Catholics in China have long been persecuted by the Marxist atheist government for practising their faith. They have responded with dignity and determination. But their situation – particularly recently when the cross has been ripped from their Churches by the authorities – is a continuing denial of the human right to religious faith and its practice.
Under the Treaty which managed the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997, the people of Hong Kong retain many more human rights than on the Chinese mainland. This is the celebrated special administrative region with ‘one country, two systems.’ Recently the Hong Kong government has attempted to modify the Treaty provisions to limit the rights of the inhabitants. This has led to violent demonstrations in defence of rights solemnly guaranteed by the Chinese government. The response of the government has been to threaten to impose these restrictions by decree instead of by the Hong Kong legislative process. Where then is HSBC in this? Our high street bank HSBC is in full the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. It started life there in the mid-19th century, and came to the UK most obviously by taking over the former Midland Bank. It still does a lot of business in the areas where it started. HSBC is on public record as approving the measures proposed by the Chinese government. This is widely seen by commentators as dictated by concern for its commercial interests. Why is this of concern to Catholics? Because the Catholic Church takes human dignity, human freedom and human rights very seriously indeed. Any attempt to remove human rights to freedom of conscience, of religious faith, and to those political and legal rights which are commonly seen as fundamental in modern societies is wrong politically, morally and religiously. So The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: ‘By virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man (NB: this is quoting a 1960s document where man is inclusive of all human beings) is endowed with freedom.’ (Catechism 1700) This is further explained, ‘Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or do that, and so perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. …Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent they are voluntary. … Freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings. Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as a free and responsible being. All owe each other this duty of respect. The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in its moral and religious matters, is an inalienable requirement of the dignity of the human person. This right must be recognized and protected by civil authority within the limits of the common good and public order.’ (Catechism 1731-1738: italics in the original) HSBC’s current public position is clearly contrary to Catholic teachings and perspectives. Of course HSBC is entitled to protect and further what it sees as the interests of its business and shareholders. Equally Catholics are entitled not to deal with a bank whose attitude is so profoundly opposed to Catholic truth. Catholics should withdraw their business from an institution determined to prefer profit to moral principle.
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Well, it has finally happened. The Church re-opens this Wednesday for private prayer.
We will at first only be open on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This has been agreed by all the priests in Hackney. It allows the Church to clean itself of any lingering presence of the virus between openings. You still need to observe the rules about social distancing, being careful about what you touch, and about taking any paper you touch home with you. DO NOT READ THE NEWSLETTER AND THEN LEAVE IT IN CHURCH. I put this in capitals because normally several people do this. Now this is an infection risk to those who clean the Church. This re-opening is a great opportunity for us to renew our prayer in front of the Tabernacle, in the presence of Jesus. That is stressed because Sunday is the feast of Corpus and Sanguis Christi when we thank our Lord for his gift to us of the Eucharist. In Communion our Lord unites us to himself and gives us countless graces and virtues. Then on Friday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Wednesday, 17th June, is the anniversary of the consecration of the diocese to the Sacred Heart in 1873, just as our parish was founded. This feast is an opportunity to reflect on how our Lord pours the love of God onto us from his heart, conceived in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit and pierced on the cross by the soldier’s spear. From it pours the blood and water of the Eucharist and Baptism. This is immediately followed on Saturday by the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to whom our Church and parish are consecrated. This is our chance to thank our Blessed Mother for all the gifts, favours and graces she has won for us by her continual prayer. She who lived all her life without sin yet looks down on us in our weakness with compassion and love. She pleads with her Son for us that we may grow ever more pleasing to him. Last Friday we celebrated the feast of St Boniface. He was born in Devon, and became a monk. He travelled to Germany to preach the Gospel to pagans. He founded the diocese of Mainz, and other dioceses across south and west Germany. He was martyred preaching the Gospel to the people of north Holland. In one of his letters, he wrote: The Church is like a great ship sailing the sea of the world and tossed by the waves of temptation in this life. But it is not to be abandoned – it is to be brought under control.’
That is a wonderful picture of our experience through the past months of lockdown. We have been battered by isolation, by fear, by anxiety about our loved ones, and by the seemingly unknown qualities of an invisible virus. St Boniface reminds us that as Christians we are to confront and to master our fears and the dangers which surround us. This can seem challengingly, sometimes impossibly, difficult. By our baptism, we are united with God and become children of God in a powerful spiritual way. Every human being is a child of God, loved and desired and intended by God to live in his service and to his glory. That is why the killing of any human being, especially the casual and thoughtless murder of an innocent man like George Floyd by a police officer, is so offensive to Catholic beliefs about the value and dignity of every human being in their relationship with God. That relationship is rooted in God’s gracious invitation to all of us to share his own life. God himself is a community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, united in love and equal in power and dignity. By baptism God invites us to share in that life, that community, that love. In prayer God invites us to open our hearts and minds in a conversation with his threefold community. In the Eucharist God feeds us with the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is in that community we are not abandoned. It is in that community we bring under control the evil in the world. It is in that community we live in faith, in hope, in love. |
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