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On December 13, 2025, the US-China Catholic Association will discuss the section entitled "Water and Wine: Chinese Ethics and the Christian Faith" (pp. 173–197) in John C. H. Wu's Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality . Image from Angelico Press In preparation for the discussion, participants are invited to consider the following discussion prompt from Book Circle facilitator Dr. Kathy Stout: We will read the final chapter of John Wu's book, "Water and Wine: Chinese Ethics and the Christian Faith." Guided by Wu's masterful presentation, we will meditate on the cross-fertilization between the Christian faith and the Confucian teaching about the five cardinal relationships. These relationships concern those between parent and child, older and younger siblings, husband and wife, prince and minister, and between friends. We will discuss each of these relationships in turn. What specific statements or ideas from Wu resonate with you the most? How might the Chinese benefit from Christian theology in their daily living of these relationships? How might Western Christians benefit from the Confucian perspective? The discussion will be held virtually via Zoom at 6AM PT / 7AM MT / 8AM CT / 9AM ET / 10PM Chinese Standard Time. If you have not yet joined us for a Book Circle discussion, please sign up for Book Circle email updates  today , and invite your friends to do the same! For in-person opportunities to learn about theology, history, and the life of the Church in China, we invite you to read about our upcoming 30th International Conference . USCCA programs like the Book Circle and International Conferences are made possible by supporters like you; even if you cannot participate directly, we ask that you please consider how you might contribute to our mission by way of our Annual Appeal . ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations  are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

Today is Giving Tuesday, when people around the world come together in support of organizations and causes oriented towards the common good. Will you celebrate this day of giving by donating to the Annual Appeal of the US-China Catholic Association ? For more information about the past, present, and future of our mission, we invite you to read the Annual Appeal Letter written by our Executive Director, Dr. Benjamin T. OuYang. As the New York Times reports , Giving Tuesday was started in 2012 to "give people a way to pivot back to the values of community and gratitude celebrated on Thanksgiving after Black Friday and Cyber Monday." Since then, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving has developed into a worldwide celebration of generosity and support. As one of our donors recently remarked, "It is a blessing to be able to support peace and dialogue among my brothers and sisters in Christ." Today, we ask that you please consider how you might contribute to this mission by way of our Annual Appeal . ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations  are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

For our upcoming 30th USCCA International Conference , we are calling for you to share your work on promoting friendship, dialogue, and peace between people in China and the USA in your role as intellectuals, community leaders, members of religious organizations, and workers of nonprofit agencies. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2026. At our last conference, hosted in 2024 at DePaul University, over 130 participants from lay and religious backgrounds learned from each other about theology, history, and the life of the Church in China. Our 2026 conference will be hosted at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas; the theme will be "Nourishing Trust and Friendship: Following the Way of Christ." We have two keynote speakers confirmed; their names will be announced soon to subscribers of our email newsletter . In the meantime, we invite you to read more about our upcoming conference in the Call for Submissions . USCCA International Conferences are made possible by supporters like you; even if you cannot participate directly, we ask that you please consider how you might contribute to our mission by way of our Annual Appeal . ---------------------- The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations  are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you.

About the Event: For almost a century, Chinese leaders have pursued an agenda of top-down secularization, with most religions heavily persecuted or banned. However, religion is now back at the center of Chinese society and politics, with the country awash with new temples, churches, and mosques—as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. And now, at the same time that it is demolishing churches and detaining Muslims in reeducation camps, the government is promoting Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religion. What sense are outsiders to make of these seeming contradictory policies? How do Chinese leaders intend to manage the tension between an atheistic state and a constitution that guarantees freedom of religious belief? What do these policies this say about China’s participation in the larger global community? Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Ian Johnson has lived in China for more than 20 years, following the country’s search for values, faith, and new ways of organizing society. About ian johnson: Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Ian Johnson has lived in China for more than 20 years, following the country's search for values, faith, and new ways of organizing society. For more than a hundred years, China embarked on a movement of forced secularization, with most religions heavily persecuted or banned. But religion is now back at the center of Chinese society and politics, with the country awash with new temples, churches, and mosques - as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Churches are being demolished and Muslims forced to attend reeducation camps, while the government is also promoting Buddhism and folk religion. How to reconcile these contradictory claims? Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer focusing on society, religion, and history. He works out of Beijing for The New York Times , The New York Review of Books , and other publications. He teaches undergraduates at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies , and has served as an advisor to academic journals and think tanks, such as the Journal of Asian Studies , the Berlin-based think tank Merics , and New York University's Center for Religion and Media . In 2018, he was accepted as a doctoral candidate at Germany's Leipzig University, where he is writing a thesis on Chinese religious groups and their relationship to the state. For more information on Ian Johnson, visit his website: http://www.ian-johnson.com/bio . The Presentation: Selected Works by Ian Johnson (张彦) The Souls of China: The Return of Religion after Mao (2018) The Souls of China tells the story of one of the world’s great spiritual revivals. Following a century of violent anti-religious campaigns, China is now filled with new temples, churches, and mosques—as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Driving this explosion of faith is the quest for identity and meaning: What does it mean to be Chinese in the modern world? And how does one live an ethical life in a country that has savaged its own moral traditions for over a century, even before the current regime came to power? ​ For six years, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Ian Johnson lived for extended periods with three religious communities: the underground Early Rain Protestant congregation in Chengdu, the Ni family’s Buddhist pilgrimage association in Beijing, and yinyang Daoist priests in rural Shanxi. Johnson distills these experiences into a cycle of festivals, births, deaths, detentions, and struggle that reveals the hearts and minds of the Chinese people—a great awakening of faith that is shaping the soul of the world’s newest superpower. Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China (2005) In Wild Grass, Pulitzer Prize—winning journalist Ian Johnson tells the stories of three ordinary Chinese citizens moved to extraordinary acts of courage: a peasant legal clerk who filed a class-action suit on behalf of overtaxed farmers, a young architect who defended the rights of dispossessed homeowners, and a bereaved woman who tried to find out why her elderly mother had been beaten to death in police custody. Representing the first cracks in the otherwise seamless façade of Communist Party control, these small acts of resistance demonstrate the unconquerable power of the human conscience and prophesy an increasingly open political future for China.

Why are there so many Catholic churches in Hebei Province? And why so many Protestant Churches in Anhui? When thinking about missions, we don’t always consider geography, yet the five official religions in China are very geographically concentrated. On Thursday, June 16th, 2022, Dr. Fenggang Yang gave a lecture entitled, “Where Are the Churches in China? And Why? Geographical Patterns of Church Development.” In it, he presented the geographical distribution of Catholic and Protestant churches in China, discussed several distinctive characteristics of the churches and their locations, and traced some of the historical and social patterns of church development. about dr. Fenggang Yang Dr. Fenggang Yang is a professor of sociology at Purdue University and the director of the Center on Religion and the Global East. His primary research interests include the sociology of religion, religious change in China, and immigrant religion in the United States. Dr. Yang has authored numerous articles and books, in both Chinese and English. His most recent book in English is Atlas of Religion in China: Social and Geographical Contexts (2018). The Presentation further resources Dr. Yang's Purdue Faculty Page > Center on Religion and the Global East > Scholarly Works by Dr. Yang >

When outsiders think of religion in China, they tend to focus on persecution--for example Muslims in Xinjiang or Christians in many big Chinese cities. While that is true for some faiths, China is also in the midst of a religious boom, which the government is trying to use to further its grip on power. That includes rebuilding ancient temples, subsidizing pilgrimages to holy mountains, and endorsing Confucian philosophers. But can authoritarianism and religious life coexist? What are the risks as the government in Beijing embraces some religions while opposing others? . About Ian johnson Ian Johnson is Stephen A. Schwarzman senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist who lived in China for more than 20 years. A regular contributor to the New York Times, he is the author of Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China (Pantheon, 2004) and The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao (Vintage, 2017), as well as numerous other publications. the presentation further resources Ian Johnson's Website > Books by Ian Johnson >

Chiaretto Yan and Simeiqi He both would answer the question affirmatively. They also envision Chinese and U.S. Catholics engaging with one another to find ways to care for our common home, the earth. They both take great encouragement from Pope Francis' efforts and Chinese wisdom to see ourselves as part of nature in our work to discover a ‘healthy ecology” I invite readers to reflect on Chiaretto Yan’s, “My Chinese Dream” and this article, “Is Ecological Civilization Our Common Hope?” by Simeiqi He. Please send us your comments and questions so we can begin to build bridges of friendship and dialogue around our mutual work to care for our common home. Note: This is (re)shared with Simeiqi He's permission~ Tom McGuire, Director Emeritus Is Ecological Civilization our Common Hope? Posted November 2023 | By Simeiqi He | Junior Scholar Forum Article, Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church, Simeiqi He is a Catholic laywoman from the People’s Republic of China, living in the United States. Her research in Christian social ethics has included Pope Francis’s writings on ecology and the ecological civilization of China. This month is marked by Pope Francis’ publications of two Apostolic Exhortations – Laudate Deum and C’est La Confiance. Together, they shed new light on the expansive global movement of ecological civilization and its potential to serve as our common hope. Eight years ago, Pope Francis expressed his heartfelt concerns about the care of our common home in Laudato Si’. Earlier this month, in Laudate Deum, Pope Francis emphasized that climate change is a global social issue. [1] By clarifying the global reality of climate change and its “anthropic” origin, he issued an urgent call for a broader perspective, “one that can enable us to esteem the marvels of progress, but also to pay serious attention to other effects that were probably unimaginable a century ago.” [2] Pope Francis reiterated his two convictions expressed in Laudato Si’ – “everything is connected” and “no one is saved alone” [3] – and his earlier diagnosis of the technocratic paradigm underlying the current process of environmental decay. [4] He stressed that contrary to this technocratic paradigm, we must not view the world that surrounds us as “an object of exploitation, unbridled use, and unlimited ambition,” [5] but recognize ourselves as a part of nature, while understanding human life, intelligence, and freedom as “elements of the nature that enriches our planet, part of its internal workings and its equilibrium.” [6] In doing so, Pope Francis encouraged a “healthy ecology” that results from the interactions of human beings and the environment, of natural systems with social systems, other than a denial of the human being. [7] Further, to accomplish this vision, Pope Francis called for a reconfiguration and recreation of multilateralism by taking into account the new world situation. [8] Having mentioned the importance of multilateralism in Fratelli Tutti, [9] he pointed out its intimate connection with postmodernism, grounded in the observation that “postmodern culture has generated a new sensitivity toward the more vulnerable and less powerful.” [10] Advancing his proposal in the previous encyclical, Pope Francis accentuated the need for an alternative approach to politics, where “ethics will prevail over local or contingent interests” in “recognizing that the emerging forces are becoming increasingly relevant and are in fact capable of obtaining important results in the resolution of concrete problems.” [11] The ever-defined shape of Pope Francis’ message shares profound affinity with the emerging and expansive global movement that is ecological civilization. John B. Cobb, Jr. pointed out that the idea of ecological civilization was first fully developed in China. [12] In my 2021 article, [13] I have considered the deep commonalities between the proposal of ecological civilization and that of integral ecology exemplified through Laudato Si’. I proposed that they create a novel opening for the development of an eco-spirituality in the Chinese Catholic Church and suggested that this eco-spirituality could serve as the Chinese Church’s active response to climate change and ecological crisis and contribute to the work of reconciliation and the common good in China and the world. My understanding of ecological civilization has grown substantially in the past two years as I dove deeper into its philosophical foundation, its dynamic manifestation, and its global and grassroot developments. Through first-hand experiences and personal conversations with leading Chinese scholars and activists of ecological civilization, such as Zhihe Wang and Meijun Fan, I began to realize the intimate connection and deep entanglement between the proposal of ecological civilization and Pope Francis’ thought. I become ever more convinced that their common vision is a result of a convergent intellectual development and is pointing us toward our common hope. In their seminal 2011 work The Second Enlightenment, Wang and Fan offered their decades-long integration of the best of Chinese and Western thought while bringing together the novel perspectives of process thought and constructive postmodernism. They demonstrated a deep concern for the world through a thoughtful analysis of modern industrial civilization and its close association with the first Enlightenment, referring to both the 17th and 18th-century intellectual and philosophical movement in Western Europe and the early 20th-century May Fourth Movement in China. Issuing a thorough critique of modernism and its prevailing implications for contemporary social and ecological crisis, Wang and Fan advanced the proposal of a second enlightenment that moves from modernism to postmodernism, from industrial civilization to ecological civilization. They stressed that a second enlightenment is also a postmodern enlightenment, which is not found in a total denial of the first enlightenment (modern enlightenment), but in the integration of its marvels of progress. [14] The leading scholar in religion and ecology and a member of the International Earth Charter Drafting Committee, Mary Evelyn Tucker, observed that in light of the current environmental crisis and its devastating impact, some Chinese people are charting a path towards a sustainable future against great odds by “reflecting on the need to create not just a technologically sophisticated society, but an ‘ecological civilization.’” [15] Wang and Fan and the Institute for Postmodern Development of China function as a locus for these developments. Over the past decade, the Chinese proposal of ecological civilization has grown increasingly expansive as a result of the inclusive outlook of pioneering Chinese scholars and the common vision that resonates with diverse communities around the world. In 2019 Philip Clayton and Wm. Andrew Schwartz published the book What is Ecological Civilization? Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet. They pointed out that while China has been among the leading voices in ecological civilization, ecological civilization as “a vision of hope for a better future” has now expanded globally. [16] It requires a fundamental transformation of modes of production and development, of worldview, values, and lifestyle. Appealing to Thomas Berry, Clayton and Schwartz emphasized that the goal of ecological civilization is “to live in a community of subjects rather than a collection of objects.” [17] They elucidated the scale of the “great transition” we are currently witnessing and the common vision that has been taking root in many different communities, under many different names, such as “integral ecology,” the “new story,” “unity in diversity,” “constructive postmodernism,” the “ecozoic era,” and the Japanese notion of “Yoko civilization,” etc. [18] The vision is one of “moving beyond the broken civilization that is driving economic globalization today – the vision of a radically new mode of human life on this planet.” [19] Noting the immensity of this global movement, Clayton and Schwartz mentioned that working toward ecological civilization has brought hope to people around the world. [20] It is only telling that Pope Francis followed Laudate Deum with another apostolic exhortation on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, urging all theologians, moralists, spiritual writers, pastors, and believers to appropriate her insight, that is the little way of trust and love, also known as the way of spiritual childhood, [21] from which is born “a most firm hope.” [22] Pope Francis called our attention to the thick darkness St. Thérèse experienced [23] and her complete confidence in God’s infinite mercy, “’confidence that must lead us to Love.” [24] Exalting her insight that God’s Justice is clothed in love as the loftiest and one of her major contributions to the entire People of God, Pope Francis pointed out that St. Thérèse “probed the depths of divine mercy, and drew from them the light of her limitless hope.” [25] Granting St. Thérèse the title of “Doctor of Synthesis,” Pope Francis not only opened a novel path for the exploration of St. Thérèse’s doctrine but also pointed us to its vital relevance to the dark night of contemporary global society confronted by prevailing climate crises and structural sin. He indicated that St. Thérèse’s confidence has “an integral meaning that embraces the totality of concrete existence and finds application in our daily lives.” [26] This understanding is reflected in Pope Francis’s insistence that “every little bit helps.” [27] It is precisely what underlines the great work of ecological civilization, which, beginning with comprehending the global situation as one of civilizational change, serves as the foundation for realistic and long-term hope. [28] In many ways, such common hope is grounded in the same insight of St. Thérèse, that is the complete confidence in an infinite Love and its inexhaustible creativity. Acknowledgment: “The USCCA is grateful to share Simeiqi He 's writing and thinking with our membership. This article first appeared as a November 2023 Forum essay for Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church.” — [1] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 2, accessed October 18, 2023, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231004-laudate-deum.html [2] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 18. [3] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 19. [4] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 20. [5] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 25. [6] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 26. [7] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 27. [8] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 37. [9] Francis, Fratelli Tutti, par. 147, accessed October 18, 2023, http://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html . [10] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 39. [11] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 40. [12] John B. Cobb, Jr. “What Is Ecological Civilization?” in What Is Ecological Civilization? Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet, by Philip Clayton and Wm. Andrew Schwartz. (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2019), 6. [13] Simeiqi He, “The Time Has Come!: An Eco-Spirituality for the Chinese Catholic Church in Light of Climate Change,” Asian Horizons, Vol. 15, no. 2, June 2021, 314-327. [14] Zhihe Wang and Meijun Fan, A Second Enlightenment (Beijing: Peking University Press, 2011), 23. [15] Mary Evelyn Tucker, accessed October 18, 2023, https://reflections.yale.edu/article/risk-our-food-our-water-ourselves/ancient-voices-speak-ecological-future [16] Philip Clayton and Wm. Andrew Schwartz, What Is Ecological Civilization? Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet (Anoka, MN: Process Century Press, 2019), 68. [17] Clayton and Schwartz, 60. [18] Clayton and Schwartz, 71 [19] Clayton and Schwartz, 72 [20] Clayton and Schwartz, 147 [21] Francis, C’est La Confiance, para.50, accessed October 18, 2023, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/20231015-santateresa-delbambinogesu.html . [22] Francis, C’est La Confiance, par. 28-29. [23] Francis, C’est La Confiance, par. 25. [24] Francis, C’est La Confiance, par. 27. [25] Francis, C’est La Confiance, par. 27. [26] Francis, C’est La Confiance, par. 23. [27] Francis, Laudate Deum, par. 70. [28] Clayton and Schwartz, 163.

“Spreading the Gospel: Christian Posters in Early 20th Century China,” a presentation by Professor Daryl Ireland, was given at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, on Wednesday evening, April 26. Dr. Ireland is a Research Assistant Professor of Mission at Boston University’s School of Theology. Between 1919 and 1949, posters were the most common Christian visual imagery in China. They were printed by the millions and hung in tea rooms, on city walls, and on temple gates. Posters were put up in houses and churches; they were unfolded for street evangelism. They were extremely popular because they were aesthetically pleasing, symbolically rich, yet easy to understand. Unlike theological treatises written by Chinese theologians, these images were designed by laypeople and intended for popular consumption. In this lecture, Daryl Ireland will showcase some of the 700 Chinese Protestant and Catholic posters he has located and explain why they are changing the way we think about Chinese Christianity. about daryl ireland Daryl Ireland focuses on the history of Christianity in Asia, as well as the intersection of International Development and Faith. His recent book, John Song: Modern Chinese Christianity and the Making of a New Man (2020), explores how a Chinese revivalist’s spirituality, whose itinerant ministry initially operated on the fringe of mainline Protestant Christianity, came to be the dominant expression of Chinese Christianity today. The ten-year investigation into the life and work of Song has prompted Ireland to write more broadly about revitalization movements, the role of women in revivalism, and religious conversion. He is the director of the Chinese Christian Posters project, which has digitized and made publicly available 700 Christian posters from the Republican Era in China (1911-1949). Nationalists, Communists, and Christians all used posters to convert people’s imagination, to visualize for them the good life and what was keeping them from achieving it. In so doing, the posters became a graphic depiction of the contested nature of what China’s national salvation meant in the first half of the twentieth century, and how Christians competed directly with China’s political parties to save the nation. He is also the co-director of the China Historical Christian Database (CHCD), a massive international collaborative effort in the Digital Humanities to identify where every Christian church, school, hospital, convent, publishing house, and the like, were located in China between 1550 and 1950, and to record who was connected to those places, both foreigners and Chinese. The combined temporal, spatial, and relational information allows the CHCD to quantify and visualize Christianity in China in new and powerful ways, allowing scholars to use ‘big data’ to rethink the connections between China and the West. the presentation urther resources Visions of Salvation , Chinese Christian Posters in an Age of Revolution > Drawing on a landmark collection of more than 200 color prints, assembled and analyzed here for the first time, leading scholars in Chinese Studies, mission history, Chinese Christianity, and visual culture reassess various facets of Chinese life in the second quarter of the twentieth century. In an age of revolution, political activists were not the only ones advancing prescriptions for change. Chinese Christians also pursued a New China, as one poster explicitly put it. Though later suppressed and largely forgotten, Christian posters placarded the country for thirty years with an alternative vision of national salvation. John Song: Modern Chinese Christianity and the Making of a New Man > In John Song: Modern Chinese Christianity and the Making of a New Man , Daryl Ireland upends conventional images of John Song and theologically conservative Chinese Christianity. Working with never before used sources, this groundbreaking book paints the picture of a man who struggled alongside his Chinese contemporaries to find a way to save their nation. Unlike reformers who attempted to update ancient traditions, and revolutionaries who tried to escape the past altogether, Song hammered out the contours of a modern Chinese life in the furnace of his revivals. Daryl Ireland's Profile, Boston University, School of Theology >

"The world risks exploding today if it does not find ways of dialogue." My Chinese Dream Bridging East and West: Hope, Challenges, and Opportunities By Kin Sheung Chiaretto Yan ~ an introduction by Tom McGuire, USCCA Board Member Chiaretto Yan is a Lay Catholic theologian and a seminary professor in China. He recently published a book in English, My Chinese Dream , Bridging East and West-Hopes, Challenges and Opportunities”, Claret, Publishing Group, 2023. I was happy to help edit my friend Chiaretto’s book. He offers us a broad and integral basis for building bridges of friendship and dialogue. His research contributes to understanding life from a Western and Chinese point of view, grounded in Divine Revelation. In September, Chiaretto attended a My Chinese Dream panel discussion in Rome, Italy. A panel member, Fr Federico Lombardi, S.J., gave the book a glowing endorsement, saying it contributed to the dialogue between East and West. Pope Francis was presented with a copy of My Chinese Dream during the Synod in October. The hope is with the positive endorsement and having been brought to the attention of Pope Francis, interest will grow in Chiaretto’s book. The goal is a richer dialogue among friends that includes Chinese wisdom, giving us a fuller understanding that Divine Revelation is for all nations under the sky. I asked Fr Vic Clore, my classmate and retired pastor from the Archdiocese of Detroit, to read My Chinese Dream and write his thoughts about Chiaretto’s Dream. He is a scholar of Greek and Roman culture and has no first-hand knowledge of Chinese culture. I thought getting his views about Chiaretto’s original thinking on dialogue with Chinese people and the Catholic Church would be good. He not only wrote some thoughts but also wrote an excellent short commentary on each chapter and recommended using the book in faith-sharing groups. Note: Claritian Publisher published My Chinese Dream in Macao. You can access an ebook at this link : -------------- My Chinese Dream Bridging East and West: Hope, Challenges, and Opportunities By Kin Sheung Chiaretto Yan Commentary by Victor Clore This book is the result of years of serious research by a man born in China, educated in Hong Kong and Europe, and now living in Shanghai and teaching at the National Seminary in Beijing and the Catholic University of St. Joseph in Macau. The phrase "Chinese Dream" (中国梦) is a common expression of hope to restore China’s lost national greatness. It has ancient origins; the poem "Flowing Spring" (下泉) describes a poet waking up in despair after dreaming of the former Zhou dynasty. Popular patriotic Chinese literature makes frequent references to the "China Dream." Recently, the phrase has become widespread in official announcements and political ideology under General Secretary Xi Jinping. Xi promoted the word in a high-profile tour of an exhibit at the National Museum of China in November 2012: “The Chinese Dream is the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation – a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, civilized, and harmonious.” Eradication of poverty and improved living standards are critical components of the China Dream. Xi said that young people should "dare to dream, work assiduously to fulfill the dreams, and contribute to the nation's revitalization." Moreover, now that China can demonstrate significant internal progress, Chinese thinkers, spiritual leaders, and artists are beginning to engage as equal partners in constructive East/West dialogue. Kin Sheung Chiaretto Yan’s Chinese Dream has this current development in mind: I dream of fewer wars and conflicts, less hunger and indifference, and reduced poverty and greed. … More than competition, we need collaboration. More than wit, we need tenderness. … I dream of respectful dialogues among people of different cultures, faiths, and convictions, recognizing that diversity in harmony can be a gift to one another. I dream of a world, a common home for all, for generations to come, with fresh air to breathe and for young people to travel freely for exchanges and appreciation of each other’s history, culture, art, and literature. As a follower of the Focolare Movement , I believe in the charism of unity, building a united world beyond all borders. (p 3) As we read his book, Kin Sheung proposes a strategy to engage in productive dialogue to achieve this dream. He points out that the United States and China must revise inaccurate prejudices. The American public labors under the belief that atheistic communist China should be isolated at all costs, and China continues to carry the historical baggage of a “hundred years of humiliation” caused by Western powers. Kin Sheung hopes to help readers in both the West and China know each other better and clear up the most critical obstacles at stake. Since China and the Catholic Church are the two oldest extant cultures in the world, he proposes a three-point dialogue: China, the West, and the Catholic Church. He explains how his dream has been unfolding in five chapters. Chapter One elaborates on the dialectic harmony between Chinese culture and the Christian Trinity. Chinese culture is a blend of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, which complement one another and contribute to the happiness and harmony in daily life. Confucianism is a social and moral philosophy focusing on personal relationships and present-day fulfillment. Buddhism contributes a sense of religious spirituality. Daoism is more transcendent and mystical, with three attributes: the invisible, the inaudible, and the formless. Dao manifests itself as an absolute and united One. Dao contains the yin and yang, and therefore One becomes Two. Two becomes three in the Qi, the relation between the vital forces of yin and yang. Kin Sheung then describes the Trinity, illustrating the similarities with Chinese thinking. As Vatican Council II proposed in Dei Verbum , divine revelation occurs in all cultures at all times. Chapter Two is about the relationship between the human family and the created universe within which we live. Kin Sheung summarizes our relationship with ecology in the Daoist, Confucian, and Buddhist schools of thought and Catholic teaching. He outlines the relational paradigm from both the Chinese and the Christian perspective, focused on the anthropocentrism of Christ. Kin Sheung studies two critical documents: Laudato Si’ by Pope Francis and a speech by Xi Jinping, Ecological Civilization. Chapter Three studies fraternity and social friendship. Kin Sheung describes examples of brotherhood and fraternity in Chinese culture. Unlike in English, the Chinese term for brotherhood is neither masculine nor feminine: Bo’ ai, “universal love.” He summarizes brotherhood in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the history of Christianity. He discusses “fraternity instead of clash” in Christianity, Islam, and China, examining a diplomatic journey that Pope Francis made to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The pope greeted the head of state and signed a historic joint declaration on “Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” with Grand Imam Al-Tayyib of Egypt. Kin Sheung summarizes Pope Francis's speech in this meeting and then outlines the contents of Fratelli Tutti , illustrating how its notions of fraternity and social friendship are consonant with Chinese culture. This is an enlightening and inspiring chapter. Chapter Four is Poverty Alleviation and a New Model of Economy. He gives a historical overview of poverty in China. He identifies efforts for reform – for example, systematic agreements by which more prosperous coastal provinces assist the poor areas in the interior. Kin Sheung examines spiritual poverty, i.e., materialism and a culture of indifference. He offers China’s approach to alleviating poverty as a new economic paradigm incorporating the Asian values of harmony, diligence, frugality, and habitual savings. This parallels the suggestion by Pope Francis that the West adopt a new economic system that considers ecology, fraternity, social justice, and respect for multiple cultures. Kin calls this the “Economy of Francesco.” He cites John B. Cobb, an American theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist who promotes ecological interdependence – every part of the ecosystem relies on all the other parts. Catholic Social Services in China is a spiritual and practical witness to poverty alleviation. The rubber hits the road in this chapter. Chapter Five: Freedom of Religion and the Golden Rule of Reciprocity. The Chinese constitution does allow freedom of religion, but not political intervention. This complicates efforts at evangelization. Christianity has deep roots in China since the days of Matteo Ricci, but at present, most Christians are Protestant – they do not owe allegiance to a “foreign power” in Rome as Catholics do. Kin Sheung examines the dialogue between the Holy See and Chinese authorities and how Catholics navigate changes and challenges in China. My Chinese Dream is a thorough study that demands careful study by the reader. It would be profitable to read it with a group, reading one chapter at a time and discussing it over several weeks. Ideally, at least one member of the group would be Chinese. Recall the Prophet Zechariah (8:23): In those days, ten persons from nations of every language will take a Jew by the sleeve and say, “We want to go with you since we have learned that God is with you.” Take a Chinese person by the sleeve, “We want to go with you.” Since Vatican Council II, many of us have had enlightening experiences in ecumenical dialogue, but our religious encounters usually engage other Western religions. We may have had some contact with Buddhist or Hindu ideas but little exposure to Confucian or Daoist thought and spirituality. For most of us, our only contact with Chinese culture is in a restaurant. Studying My Chinese Dream would be an excellent way to learn how God is in this ancient culture. This is not simply an exercise in historical knowledge; with present-day technology, China is no longer remote but our neighbor in the world community. Kin Sheung has introduced us to our Chinese friends, sisters, and brothers, building a bridge from East to West. Another bridge is Focolare (Italian for family hearth or fireside). It is active in 180 nations and promotes unity and universal brotherhood. Your study group might investigate forming a permanent community of faith-sharing like Focolare.

Palm Sunday: A Meditation- Remembrance of celebration and sufferings.       The USCCA invites you to participate in the journey of Lent. The Palm Sunday liturgy acknowledges the beginning of Holy Week. Churches are often filled. It is essential to reflect on how we are united with other people in the churches worldwide who also receive their blessed palms. Of course, this first part of the Palm Sunday liturgy recalls Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. These people knew of and wished to celebrate the ministry of Jesus, which we know from the four Gospel narratives. Photo by Father Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D.             Then, the Palm Sunday liturgy takes on a new perspective. This year, 2024, we will listen to Mark 14: 1-15:47. This passion narrative invites us to be observant. When coupled with the Palm Sunday experience, we would do well to concentrate on the celebrations and sufferings of our lives. To live with a mature faith, we must be aware of both dimensions. As we proceed into Holy Week 2024, What two dynamic joys are present for you now? What two heavy crosses are you carrying at this time? For many Chinese international students who arrive to study in the US, experiencing "dynamic joys and heavy crosses" can be isolating. With this in mind, the USCCA launched its Chinese and American Friendship Ministr y (CAAFM) . It aims to broaden engagement with students from China who come to the U.S. for university education. In the spirit of Pope Francis, the USCCA understands the importance of this opportunity for meaningful dialogue and friendship and that a "culture of encounters" creates spaces and places to experience the best of American culture, values, and faith intelligible to people from a very different socio-cultural background.   The mission of the USCCA is inspired by the Gospel and based on building trust, friendship, dialogue, and mutual respect, which comes from the heartbeat of life. We stand ready to share the source of our inspiration with those who seek to know the Gospel through an accompaniment of our individual and shared celebrations and suffering. Yes, Palm Sunday invites us into Holy Week: a remembrance of celebration and suffering. Lenten Blessings and Peace, Rev. Rob Carbonneau, CP, Ph.D., Director Emeritus And All of us at the USCCA -----------------------   Note: I took this photo in Chongqing, China. From 2007 to 2008, I was a foreign expert professor at Sichuan International Studies University. Weather and the urban mood during the weeks following the February Lunar New Year of 2008 were dismal. Seeking to rekindle my spirit, I took the short early morning bus to the nearby Shapingba district, where I attended the Palm Sunday liturgy. When I received my palms, I felt peaceful. It happened that I walked out of that church alongside two women and a young child. I entered into a quiet conversation. Just as we were about to go our separate ways, I asked if I might take their photo. They agreed. As the years have passed, I have found great encouragement from this photo.  I often wonder what the experience of these two Chinese Catholic women was. What have been their celebrations and sufferings? As I look at the child in this photo sixteen years later, I wonder what that person is doing.  Still, I never tire of looking at this 2008 photo. It inspires me to possess a global faith that continues to be so nourished by Chinese Catholic history, tradition, culture, and society . ---------------------------------- THE JOURNEY OF LENT REFLECTIONS ~ from Rev. Rob Carbonneau, CP, Ph.D., Director Emeritus The Journey of Lent: Week 1 The Journey of Lent: Week 2 The Journey of Lent: Week 3 The Journey of Lent: Week 4 The Journey of Lent: Week 5 Finally, if you have enjoyed visiting the USCCA website and want to learn more about our mission, please contact director@uschinacatholic.org  or consider donating $35 to honor the 35th anniversary  of the USCCA.

Together we celebrate Our Mother of Sheshan on May 24, 2024. We are invited to unite in prayer with Chinese Catholics this sacred pilgrimage site located a top a mountain side in the Songjiang District, in Western Shanghai. At the 1924 Shanghai Synod of Bishops in China, the image known as "Our Lady of China"; or "Our Lady Queen of China" was chosen. Thus, some historical suggest that that 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of this event which helped to promote annual devotional pilgrimages. People began coming to the shrine. Meditate on this historic and rare photo from the Passionist China Collection which shows the Sheshan Basilica from the 1920s. 800.30_054.008 Copyright Image from the Passionist China Collection. Digitized at the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at Boston College. ----- The U.S.-China Catholic Association invites you to reflect on how your life continues to be a pilgrimage? who has assisted you in that journey? with whom have you crossed paths during these travels? what are the diverse ways that have you come to understand China? in what ways might you be open to learn from the faith lived by Chinese Catholics? perhaps Our Mother of Sheshan is speaking to you on May 24, 2024? We are all on a pilgrimage together and Our Mother of Sheshan invites us to meet one another. So please consider coming to Chicago to attend our International USCCA China Conference from August 2-4, 2024: the Theme of the Conference is "Our Hope is in Christ." Registration details click here. In May 2007, Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022) released a Letter to Chinese Catholics, in which he asked that May 24 each year be celebrated as a World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. He chose May 24 because it is the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, who is venerated at the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. Reflection by Father Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D. Director Emeritus, USCCA ------- Our MISSION Inspired by the Gospel, the mission of the US-China Catholic Association is to build bridges of friendship and dialogue between the people of China and the United States by offering educational, service, and cultural programs in support of the Church and the larger society. Our VISION The US-China Catholic Association was founded in 1989 by concerned U.S. bishops Maryknoll, the Jesuits, and representatives of other religious orders to promote mutual support and fraternal ties between the Church in China and the U.S. Church. ________________ The USCCA is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Your donations are tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law. The success of our work depends upon the generosity of people like you. If you have enjoyed visiting the USCCA website and want to learn more about our mission, please get in touch with director@uschinacatholic.org  or consider donating $35 to honor the 35th anniversary  of the USCCA.

We are glad to announce that José Casanova, a leading scholar in the sociology of religion and Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University, has agreed to present a webinar hosted by the USCCA, ChinaSource, and China Academic Consortium : "The Three Phases of the Globalization of Catholicism in Asia, with special focus on developments in China" José Casanova, Ph.D. June 10, 2024 7:30 p.m. (ET) Online via Zoom José Casanova is a Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University. From 1987 to 2007, he served as Professor of Sociology at the New School for Social Research, NY. His book, Public Religions in the Modern World , (Chicago, 1994) has become a modern classic and has been translated into many European and non-European languages. Casanova holds a B.A. in Philosophy from the Seminario Metropolitano in Zaragoza, Spain, an M.A. in Theology from Universität Innsbruck, Austria, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the New School for Social Research. He is the recipient of the 2012 Theologischer Preis der Salzburger Hochschulwochen in recognition of his life-long achievement in the field of theology.  Dr. Casanova's talk will be about 30 minutes, followed by approximately 30 minutes of questions and answers from the audience. The event will be moderated by none other than Richard Madsen, Ph.D., USCCA board member and author of 15 books on China and China-US relations. Please register for this event and submit any questions you would like to ask through the audience registration and question submission form . Attendees are encouraged to read some of Dr. Casanova's work beforehand: Jesuit Contributions to Global Connectivity and Global Consciousness in the Early Modern Era Introduction and Chapter 1 of Asian Pacific Catholicism and Globalization We look forward with great anticipation to Dr. Casanova's talk, and hope with sincerity that you are able to attend. For additional opportunities to learn through the USCCA, we encourage you to register as a participant in the 29th International Conference .