CHENGDU, China (UCAN) – The Catholic Church in Sichuan recently organized a retreat to minister spiritually to priests who experienced the deadly earthquake in the province last year.
More than 50 priests from Chengdu, Leshan, Nanchong, Xichang and Yibin dioceses joined the February 27-March 5 event organized by the provincial Catholic Patriotic Association and the Church Affairs Commission at the Sichuan Catholic Seminary.
Retreatant Father James Li Jinxuan, parish priest of Mianzhu Church in Sichuan province, told UCA News he had felt "so helpless" when the 8.0-magnitude quake struck last May, killing 69,227 people and leaving nearly 18,000 missing.
The priest said the retreat reminded him of how "weak and powerless human beings could be," and also how to "to be open to God" in the face of calamity.
The priest said the retreat reminded him of how "weak and powerless human beings could be," and also how to "to be open to God" in the face of calamity.
Father Li serves in one of the areas hardest-hit by the quake. His church collapsed, killing two people and seriously injuring two others. The building is awaiting reconstruction and the local government has agreed to subsidize the project, he said. He added that parishioners are only now slowly coming to grips with the disaster.
During the retreat, other participants recalled that after the quake Catholics and non-Catholics alike asked them questions such as: "Father, if God is merciful, why did he let so many innocent people die? Why did your Church collapse? Why didn't your God protect it? Does God exist?"
American Maryknoll Father Larry Lewis, who has given retreats for various seminaries and religious congregations on mainland China, conducted this retreat.
Father James Li Jinxuan standing in front of his collapsed church
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