Chinese and American Catholics are united, couple says

By Sean Gallagher

Although China and Indiana are almost literally a world apart, Chinese and Hoosier Catholics have a tangible bond that is both physical and spiritual.

This was the experience of Weimao Ke and his wife Carrie when they moved from China to Bloomington.

“When I came to the states, everything was different to me, especially since my spoken English was not good,” Carrie said in a recent e-mail to The Criterion.

“But when I came to [the] St. Paul [Catholic Center] on Sunday, everything was familiar to me: the church, the Mass. I knew every part of the Mass, though there was a language barrier.”

“Though a Chinese, I was welcomed into the Church in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” Weimao said. “I know we all are Catholic, united as one. I have never felt that I am a foreigner in a ‘foreign’ Church. I’ve taken for granted this is my home, a universal family.”

Many Catholics in China have experienced persecution on account of their faith for years. Yet Carrie said that being Catholic in the United States has its own challenges.

“Yes, it is difficult to suffer persecution,” Carrie said. “But it is difficult also to stay away from temptations and stand firm in faith under good conditions.”

Carrie acknowledged, however, that she has been impressed by the examples of faith-filled generosity from Father Daniel Atkins, a previous pastor of the St. Paul Catholic Center, and the Dominican priests who currently minister there, as well as lay Catholics from Bloomington she and Weimao met.

At the same time, the cultures of China and the United States are growing closer as China is more and more driven by a market economy similar to the one here.

Weimao said that Chinese Catholics are a part of that economy, but still, by and large, are guided through it by their faith.

“In China, nowadays, to do business means you have to cheat to some degree. You have to do some things that are against God’s commandments,” he said. “And most of the Chinese Catholic communities [therefore] are poor. But they are happy.”

In another e-mail, both Weimao and Carrie talked about their hopes for the Church in China, which has experienced division and persecution for more than half a century.

“We do hope the Chinese ‘underground’ and ‘official’ Catholics reconcile and unite,” they said. “We are indeed one Church.

“By so doing, we hope the [Chinese] government will one day, [hopefully] soon, realize that there is no way to control the Catholic Church in China and to treat our brothers and sisters more peacefully.”

The Church in China can move toward that goal, Weimao and Carrie said, through the solidarity and support they can receive from Catholics in the United States.

“Please pray for the Church in China,” they said. “Catholics in the United States have done valuable [work] in helping the Church in China in a variety of ways.

“You can continue to send clear messages to the Chinese government to act justly in religious matters by showing your concerns for priests and bishops being treated unjustly, through, for instance, your senators or any others who have communication channels to China.

“Although the Chinese government is reluctant to change, sometimes it has to do that under pressure.” †