CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CHINA

New Zealand Tablet, 23 February 1911, Page 335

CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CHINA

One and a half million souls converted to the Catholic faith, and that in the very stronghold of paganism—such is the record to date of the missionaries of the Church sent to spread the Gospel among the followers of Confucius (remarks the San Francisco Monitor). Among the priests who have aided in bringing about this splendid result is Rev. Martin Kennedy, S.J., who left San Francisco early in December en route to his community home in Shanghai, after a voyage around the world. When he left Father Kennedy was planning to celebrate his Christmas Masses in Tokio, Japan, and expected to arrive in Shanghai about the first of the New Year, According to Father Kennedy the rapidly growing Catholic population of China is now ministered to spiritually by forty-five bishops and twenty-one hundred priests, nearly half of which number are native Chinese. There are six thousand elementary schools conducted under Catholic auspices in the Flowery Kingdom and in which upwards of two hundred thousand pupils receive an industrial and manual training. The outlook for the Church in China is unusually bright, but even so, there is a tremendous task still ahead of her and many sacrifices and much labor are yet to be entailed. Father Kennedy has been attached to the mission of Shanghai for a quarter of a century. He recently visited his home in Europe for the first time since his departure for the mission field. He is the only English-speaking Catholic missionary in the province of Shanghai, and one of the ton in the Chinese Empire. ‘ We are frequently asked if we are making progress with our work among the Chinese,’ he said. ‘We have averaged 100,000 converts yearly for five years In my own mission at Shanghai we have 160 Jesuit priests aided by 40 native Chinese priests, and have about 200,000 Catholics, or as many as the total number of converts to other denominations in the whole empire. ‘ What may we hope for in the future as regards this great work? We have perceived that the Gospel is favorable to the Chinese and that it was made for him as it was for the other nations. The truths of the Church will never disturb the peace of mind of the Chinaman. The 100,000 annual converts are pledges of the popularity of the Catholic faith among the Chinese. ‘ At present the missionaries are protected by a treaty with the government, but I think that the time will soon come when China will follow the example of the other countries and grant full peace and toleration to our faith. The work of the Catholic,Church has never been carried on without obstacles and trials and we expect them in China.’ The Reform Movement. — Dealing with political, social, and economic conditions in the Chinese Empire, Father Kennedy declared that the great ‘ reform ’ movement was the paramount issue in China at the present time. The fact that China has experienced an awakening is not to be doubted, he said, although the readjustment of a nation of the tremendous population of China, wedded, as it has been, to antiquity for centuries, must needs be a task that will occupy many years. However, it was Father Kennedy’s belief that the next quarter of a century would witness a revolutionising of Chinese ideas so that the people would look toward the future instead of the past. The establishment of a modern educational system is one of the most important of the means which the new China is employing toward erasing the effects of the ancient civilisation. Up to the present time, however, there has been much difficulty in introducing the technical and higher forms of education through the lack of efficient teachers. To remedy this condition the Imperial Government is sending out annually hundreds of young Chinese students to the schools of other countries. The colleges and universities of the United States already have received a large percentage of these students as those familiar with the passengers into the ports of San Francisco well know. In building her railroads China has absolutely refused to accept foreign capital or submit to foreign control. She wishes to build her own transportation lines and accomplish other great enterprises ad by herself. This is because she dreads foreign interference and the complications which she has experienced in the past. Two years ago China made the promise to exterminate the opium evil in ten years. She has proceeded, as far as possible, to prevent the cultivation of the opium poppy and to stop the sale and the use of the drug throughout the empire. Father Kennedy says that if there is a ‘Yellow Peril’ it exists in the commercial competition of China in the future. He predicts that in time to come China will be the strongest rival of the United States as a commercial and manufacturing nation. During his stay in California Father Kennedy visited his sisters in Sacramento, whom he had not seen for more than twenty-five years. They are both members of the Order of Mercy and have been engaged in their pious labors in and around Sacramento for nearly a quarter of a century. Another brother among a family of eleven children is a priest in the Mission in Australia; while a third, also a priest, died a few years ago in New Orleans, The Kennellys came from Listowel, County Kerry.