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Theme: Social Service Outreach in China 3 August, 2024, Saturday 2:45 pm - 4:15 pm Parallel Session 3a Speaker 1: Dr. Georges Enderle, University of Notre Dame Title: "Supporting Business Ethics in China and the United States" Speaker 2: Dr. Brent Fulton and Andrea Lee, ChinaSource, USA Title: "God is on the Move: Observations and Reflections on Protestant Christianity in Post-Covid China" Chair: Tom McGuire, USCCA Emeritus Director Photo Credit: Gerald Doyle, Interim Chief Administrative Officer A meditation and reflection from one participant: "How might an ethics of "Our Hope is in Christ" inform and shape our thinking about business ethics and social service outreach?"

"Understanding China's Catholic Past and Present Realities as a Foundation for Future USCCA Relationships" 3 August 2024, Saturday 2:45 - 4:15 pm Parallel Session 3b Speaker 1: Dr. Anthony E. Clark, Whitworth University & USCCA Emeritus Director Speaker 2: Dr. Xiaoxin Wu, Ricci Institute Boston College Chair and Speaker 3: Fr. Rob Carbonneau, CP, Ricci Institute Boston College & Emeritus Director Photo credit: Gerald Doyle, Interim Chief Administrative Officer A meditation that we might hold following this talk and Dr. Clark's introduction of this phrase at the close of the session was this: How might we "Add oil ..." and offer encouragement and accompaniment to those near and far ... *a Hong Kong English expression is used to encourage and support a person . Derived from the Chinese phrase Gayau (or Jiayou; Chinese: 加油), the expression is translated from the Cantonese phrase.

29th International Conference 35th Anniversary of the U.S.-China Catholic Association 2-4 August 2024 DePaul University, Lincoln Park Campus Chicago, IL photo; Gerald Doyle, Interim Chief Administrative Officer, USSCA "We hope to come away from our conversations and dialogues with a new way to build bridges of friendship and dialogue with Catholics in China as a witness to the oneness we share in Christ, who is our hope. We invite everyone -- near and far -- to join us in prayer as friends of the Chinese people." -Tom McGuire, Mission to Give Witness Peace, blessings, friendship -- and HOPE. ________________ 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 contact director@uschinacatholic.org  or consider donating $35 to honor the 35th anniversary  of the USCCA.

~ an observation by Gerald Doyle, Interim Chief Administrative Officer, USCCA Maryknoll’s Orbis Books marks a half century of publishing a world of books that matter The USCCA's 29th International Conference is well underway on this Saturday, 3 August 2024. We are delighted to be joined in this gathering of friendship, dialogue, peace and HOPE by more than 130 participants from across the US, Europe, East Africa, China, and Taiwan. Over the next several days, we will be sharing reflections from our Keynote Speakers and Panelists -- as well as the meditations from our participants. In this observation, we would like to express our gratitude to Maryknoll's Orbis Books for their pledge of support and commitment to the USCCA mission. We are blessed to have have Maryknoll's Orbis Books with us as one of our leading academic press partners. Bernadette Price, Associate Publisher, has joined us from Maryknoll, NY. Please reach our to her for bulk orders and to learn more about their services. Featured Book: The Tao of Asian American Belonging A Yinist Spirituality Young Lee Hertig "In a quest for inclusion amid feminist, womanist, and mujerista discourses, Young Lee Hertig's "yinist" spirituality is a novel attempt to lift up the voices of female, Asian American voices in Christian Feminist and ecological theology." -------------------- About Orbis Books Welcome to Orbis Books, leaders in religious publishing since 1970. We offer a wide range of books on prayer, spirituality, Catholic life, theology, mission and current affairs. The publishing arm of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Orbis Books addresses a broad readership exploring the global dimensions of faith, inviting dialogue with diverse cultures and traditions, and serving the cause of reconciliation and peace. To order books from Orbis, please visit here . ________________ About the 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 contact director@uschinacatholic.org  or consider donating $35 to honor the 35th anniversary  of the USCCA.

Our Hope is in Christ We are glad to announce that the 29th USCCA International Conference will commence tomorrow, August 2, 2024, at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus! We are thrilled to spend August 2–4 meeting new friends, celebrating 35 years of the USCCA, and learning more about the life of the church in China.  You can find a preview of what's to come in the latest  conference program . If you'd like to join us, it's not too late to   register as an attendee . Even if you are unable to attend this year's conference, you can still celebrate 35 years of the USCCA by contributing in other ways: You can tell your friends, family, and colleagues about the USCCA and our mission of building friendship among Catholics in the U.S. and in China. You may also participate by  clicking here to submit a reflection, meditation, or question you would like us to share with panelists and speakers .  Finally, please consider our special request to you, our supporter: Please consider donating  to support our efforts to produce a documentary of the 29th International Conference, a publication of the conference proceedings, and recorded interviews with speakers and panelists. This is an ambitious undertaking, and we need your support to bring our theme of "Our Hope is in Christ"  to the broadest possible audience. Our goal is to raise $20,000 toward this effort. We hope  we can count on your generous donation to underwrite this project. Your gifts will be recognized for your leadership in bringing this vision to fruition.

Mission to Give Witness Tom McGuire, USCCA Board member We will soon gather at the USCCA 29th International Conference from Friday to Sunday, 2-4 August 2024, to reflect on insights leading to friendship and dialogue between people living in secular societies in China and the U.S. The theme of our gathering is Our Hope is in Christ, a choice Christians make while living in secular societies. As missionary disciples, we are sent out to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to all. A goal for our reflections is to listen deeply to one another on how to be present in the secular societies of the U.S. and China so that how we live and speak will witness the joy of finding meaning in life through Christ. We have much to learn from each other in how to be missionary disciples in China and the U.S. In his book Faith and Religion in a Secular Society, Cardinal Jozef De Keel explores the history of secular society in the West and how religious faith gives meaning to life. He cites the Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus describing how Christians lived in the second or third century. This ancient pastoral description of the life of a Christian provides a perspective for our reflections. “Christians are distinguished from other people neither by their place of residence nor by language nor by customs. After all, nowhere do they live in their own cities, nor do they speak a separate dialect or lead a special life….They live in the cities of the Greeks and other peoples, as fate has it for each, and they follow the customs of their land in clothing and food and in their further necessities of life. They live their lives in a way that arouses admiration and, according to general judgment, appears as something incredible. They live in their own homeland, but as if they were foreigners established there. They have everything in common with the others as citizens and have to endure all sorts of things as strangers. Every foreign country is their homeland and every homeland is their foreign land. Like everyone else, they marry and produce “children. But they do not kill unborn life. Their table is common, but not their bed. They are in the flesh but do not live according to the flesh.” An essential goal of the U.S.-China Catholic Association's mission is to share the diverse voices that give witness to the faithful ways of living as Catholics in China with Catholics in the U.S. This past weekend, I gave talks in two Catholic Churches, St Anthony of Padua and Our Lady Queen of Peace in the Archdiocese of St Louis. I am most grateful to the pastor, Fr Tom Miller, Father John Reiker, Associate Pastor, and the parishioners who welcomed learning about Catholics in China. In a gathering after one of the Masses, a group of parishioners asked good questions to clarify their understanding of life for Christians in China today. There is a hunger for an understanding and appreciation of the oneness of Catholic sisters and brothers in China and the U.S. How can we deepen the witness of living as faithful Christians in our diverse secular societies? I hope to come away from our conversations and dialogues with a new way to build bridges of friendship and dialogue with Catholics in China as a witness to the oneness we share in Christ, who is our hope. I invite us, in prayer, as friends of the Chinese people, to stand in solidarity under the Cross of Christ while living in our secular societies. ________________ 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 contact director@uschinacatholic.org  or consider donating $35 to honor the 35th anniversary  of the USCCA.  ------------------------- About Faith & Religion in a Secular Society Cardinal Jozef De Kesel "What I so greatly appreciate in Cardinal De Kesel’s most recent book, Faith and Religion in a Secular Society , is his deep commitment to Christian belief rooted in contemporary culture. He is clearly a realist about the situation of the Church today... He understands that the Church must listen to what contemporary people are saying and asking. And he knows that the Church can indeed creatively respond. Cardinal De Kesel’s book is refreshingly optimistic."—from the foreword. Faith and Religion in a Secular Society makes the same bet as Pope Francis that, in the face of the phenomena of secularization, religious indifference, and institutional weakening, it is not by preaching about or idealizing a bygone past that Christianity can expect to regain in Europe because it risks isolating and separating even more than it is from a culture that no longer waits. The salvation of the Church and the safeguarding of her universal mission depends rather on its ability to facilitate a culture of encounter with all those who want to humanize the modern, pluralist, and secular society while also asserting its freedom of expression. It is this pastoral option that Joseph De Kesel is already experimenting with in deeply secularized Belgium, which, like France, was once a land of Christianity. Cardinal Josef De Kesel is the Archbishop of Mechelen Brussels and Primate of Belgium since 2015. He was elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016. He is a member of the Roman Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life. source , Paulist Press

The 29th USCCA International Conference is only a week away! We are glad to share our final conference program , a PDF document outlining conference activities, news from the USCCA, and even information about the next USCCA International Conference. The 29th USCCA International Conference will be held at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus on August 2–4, 2024. It is still not too late to register as an attendee ! Even if you are unable to attend this year's conference, please share this conference program with friends, family, and colleagues who might be interested in building bridges of friendship among Catholics in the U.S. and in China.

Do you know anyone who is passionate about building friendship among Catholics in the US and China? By becoming an Affiliate of the USCCA , our supporters can get involved with the USCCA's mission in an even deeper way. Throughout the year, Affiliates of the USCCA are invited to participate in Book Circle Discussions, to share their skills and abilities, and to participate in a variety of projects and initiatives. Conference attendees who sign up to become Affiliates at the conference will receive a copy of John C.H. Wu's Beyond East and West ! The USCCA Book Circle has been discussing the spiritual insights shared by John C.H. Wu and Thomas Merton in Merton & the Tao: Dialogues with John Wu and the Ancient Sages . As you plumb the depths of  Beyond East and West , we hope that you find wisdom in Wu's explorations of Taoist and Catholic spiritual traditions. The 29th USCCA International Conference will be held at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus on August 2–4, 2024.  Register today  to ensure your opportunity to participate as an attendee at the upcoming conference! If you can't attend the Conference and would like to learn more about the USCCA Affiliate program, please complete the USCCA Affiliate Interest Form , and we'll contact you directly. We appreciate your interest.

This week, we conclude our series of   blog posts  introducing panelists and session chairs who will be presenting at the  29th USCCA International Conference . Learn more about them below: Qi Zeng, D.Sc .  was professionally involved for many years in the U.S. pharmaceutical and financial industries. She holds a Doctor of Science degree from Harvard School of Public Health, as well as dual MA degrees in philosophy and theology from Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in theological ethics in Boston college working on her dissertation titled “Toward a Chinese universal ethic.” John A. Worthley, Ph.D.  has taught courses at Wuhan University, the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, and Hainan University. He authored the first article on Chinese public administration in Western literature in  Public Administration Review and has published articles in America  magazine on the church in China. He is a (retired) professor Seton Hall University. Wu Xiaoxin, Ed.D. , Director of Research at the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at Boston College. He has had relationship with the USCCA since its beginning, especially as understood through the personal relationship of Father Edward Malatesta, founder of the Ricci Institute and an early board member of the USCCA. The Ricci Institute is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024. Fr. Joseph Yu Yang  obtained a Bachelor of Theology (S.T.B.) in May 1998, a Master of Divinity (M. Div) in May 1999, and a Master of Systematic Theology (S.T.L.) in June 2000. Since July 2000, he has been teaching systematic theology at the National Catholic Seminary and Beijing Catholic Seminary in China. He is the Secretary General of the Bishops’ Conference, where he has been working since 2011. Yujia (Sam) Zhai  is a Theology doctoral candidate at Boston College concentrated in Comparative Theology and Christian-Jewish Relations. Born and raised in Tianjin, China, Sam came to the USA as a college student majoring in Physics and Computer Science at University of Southern California. He became a Catholic in 2013 and went on to earn two Master's degrees at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.  The 29th USCCA International Conference will be held at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus on August 2–4, 2024.   Register today  to ensure your opportunity to participate as an attendee at the upcoming conference. After registering yourself, remember to share this information by forwarding it to your friends! We look forward to seeing you there.

Always grateful for your support and your interest in our mission, we would like to invite you to the Ricci Award Banquet and 35th Anniversary Celebration, scheduled for Saturday, August 3, as part of the  29th USCCA International Conference . The Award Ceremony will be chaired by Fr. Hugh O'Donnell and Fr. Francis Li, who is also the Conference Chair. The Ricci Award Dinner and 35th Anniversary Celebration will be a time of international festivity and fellowship among lay and religious conference attendees. It will be held at the New Furama restaurant in the Chinatown neighborhood of Chicago. Register today to ensure your opportunity to participate as an attendee and Ricci Award Dinner participant at the upcoming conference. After registering yourself, remember to share this information by forwarding it to your friends! We look forward to seeing you at DePaul University on August 2–4, 2024.

This week, we would like to introduce you to more of our conference panelists and session chairs: Mary Sluka  is one of the leaders of the USCCA Book Circles. She is a long-time Board member of the Association, has been its Secretary, and has helped work on its China Church Quarterly, its National Conferences, and a Study Tour to China. She has a B.A. in History, an M.A. in Asian Studies, and an M.A. in Scripture, Theology, and Liturgy. Huili (Kathy) Stout, Ph.D  received her Ph.D. in theology from the University of Dayton in December 2023. She has taught classes on theology and religious studies as well as Daoism, Buddhism, and Chinese traditions in general to undergraduate students at UD and the University of Oklahoma.  Peter Tan  is the Chair of the USCCA Board. He graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1977 with a double B.A. Degree in Business Administration and Political Science. He is a Knight of Columbus and a Knight Commander with Star of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Since 2016, he and a small group of Catholics in Houston have raised funds for priests from China to study for their M.A. degrees. Fr. Heping Wang  was born in Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia in 1968. He is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Beijing and holds a Ph.D. in Theology from the Jesuit Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. He currently works as a researcher in the Biblical Research Department of the CCPA & BCCCC, and teaches at the National Catholic Seminary and Beijing Catholic Seminary.  Carolyn Woo, Ph.D.  chairs Panel 4b, "Friendship as Ministry." She was born and raised in Hong Kong and educated by the Maryknoll Missionary Sisters. She attributes her faith formation to the joyful ministries of the Maryknoll Sisters to serve the vulnerable and most marginalized.  During her career, Carolyn Woo served as the Dean of the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and as CEO of Catholic Relief Services.  The 29th USCCA International Conference will be held at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus on August 2–4, 2024.   Register today  to ensure your opportunity to participate as an attendee at the upcoming conference. After registering yourself, remember to share this information with your friends! We look forward to seeing you there.

Did you know that the  29th USCCA International Conference  will conclude with a tour? After days of learning and building friendships among lay and religious keynote speakers and panelists, tour participants will become acquainted with Chicago's most unique holy and public sites.  This tour has capacity for 40 guests at a cost of $40 per person. The tour schedule is as follows: 1:00 Leave DePaul's Lincoln Park Campus 1:20 Arrive at Millennium Park: A park on Lake Michigan, featuring public art, including the famous Cloud Gate (the Bean; pictured above). 2:10 Leave Millennium Park 2:35 Arrive at St. Therese Chinese Catholic Church for a tour led by Fr. Francis Li: The home of the Chinese Catholic community in Chicago. 3:05 Leave St. Therese Chinese Catholic Church 3:30 Arrive at Old St. Patrick's Catholic Church for a tour: Chicago's oldest public building, decorated in the Celtic Revival style, based on the Book of Kells. 4:05 Leave Old St. Patrick's Catholic Church 4:20 Arrive at Holy Name Cathedral for a tour led by Fr. Andy Matijevic: The Gothic revival cathedral of the Archdiocese of Chicago, built after the Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed the old cathedral. 5:00 Return to DePaul's Lincoln Park campus Register today to ensure your opportunity to participate as an attendee and tour participant at the upcoming conference. After registering yourself, remember to share this information by forwarding it to your friends! We look forward to seeing you at DePaul University on August 2–4, 2024.