More new Bishops!
In the not-too-distant past, I would write a fairly lengthy blogpost every time a new Chinese Bishop was installed, and especially when he was also approved by the Pope. It was a relatively new phenomena. Recently, though, it has become so common and so normal that I rarely comment on it at all on any of my "social media." This Asia news article lists several of the recent bishops. In the past week alone there have been two ordinations!
The Asia news article doesn't mention one notable point about Yuncheng Bishop Wu's ancestry. In addition to having other religious in his immediate family, his great uncle is one of the Chinese Martyrs, St. Peter Wu. When I read that, it stopped me. When I visit the reconstructed churches in Beijing, those that suffered heavy damage and loss of life during the Boxer rebellion, that part of history seems so tragic, and yet distant to me. However, to Bishop Wu, there was a time in his early life, I would imagine, the Boxer Rebellion was still part of the living memory of his family. That must be how his Catholic family survived the Cultural Revolution and still gave the Church a sister and two priests, one of whom is now a bishop.
The Asia news article doesn't mention one notable point about Yuncheng Bishop Wu's ancestry. In addition to having other religious in his immediate family, his great uncle is one of the Chinese Martyrs, St. Peter Wu. When I read that, it stopped me. When I visit the reconstructed churches in Beijing, those that suffered heavy damage and loss of life during the Boxer rebellion, that part of history seems so tragic, and yet distant to me. However, to Bishop Wu, there was a time in his early life, I would imagine, the Boxer Rebellion was still part of the living memory of his family. That must be how his Catholic family survived the Cultural Revolution and still gave the Church a sister and two priests, one of whom is now a bishop.
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