The Catholic Church reportedly celebrated a day of prayer for Christians in China on Monday, May 24, in line with the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians.
According to Vatican News, Pope Francis called on Catholics last Sunday after the Regina Coeli to join the Church in China in prayer as a way to celebrate the said feast.
"Tomorrow, the Catholic faithful in China celebrate the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, the celestial patron of their great country," the Pope announced before inviting everyone to accompany Catholics in China.
The Pope said Chinese Catholics are his "dearest brothers and sisters, whom I hold in the depth of my heart" and for whom he fervently prays for. He disclosed that Chinese Catholics come to Shanghai's Our Lady of Sheshan sanctuary out of their devotion to Mary, "the Mother of the Lord (and) and of the Church" during trials in the family and in invoking hope for their daily life. Pope Francis then pointed out the beauty of praying as one family being one Christian community.
"How good and how necessary it is that the members of a family and of a Christian community are ever more united in love and in faith!" He added. "In this way, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, pastors and faithful can follow the example of the first disciples who, on the solemnity of Pentecost, were united in prayer with Mary as they awaited the Holy Spirit."
As Catholics celebrated the solemnity of Pentecost on Sunday, the Pope prayed that the Holy Spirit may continuously guide and help the members of the church in the mission to "be bearers of the happy message" and "witnesses of goodness and charity" on top of being "builders of justice and peace in their country."
Vatican News highlighted that Pope Francis encouraged Catholic Church in China last year for the same occasion that they are an important part of the universal church who shares their hopes and supports their trials through prayer so that the Holy Spirit may be poured on them anew "for the salvation of those who believe."
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as per Vatican News, declared May 24 as a Day of Prayer for the Church in China in 2007 in line with the Feast of Mary Help of Christians. The Day of Prayer, as per the letter sent by Pope Benedict to Chinese Catholics, was to be celebrated as day of renewal and unity.
"The Catholics of the whole world--in particular those who are of Chinese origin--will demonstrate their fraternal solidarity and solicitude for you, asking the Lord of history for the gift of perseverance in witness, in the certainty that your sufferings past and present for the Holy Name of Jesus and your intrepid loyalty to his Vicar on earth will be rewarded, even if at times everything can seem a failure," he said.
Breitbart reported that Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences President Cardinal Charles Maung Bo echoed the call of the Pope to Catholics to be united in prayer for the faithful in China. Bo asked all Christians to pray for China on May 23-30 since its people have experienced an increase in "challenges" since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
"Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the peoples of China have faced increasing challenges, which impact us all. It is right that we should pray not only for the Church but for all persons in the People's Republic of China," Bo said.
Bo also expressed his "love for the peoples of China" and his hopes that China may become a "force for good" as it rises in global power such that it becomes a "protector of the rights of the most vulnerable and marginalized in the world."
The United States Bishop's Catholic Conference through its International Justice and Peace Chairman Bishop David J. Malloy have heeded the call of Cardinal Bo to observe the Week of Prayer for the Church in China. Malloy called on Catholic Americans to be "in unity and great love" by joining the universal church in praying for China.
