HONG KONG (UCAN) – Father Michael Kelly, 56, executive director of UCANews since Jan. 1, 2009, and I arrived in Shanghai on the afternoon of March 12. The purpose of our trip was to visit Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian, who has been ill for some time. A victim of diabetes, the bishop has the added complication of having an inoperable heart condition, which has left him weak.
Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian
of Shanghai
We went directly to the hospital to see him. Bishop Jin greeted us with warm embraces and immediately faulted me for not visiting him for a long time. It was immediately clear to us that his mind, at age 93, was as sharp as ever, although his hearing was not what it used to be. He asked me to speak slowly, and occasionally asked the nun who assisted him to translate for him. This was new. The polyglot bishop is fluent in several Chinese dialects as well as English, French, German and Italian.
We talked about times gone by and he enquired by name about all the members of my family whom he knows well. His sharpness surprised us. For a man who lived 27 years in internal exile and prison, he showed no rancor nor did he dwell on things past. [Bishop Jin was arrested in 1955, after which he spent 18 years in prison and nine in re-education camps.]
I asked him what the highlights of his life were, in his opinion. He first responded by saying that the most important thing he has done since returning from exile to Shanghai was the establishment of the Sheshan Seminary on the outskirts of Shanghai. There are currently 65 students studying in the seminary.
When I first met him in 1982, he claimed that his goal was to provide priests and bishops for all of China. This was no mean feat in a country which at that time had an average age of 70 for priests and bishops, and they were few. Over the years, foreign missionaries and priests from places all over the world were guest lecturers at Sheshan. Currently there are none.
Establishing the seminary was a result of his negotiating a deal with the government to trade the former major seminary in Xujiahui, downtown Shanghai, for a piece of land at the foothills of the Marian shrine in Sheshan. Now buildings surround the seminary chapel, and the hundreds of priests and bishops are the result of more than a quarter-century of effort.
Secondly, he declared that the building of a printing plant outside the city of Shanghai held second place. More than 400 books and numerous pamphlets, calendars and other items have been produced. The books were important since after the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) the Church was left with nothing. Mass books and lectionaries have been distributed to all Chinese churches free of charge. I was pleased because I had helped him to find the funds necessary to build the plant in 1991, and in 1994 I helped to double the size of the plant.
Bishop Jin's third highlight was his newly established Caritas Shanghai foundation. He explained that some years ago he was totally dependant on getting help from abroad. Now, through some shrewd deals, some of the properties returned to Shanghai diocese by the Chinese government are producing revenue which has allowed him to begin funding projects throughout China.
The following day, Bishop Jin got himself released from the hospital in order to return to his residence at the cathedral. Father Kelly and I returned to see him shortly after he had arrived home at his Bishop's House in Xujiahui.
We passed an hour chatting, during which I asked him what was the biggest threat to the Church. Without hesitation he responded: "Materialism! We have lost some good priests who succumbed to capitalism surrounding us everywhere. Vocations are harder and harder to find since intelligent young people can get high paying jobs."
As a parting shot, Bishop Jin said to me, "Come back soon ... and bring a sugar-free apple pie with you next time."
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Maryknoll Father Ronald Saucci, 74, is former deputy director of UCANews. The Hong Kong-based American priest has known Bishop Jin since the 1980s.
He was also the Director of Orbis Books and supported Claretian Publications at its beginning.
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