CHINA 'Open' Church Bishop Dies Without Fulfilling Reconciliation Wish

Posted: 21st December 2006

Bishop Joseph Zheng Changcheng

FUZHOU, China (UCAN) -- Bishop Joseph Zheng Changcheng of Fuzhou died of cancer on Dec. 18, at age 94, without fulfilling his desire to reconcile all the "open" and "underground" Catholics in his diocese in southeastern China.

The bishop, recognized by both the Holy See and the Chinese government, died in his residence at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral in Fanchuanpu, Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, about 1,600 kilometers southeast of Beijing.

His death came shortly after he was discharged from the hospital where he had spent months fighting his illness, Sister Zheng Wenying told UCA News on Dec. 19. The Fuzhou nun had accompanied him from the hospital back to the cathedral.

According to her, upon arrival at the cathedral, the bishop first thanked God with a short prayer in front of the pavilion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the courtyard, where the temperature was about seven degrees Celsius. He then went upstairs to his bedroom, where he passed away soon afterward.

The obituary from the diocese says that following Bishop Zheng's request, it will hold only requiem Masses and prayers, without secular memorial services, which usually involve government officials and non-Catholics.

On Dec. 20 morning, Bishop Zheng's body was transferred from the cathedral to Rosa Mystica Sanctuary in Changle county, 30 kilometers from Fuzhou, for Catholics to pay their respects until Dec. 27. The funeral Mass is scheduled to be held on Dec. 28 at 8 a.m., after which the body will be cremated and the ashes interred in the sanctuary.

Rosa Mystica Sanctuary, which Bishop Zheng dedicated to the Blessed Mother, was inaugurated in 1993. It houses Our Lady of the Rosary Church, a library and a guesthouse. Before Bishop Zheng died, he requested Pope Benedict XVI to officially approve the sanctuary as a pilgrimage site and make its church a basilica.

Bishop Zheng was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus last June, recalled Sister Zheng, who took care of him for years. While taking Chinese herbal medicine, the bishop continued his work, including writing a memoir and supervising the expansion of Rosa Mystica Sanctuary, until he was hospitalized on Sept. 22.

Father Bian Zukui, one of the last two priests ordained by Bishop Zheng, at his sickbed in the hospital on Sept. 28, told UCA News on Dec. 19 that he admired the prelate's humility and amiability. "Bishop Zheng always made the greatest effort in his work. Even when he was gravely ill in the hospital, he was still concerned with the unfinished matters of the diocese," the 32-year-old priest said.

In late September, Bishop Zheng told UCA News his biggest wish was to reconcile with the "underground" Church community in his diocese. "There is only one Church in China," he asserted.

Earlier this year, before his health deteriorated, the prelate pledged to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that he would accomplish the reconciliation in two years' time, according to Sister Zheng.

Father Bian Qianyong, Father Bian Zukui's uncle, told UCA News on Dec. 19 that "underground Catholics are welcome to attend Bishop Zheng's funeral." Recognizing the complexity of the situation in Fuzhou, the middle-aged priest said, "We should open our hearts, sit down and dialogue, so that unity could be achieved one day." He and dozens of other priests and laypeople "surfaced" and joined the open Church in the mid-1990s. Underground Catholics have no affiliation with the government-approved open Church structures.

Open Church Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu of Mindong, whose diocese also is in Fujian, told UCA News on Dec. 19 that Bishop Zheng left behind "an unfulfilled wish of reconciliation." He added that the outcome of the late bishop's wish was not remarkable due to the complexity of the situation.

Local underground Catholics have themselves split into two factions, one led by Bishop John Yang Shudao of Fuzhou, 89, and another by priest-administrator Father Lin Yuntuan.

The path is difficult, Bishop Zhan said, calling for everyone to work together in the direction of unity from now on.

The priest-administrators of Minbei and Xiamen dioceses in Fujian also arrived in Fuzhou on Dec. 19 to offer their condolences, but they had to rush back to prepare for Christmas celebrations.

Bishop Zheng was born on Jan. 14, 1912, into a carpenter's family. He entered the minor seminary in Fuzhou in 1926 and then studied at a major seminary in Shanghai two years later. In 1930, he entered the South China Regional Seminary (now Holy Spirit Seminary) in Hong Kong. Two years later he returned to Fuzhou to serve in a Catholic school.

After his priestly ordination in 1937, he was sent to preach in the Changle area. The next year he was sent to study Chinese literature and history at Fu Jen Catholic University in Beijing. He taught at Fujian seminary in 1942, a year after he graduated from Fu Jen, and became administrator of Fuzhou diocese in 1951.

In 1955 he was jailed for almost 30 years, during which time some inmates were converted because of his deeds. Upon his release he began restoring the local Church. In 1991, he was ordained the bishop of Fuzhou at the age of 79.

Since then, he helped build and restore 28 churches and constructed Rosa Mystica Sanctuary in his diocese. He ordained 23 diocesan priests, and helped train more than 40 priests and about 60 nuns in Fujian.

His many works of charity made him the only religious person in Fujian to be awarded as a "philanthropist" of the province in late September.

Article Source: UCAN