on December 13th

2007-11-15T22:26:00.000-08:00

When referring to the Pope or the Dalai Lama, most of the world uses a specific form of address that recognizes the standing each man holds as a religious leader: His Holiness. The Chinese leadership in Beijing prefers to view these men from their side of the political looking glass, and what they see are two grave threats to communist party rule in China. Perspective is everything.

China is the fourth largest nation on the planet with the world's largest population and the world's largest standing army. China possesses sophisticated military hardware and has both nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them anywhere in the world. The leadership of this nation that much of the world believes will define the 21st century, fear a pair of old men who spend much of their days in prayer.

While Pope Benedict XVI and the Dalai Lama are influential world figures, neither commands a military force with which to wage war. The Vatican City-State is roughly the size of Zhongnanhai—the former imperial playground where the China's communist elite reside—and the Dalai Lama's residence in exile at Dharamsala is similarly small.

So what is it about these two old men that China fears: moral authority. Both the Pope and the Dalai Lama represent a belief that each individual is endowed with certain human rights as part of their existence, and each man can speak with the moral authority to challenge the Chinese government.

The Dalai Lama recently visited Washington, DC and Ottawa, where he was received with full ceremonial honors. Beijing was quite vocal in its objections to the Dalai Lama's warm reception in both capitols, decrying the blatant and gross interference in China's internal affairs that undermined China's relations with both offending countries. Beijing went so far as to denounce the Canadian Prime Minister's disgusting conduct in warmly receiving the Dalai Lama.

The exiled Tibetan leader works tirelessly to secure the liberty and autonomy enjoyed by the citizens of Hong Kong for the Tibetan people, but Beijing views the Dalai Lama as a splittist agitating for Tibetan independence. Tibet came under Chinese control in 1951, when the People’s Liberation Army liberated Tibet from the Tibetans.

Pope Benedict has similarly irked Beijing, first by naming Bishop Zen of Hong Kong a cardinal in 2006, then by posting an open letter to all Chinese Catholics this past summer. Both actions resulted in increased persecution of the underground Roman Catholic Church in China.

The Pope and the Dalai Lama are scheduled to meet on December 13th at the Vatican and already the threats and objections are pouring out of Beijing. Where this differs from the empty rhetoric that typically accompanies a visit by the Dalai Lama to any world capitol is that the Holy See does not enjoy diplomatic and trade relations with China, so China is free to act on its threats. In the wake of the December meeting between the two holy men, I expect the head of the Patriotic Church will announce the appointment of several new bishops in China, none of whom will be to Rome’s liking. If that happens, don't expect to see the Holy See exchanging ambassadors with beijing any time soon.

Faith and Fiction

2007-10-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked why, given my fascination with the Sino-Vatican situation, that I didn't write a non-fiction book on the subject. The years of research I put into The Secret Cardinal are worthy of a doctorate, and I am certain a straight biography of Cardinal Kung would make a very compelling read, but the real story has major problem for me: it's not over. I'm a purist and I like my stories with a beginning, middle and end. I like agon and catharsis. And I write fiction because it allows for poetic justice.

While the situation for people of faith in China is better now than during the Cultural Revolution, it is far from ideal. Even a biography of Cardinal Kung, which did have a happy ending after three decades in hell, would end on a sad note because the last Roman Catholic bishop of Shanghai was never able to return to his see and resume his pastoral duties. Kung's victory was personal, because he survived, but his flock continues to suffer. The Dalai Lama's life story may well have the same bittersweet ending on an exiled leader long separated from his people.

Unlike my first four thrillers, The Secret Cardinal confronts a great evil in the world: religious persecution in China. I am not the first author to employ fiction in this manner. Aesop wrote fables and Christ told parables as a means of personal instruction. George Orwell railed against totalitarianism in Animal Farm and 1984 and Upton Sinclair took on the meat packing industry in The Jungle.

Perhaps the most successful novel of this type was abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. When Abraham Lincoln met Stowe, he is reported to have said, "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." The Secret Cardinal probably won't change the world, but I do hope it entertains and edifies those who read it. It is, after all, a tale of honor, loyalty and faith.

I'm Ready For My Close-up, Mr. DeMille

2007-10-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is if and when one of my novels will be made into a movie. Like most authors, I shrug and reply, "God only knows."

I can say, with the publication of The Secret Cardinal, that I have earned my first credits as a screenwriting and executive producer for my involvement in the book trailer posted on the home pages of my web sites. Now, I have no plans to give up my day job and move to California to write screenplays and do lunch with industry movers and shakers. I did have a fascinating meeting with filmmaker George Lucas several years ago, but the subject was a non-fiction book and not bringing Nolan Kilkenny to the silver screen.

So, why haven't any of my novels been made into movies? Numbers.

Approximately a thousand new book titles are published every day, totaling over three hundred thousand new books on the market every year. Of these, roughly fifty thousand are novels, which are typically the kinds of books turned into movies.

The annual theatrical output for Hollywood runs under two hundred titles, and of those only a fraction are based on a novel by X. Only a handful of book titles are ever optioned by Hollywood, and even fewer of those are green lighted into production.

Only two of Clive Cussler's many amazing adventures have been made into movies, and at last count, Tom Clancy was up to four. Stephen King and Elmore Leonard have a decent book-to-movie ratio, though the quality of the transition has left much to be desired in many cases. J.K. Rowling will, in another few years, go seven-for-seven, when the last of her Harry Potter novels becomes another blockbuster, but she remains an amazing exception to the rule.

Writers know that getting published is a lot like winning the lottery. The odds on having your novel turned into a movie is akin to being struck by lighting while shooting a hole-in-one—not impossible, but a very rare feat.

Pope Pens an Evil Document

2007-10-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

On June 30th, the Vatican posted an open letter from Pope Benedict XVI to all Catholics in China, patriotic and underground alike. The letter resulted from a January meeting between the pope and his best advisors on how best to deal with China. Rumors of the letter's imminent release circulated around every major day on the Church calendar for five months, but the pope took his time and the language of the final document is precise and clear.

The Vatican gave Beijing a copy of the pope’s letter several days before it was publicly posted, to provide the Chinese government time to form an appropriate response. In the West, the letter was widely praised as conciliatory and many had hoped Beijing would receive it in the spirit in which it was sent and open a formal dialog with the Holy See.

Beijing's response was to block domestic Internet access to the Vatican website, and to play Whack-a-mole with any other site that posted the pope's letter. Beijing offered no official reaction to the pope's letter, though a few high-ranking members of the patriotic church approved of the absence of anti-communist rhetoric present in previous Vatican pronouncements. Distribution of the pope's letter in China is a crime and several Catholic priests have reportedly been subjected to brainwashing and other forms of reeducation to show them the error of their ways.

While I don't expect The Secret Cardinal to win a rave review from the book critics at China's People's Daily, I am pretty sure it won't be decried as an evil document and my readers subjected to abuse far beyond that experienced by any Al Qeda detainee. Actually, I doubt very much my novel will ever legally see the light of day in China, and I expect my web sites will be blocked in China as soon as Beijing views the book trailer.

Kilkenny's Robo-Fly is Real

2007-10-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post ran a story by Rick Weiss earlier this month about various government agencies developing, and possibly deploying, robotic insects. A link to this story can be found in the NEWS section of this site, but in a nutshell the idea is to shrink the capabilities of a Predator drone down to the size of a flying insect. The photograph accompanying the article shows a robo-bug sitting atop a fingertip. The Fly Kilkenny used in Chifeng prison is precisely what Weiss described as the goal of those trying to fabricate such complex piece of engineering.

One of my children's favorite books is about a bumblebee named Buzzy who suddenly cannot fly after being told a bee's wing-to-body ratio make physically impossible to do so. Flight is the most difficult problem for such tiny machines because the dynamics at this scale really are different than for larger bodies like birds or aircraft. Insect wings are very different in shape and stroke than bird wings, like comparing helicopters to planes. Scientifically, we are dealing with the aerodynamics of a flapping airfoil.

I first came across MAVs (mirco-air vehicles) about five years ago while doing some research for Bird of Prey with the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. The idea of releasing swarms of cheaply built insect spies immediately intrigued me and. Like a magpie, I stashed this bit of information away for what became The Secret Cardinal. If you watch the book trailer, you’ll see these grainy shots of Bishop Yin praying in his cell at Chifeng Prison. These are Fly-eye views as Kilkenny finally locates the bishop. I do not doubt that in a few years we will see images shot by the real thing.

Dalai Lama Wins Gold, China Cries Foul

2007-10-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

The Dalai Lama recently visited Washington, DC, where he met privately with the president and later received a Congressional Gold Medal for his work in the field of human rights. Beijing threw a tantrum that included strongly worded demands that the U.S. Government correct this grave error and cancel both the ceremony and the president's meeting with the exiled Tibetan leader. There were also reports that Chinese hackers attacked Internet search engines in the U.S., misdirecting requests for Google and Yahoo to the Baidu site instead.

The oft-cited reason for China's ire was our interference in their internal affairs. Near as I can tell, an act of Congress to honor someone is an internal affair of the United States, and China's demands constitute the same type of interference that they are decrying. Of course, China's 1951 invasion of Tibet had little on that nation’s internal affairs.

Pope Benedict and the Dalai Lama have much in common with regard to China. Beijing fears and despises both men because they speak for a persecuted segment of Chinese society and represent a moral authority that could challenge China's totalitarian regime. It is interesting to see a state with the largest standing military, in the midst of a military expansion since the U.S. entered World War II, terrified of two old men in command of nothing more that their personal bodyguards. But even Mao knew that people of faith believe in something greater that the state, and that is where the danger lies.

At the end of May, Pres. Bush held an off the books meeting the Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong in the White House residence. News of this meeting broke several weeks later, and Beijing said nothing to allow the story to die quietly. Zen may well be the most dangerous Roman Catholic in China because, as a cardinal, he is in a position to be elected pope. The combination of the Dalai Lama and a Chinese pope would likely be more than Beijing could handle.

Publication Day Post

2007-09-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

In August, I had the pleasure of sitting in on the recording of the audio book for The Secret Cardinal at Brilliance Audio in Grand Haven, Michigan. A week later, I watched the first copies of my novel glide off the presses at Edwards Brothers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Quite a thrill.

Since The Secret Cardinal went into final production, several things have happened in the real world regarding China and the Vatican that certainly would have made it into the facts section at the back of by novel.

In July, the government appointed electors for the diocese of Beijing selected the new bishop of Beijing from a slate of Episcopal candidates. The government reportedly campaigned hard on the behalf of Joseph Li Shan, who won the election by a wide margin. Centered in the capitol, the post of bishop for the Diocese of Beijing is politically sensitive, and Li succeeds Bishop Fu Tieshan, a fiery anti-Vatican prelate who also served as the head of patriotic association in charge of the state-run Catholic Church in China.

Li's election came just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI posted his open letter to all Catholics in China on the Vatican's website (there's a link to the pope's letter on tomgrace.net). Beijing quickly blocked access to the Vatican's website and many were arrested in China for posting or distributing copies of the pope's letter. While the naming of bishops is a major sticking point between Beijing and Rome, the Vatican did comment that Li was worthy and qualified.

While most of China's patriotic bishops have reportedly quietly sought and received the pope's blessing for their appointments, none have publicly expressed their loyalty to Rome. Following his election, Li went on a lengthy retreat that prevented him from asking or receiving the pope's blessing for his appointment.

Li was ordained and installed in his new post of September 21st, and for the first time in fifty years, the Vatican reported the installation of a bishop in China. The Vatican press release did not mention if Pope Benedict approved of Li's ordination, and both Beijing and Rome were positioned to avoid antagonizing each other.

What should be noted in context with Bishop Li's ordination is the death of Roman Catholic Bishop Han Dinhxiang of Hebei. Han had endured over three decades of incarceration since 1960, disappearing into police custody for the two years preceding his death. Within hours of his death, Han’s body was cremated and interred, leaving one to wonder what his captors were hiding. With Han's death, the number of aging Roman Catholic bishops in China drops to 35, and the members of this group are either in prison, under house arrest, or in hiding.

On a related note, China's State Administration for Religious Affairs put into effect a law that prevents Tibetan lamas from reincarnating without Beijing permission. As absurd as it sounds that an atheist government that does not believe in the existence of souls would enact legislation regarding life after death, this actually ties in with the issue of Catholic bishops in China.

Tibetan lamas are considered living Buddhas, and most of these lamas reside in Tibet, which is occupied by China. As these lamas die, Beijing has interfered with the process through which the reincarnated lamas are recognized in an attempt to gain greater control over Buddhists in China through pro-Beijing lamas. This interference has resulted in the creation of sanctioned and unsanctioned lamas.

The aim of Beijing's new legislation is the Dalai Lama, who resides in exile in India. The Dalai Lama is 72, and the new law prevents recognition of anyone outside of China as the reincarnated Dalai Lama.

I don't think you have to be an enlightened soul to understand why China has been a fixture on US State Department's International Religious Freedom Report since its inception in 1998.