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~ 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.

In its last meeting of this semester, the USCCA Book Circle discussed the collected letters of correspondence between John Wu and Thomas Merton, accompanied by an introductory essay by Lucien Miller entitled "The Thomas Merton—John C.H. Wu Letters: The Lord as Postman." These readings were drawn from Merton & the Tao: Dialogues with John Wu and the Ancient Sages , the book which has been the focus of our Book Circle over the course of the semester. A lively discussion ensued on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in which scholars and lay readers reflected on the depth of mutual enrichment that can come from dialogue between spiritual traditions Eastern and Western in origin. Participants engaged in a compelling discussion of how Buddhism's insights can open up new possibilities for understanding Catholicism and Christianity in general. We talked about Merton's reflection on the "strange dialectic" of personal identity, wherein "It is what is seemingly not present, the void, that is really I...It is the No-I [not I] that is most of all I in each one of us" (p. 161). Another thought-provoking passage was found in Wu's suggestion that The ancient Zen masters would be better Christians than many today, because had they heard Christ's teachings they would have understood them, while Christians have lost their ear for the words of the Gospel and the 'impractical' living counsels of the Living LOGOS. (p. 160) These comparisons on the topics of ethics and personal identity were complemented by further discussion on the value of immanence and nature in Eastern thought, which the West can only disregard at a significant spiritual cost. Were you unable to make it to the Book Circle on June 29, 2024? We encourage you to sign up for email updates for the latest from the USCCA , including Book Circle updates for its Fall 2024 semester. You can also stay involved with the USCCA by supporting our mission with a donation or by learning with us and building friendships at the 29th USCCA International Conference . The Conference will be held on August 2–4, 2024, at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus in Chicago. If you have any questions about the conference, please feel free to reach out to our Interim Chief Administrative Officer, Gerald Doyle, at director@uscatholicchina.org .

Will you be joining us to celebrate 35 years of the USCCA at the  29th USCCA International Conference ? This week, we would like to introduce you to more of the panelists and session chairs who will be there at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus on August 2–4, 2024: Dr. Jin Lu  received her PhD in French Literature from Boston College. As a trilingual writer, she has authored a monograph on the concept of philosophe in French Enlightenment, served as an editor, contributor and co-translator for a book on the images of France during the Qing dynasty and co-authored a book on intercultural dialogue.  Her forthcoming monograph is entitled Translingual Catholics: Chinese Theologians before Vatican II . Rev. Jeremiah Jiangtao Li  is a priest from Hebei, China. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2014. Before coming to the US for further studies, he served at Hebei Catholic Seminary as a faculty member. He earned his Licentiate (S.T.L.) in Biblical studies and the Master of Theology from Boston College. He is currently sponsored by the Maryknoll China Project and is a doctoral candidate in homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. Fr. Joseph Lin  belongs to the China Province of the Congregation of Mission founded by St. Vincent de Paul. Fr. Lin received his master's degree in Scripture at St John’s University in 2011 and Pastoral Counseling at Fordham University in 2020. He served the Chinese community at the Church of St. Joseph in Manhattan until 2015, and now he serves the Chinese community as parochial vicar at the Basilica of Regina Pacis in Brooklyn. Richard (Dick) Madsen, Ph.D.  is Professor University of California, San Diego. He is also the Vice Chair of the USCCA Board. He went on a mission to Taiwan in 1968. While there he discerned a vocation to be a bridge builder between China and the West by fostering mutual understanding between their cultures and reconciliation from past estrangements.  He has been involved with USCCA since its founding. Tom McGuire ’s friendship with Chinese people dates back to his days as a Maryknoll Missionary in Hong Kong. When he returned to the U.S., participating in USCCA Conferences helped to maintain his friendships with Chinese people. From 2018 to 2024, he served as USCCA Board Chair and now as a Board Emeritus Director. Tom has also served as Director of Campus Ministry at the University of Detroit Mercy. 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 at DePaul University on August 2–4, 2024.

Have you registered yet as an attendee of  29th USCCA International Conference ? This week, we would like to introduce you to more of the panelists and session chairs who will be there at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus on August 2–4, 2024: Fr. Lance P. Nadeau, M.M.  was elected Superior General of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in July 2021.  Prior to his election, Fr. Nadeau served as Maryknoll missioner in Tanzania, Egypt, and Kenya.  He was the Regional Superior of Maryknoll’s Africa Region from 2010 – 2016.  In Tanzania and Egypt, he was involved in parochial and educational ministries. In Kenya, he was engaged in HIV communal health ministry and university chaplaincy. Kathleen O’Brien ’s commitment to her Catholic faith and passion for Chinese culture were nurtured during her time at Bradley University; she also has a Master’s in systematic theology from Catholic Theological Union. Kathleen has served as a Maryknoll Missionary in China, as a USCCA staff member, and as staff for Maryknoll in the Mission Formation Department, where she is currently involved with her local parish as the co-chair of the Parish Council.  Rev. Hugh O’Donnell, CM is an Emeritus Director of USCCA. He joined the Vincentians in 1952, was ordained a priest in 1961, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Fribourg in 1966. In 1993, he accepted a mission to Taiwan as provincial superior; under his tenure, the Vincentians re-entered China for the first time since 1950. Today, Fr. O'Donnell heads up a leadership program at DePaul University for sisters and priests from China. Fr. Peter Shen is from Xingtai Diocese of Hebei Province, China. He graduated from Jilin Catholic Major Seminary in 2012, and was ordained to the priesthood in China in 2016; he received a master's degree in Pastoral Theology at National Catholic Seminary in China in 2023. He is currently sponsored by the Maryknoll China Project and is studying for a master’s degree in International Communications at St. John’s University in New York City. 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 at DePaul University on August 2–4, 2024.