Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) - The April 4th issue of the Nan Fang Weekly, a prominent Chinese newspaper contained an article remembering John Paul II on the third anniversary of his death, written by “a learned Chinese man living in the United States of America.” The author remembers the Pontiff as a “very beloved” Pope, who “changed the face of the Catholic religion and of the world.”
Here are some excerpts taken from the article: “Many of our ‘contemporaries’ maintain the position that Christianity is a Western religion. However, the reality is that Christianity is above all a religion of the third world. The face of Catholicism at the Vatican [making reference to the internationalization of the Roman Curia] has changed thanks to the efforts of the great deceased Pontiff who passed away on April 2, three years ago, John Paul II.” “Nowadays it is difficult to define Catholicism as a Western religion. Likewise, it is hard to define Buddhism as an Eastern religion.” “According to statistics, of the over 1 billion Catholics in the world, 490 million are in South America, 120 million in Africa, and 110 million in Asia. That means that 70% of Catholics live in third world countries.” “Over 75% of those baptized in 1998 were from developing countries.” “After so many years, we can finally say that Christianity is our religion.” “In many Western countries, a great number of the Catholics are immigrants from Asia, South America, and Africa.”
“John Paul II, thanks to this great attractive character of his soul, was able to maintain the unity of the Catholic Church, as well as improve relations with Protestants, Jews, and Muslims. Religion is a worldwide phenomena; Christianity is also a worldwide phenomena. And this is the ‘new color’ that this Pope left to the world, so much so that when we refer to religion, we now have a completely renewed vision. Following the principle that one should always draw the line between politics and religion, what can stop us from telling our fellow Chinese Christians, con generosity, that this is our religion and it forms a part of our modern Chinese culture? And in our relationship with foreigners who share this same faith, what is to stop us from saying that this is our religion and that it forms part of our modern culture of global exchange?” (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 11/4/2008; righe 28, parole 390)
