Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kaohsiung (Agenzia Fides) - After a year of spiritual journey, punctuated by intense celebrations, the solemn closing of the celebrations for the 50 years since the founding of the Diocese of Kaohsiung and the centenary of the founding of the Republic of China, will be held during the Jubilee celebration for the 150th anniversary of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Wan Chin, on December 11. As announced by the Kaohsiung Council for Apostolate Laity of the Diocese of Kaohsiung, it will be a "historic moment" of prayer, thanksgiving, of missionary relaunch. So the Council calls on "all brothers and sisters in the Lord to participate actively in the celebration". The Holy Father Benedict XVI granted a plenary indulgence for the Jubilee Year of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception through a decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary, signed on February 8, 2011, to all the faithful who will go on pilgrimage to the Basilica during the year 2011, fulfilling the usual necessary conditions.
The history of the Church coincides with the second evangelization of the island of Taiwan, thanks to the work of the Spanish Dominican missionaries, and especially Fr. Fernando Sainz, considered the father of the second evangelization. In 1861, Fr. Sainz, had just landed on Kaohsiung with the first brothers, he began his mission between Kaohsiung and Wan Chin. In 1863 a small church was built of mud, 83 baptized were the first local faithful. During the earthquake in 1865, the church collapsed and another was rebuilt which was consecrated on December 8, 1870, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. This date thus marks the foundation of the Marian Basilica.
In 1875 the Chinese Emperor Tong Zhi offered a gigantic plate of precious stones, bearing the words "Catholic Church", which was placed on the building of the church. Since then, all the Mandarin Chinese, when they walked past the church, they had to get off the horse and salute. During the Second World War, in 1944, the Japanese invaders used the church as a command, forcing the faithful and priests to celebrate the functions in private houses. According to a story, on May 10 of that year a knight with a white coat passed by and the Japanese were struck down with serious illnesses and thus forcing them to set the church free. During the American bombing in1945, the church miraculously was not damaged. On July 20, 1984 Pope John Paul II elevated the church to the rank of minor Basilica, so it became the second Chinese Basilica after the Basilica dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians (or Our Lady of She Shan) of the diocese of Shanghai. Every year on December 8, pilgrims flock here from all over the world. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 08/11/2011)
