By Asia News
Dec 29 2020
Churches shut down, checks, inspections and threats on the pretext of anti-Covid measures, have failed to dim celebrations of the coming of Jesus in both official and underground communities. Several faithful, given the ban on celebrating Christmas mass, were only able to pray at home.
Rome – Christmas 2020 in China passed with many difficulties. To the restrictions that have always existed, for the rules on religious activities, this year the anti-Covid rules have been added: small numbers of participants, safe distance between the faithful, temperatures, disinfection, etc … Some churches have been closed; others visited by police and local religious affairs directors. AsiaNews asked some faithful and priests from different parts of China to tell about their Christmas:
Father Giovanni (North China)
This year, the Covid epidemic has had an impact on the organization of the Christmas mass. I deal with two parishes that are relatively distant from each other. One of them is located in a village where not all families are Christian. In the year the church opened, residents denounced us because the midnight Mass disturbed. So, since then, we have anticipated midnight Mass in this parish, to then rush to the other. During the Christmas Mass the two parishes are always full of people. The Committee of the village in which this parish is located sends every year, under the direction of the superiors, the staff to check, photograph and subsequently report and report to their superiors.
Mass gatherings are not allowed this year, and so they asked us in advance, suggesting to the parish manager that it would be better not to celebrate Mass at night, otherwise the church could be closed. The manager spoke with me to cancel the midnight Mass, celebrating only the Mass on the eve. And so, in this parish we only celebrated two Masses on the eve, during the day.
The other parish suffers fewer restrictions, but it was still necessary to limit the number of participants, so we celebrated three Masses in the night, based on the approximate number of faithful of the past years. During the second Sunday of Advent, we asked everyone to register for the Mass they wanted to attend; each person is allowed to participate only in one. The faithful are very sympathetic to the organization of the parish and have signed up for Mass following the regulations.
Although this year was not as solemn and lively as the past years, nothing has diminished the peace and salvation that the birth of Jesus brings with it. Moreover, it has multiplied the celebrations, and changed the style of participation. In the past, many of the faithful came only to passively assist; this year more faithful were able to participate in the choir, in the readings and in the celebration, with a deeper sense of participation. This is perhaps “the good God who raises from evil”. having multiplied the celebrations, and changed the style of participation
Anna (Western China)
Days ago, the religious authorities announced that, for “security” reasons, it is not allowed to celebrate the Christmas Vigil. The county government and the village committee sent word yesterday that there should be no extra activities during Christmas. I told them we would do it like Sunday. In order not to create conflict with them, we brought the Mass to the afternoon by asking not to bring the children. Thinking that they came the day before and that therefore they would never come again, I thought that we could celebrate the feast in peace.
For many faithful, the afternoon Mass was the first opportunity to go to church this year. The building was almost full and everyone wore masks, after measuring the temperature. The night before, I had hardly slept, praying to the Lord to let us pass the feast in peace. And instead, when the rite was about to end, the director of the Religious Affairs Office showed up.
Our parish is a cultural heritage; so, during the functions, I close the entrance door so as not to be disturbed by tourists. And that afternoon too I closed, avoiding two waves of tourists, making them wait and postponing the visit to the end of the celebration. When the director of the Religious Affairs Office knocked, I thought they were tourists, and I waited a few minutes before opening. When I opened, the manager was furious accusing me of not wanting to let him in. I told him that for the prevention of the epidemic, I did not let tourists in. But he was still very angry and fell into the church without a mask. I asked him to wait for the priest to come out, but he insisted and began to say that the distance between the faithful was less than a meter; that there were too many people; that tomorrow they would come to the town hall to check, to give directives on the allowed number of faithful, and only give permission for Mass early in the morning.
Then our pastor came out and he continued with the same words as before; he said he was concerned that senior city officials might have something to say. The priest replied: If leaders have no objection, can they still be called leaders? He may have thought it meant him personally and went away recommending reducing the number of participants, keeping distance, paying attention to protection, etc. In truth, we all know that the epidemic has now become an excellent pretext. Apparently, they will only be happy when the churches are all empty.
Augustine (East China)
The situation with us is not very different from past years. Every Christmas there is the police who come to keep order, apparently nothing is noticed. But one year, a young priest, just arrived, during the Vigil procession perhaps deviated slightly from the recorded itinerary, prolonging the procession a little. He was caught on camera and had to write a self-critical letter. Since then there have been no more processions.
Father Wang (North China)
To prevent the spread of the epidemic, some of our parishes have been closed for Christmas and we have not celebrated the rite publicly. The bishop together with the priests went to visit the faithful; all these days they went to the parishes where the Christmas Mass was not celebrated, to bring comfort and their company. We are in a remote area and to reach one parish and the other you have to drive 100-200 km a day.
Father Augustine (North China)
Christmas this year was very difficult for the parish where I serve. On the one hand, there are still sporadic positive cases of Covid and we are concerned about protection during the Christmas holidays. On the other hand, we are concerned that the authorities are targeting our small parish.
However, with the grace of God, our parish spent a peaceful Christmas, celebrated in a private home, despite the very restricted environment. But we are very satisfied: many priests of our diocese were unable to celebrate Christmas; the faithful can do nothing but stay at home and pray. Already a few days before Christmas, some parishes received the warning and intimidation from the authorities, informing them of the ban on celebrating. In other parts the police even came to check the movements of the parish; some priests were forced to flee on the night of the Vigil. It is a very embarrassing situation.
With the renewal of the Sino-Vatican Agreement we have not gained any more space for survival. Indeed, the authorities have opened several courses for priests of the underground Church to “brainwash” them, or to threaten them with blocking their pastoral care. However, the birth of the Messiah is a source of comfort and joy for us, it is the strength that keeps us upholding the principles of faith. May the light break the darkness of the world, the peace of Christ be with us all, I wish you a Merry Christmas, the grace of the Lord be with you always!
Father Giacomo (East China)
On December 21st, I invited two nuns to help out my parish for Christmas. When they arrived, they organized rehearsals for Christmas activities, songs and parish decorations. A few days earlier I celebrated confessions for the village faithful. On the afternoon of the 24th, the faithful from the other village came to participate in the solemnity and I confessed them too.
Between 6.30 and 7.30 on Christmas Eve, a small Christmas party was organized, lasting about an hour, in which the faithful recited various shows such as dancing and crosstalk, the sisters disguised themselves as Santa Claus distributing gifts to the faithful, organizing a catechism competition: whoever gave the correct answer, obtained a small sacred object.
At 8 the welcome ceremony for the Child Jesus began. The musical group in the lead, then the concelebrants, the celebrant president, the Child, the choir, the faithful, all together went around the village, singing while we made the procession. Once in the church, the priest placed the Child in the crib and celebrated the blessing ceremony of the crib and the tree.
Then the Christmas Eve Mass began (in previous years it was at 11pm; this year the ceremony was brought forward). All the faithful wore masks, keeping one meter away from each other during Mass. At 5.30 in the morning of the 25th, we celebrated the dawn Mass; at 9 am that of the Day, at the end of which the anointing of the sick to the faithful elderly and the sick is celebrated. At 2 pm I arrived at the other parish to make the confession, celebrate Mass and the anointing of the sick for the elderly or sick. Thanks to God, everything happened in peace! – Asia News
