As Italian regional officials canceled school and major public events over the weekend following a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, Church officials have urged citizens to adhere to restrictions set in place, saying they are close to the families impacted.
The Vatican donated thousands of protective masks to several Chinese provinces affected by the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.
Chinese Catholics from St. Agatha Church, Sunset Park, rang in the Lunar New Year with a Mass on Jan. 26.
St. Michael’s is the only Catholic elementary school in the state that has a dual English-Mandarin program, which was first developed by Boston College and has been used at St. Michael’s for the past seven years.
The Vatican has told bishops and priests in China that they must follow their own consciences in deciding whether to register with the government, and it urged Catholics in the country not to judge them for the choices they make.
As massive protests continued in Hong Kong, the Auxiliary Bishop pledged to remain with those opposing a controversial extradition bill and the resignation of the Chinese territory’s leader.
In a recent article, a columnist from The New York Times wrote: “China is engaging in internment, monitoring or persecution of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists on a scale almost unparalleled by a major nation in three-quarters of a century.”
Finally, the Vatican has done a deal with China, or rather with the ruling Chinese Communist Party that has been conducting an escalating program of repression against religion.
China’s ruling Communist Party has further stepped up control over all religions, dissolving its long-standing State Administration for Religious Affairs bureau and handing its functions to the party’s United Front Work Department.
A couple of months ago, I thought it was a slam dunk that Bishop Francis X. Ford would soon be beatified and on his way to canonization. But with recent developments in the Church in Communist China, I think the timeline may be longer.
