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By Father Rob Carbonneau, C.P., Ph.D., Director Emeritus, USCCA Image of the memorial marker in Yuanling, Hunan, China. Photo by Rob Carbonneau, C.P. Copyright Passionist China Collection. In 2024, local Chinese Catholics in Yuanling, Hunan, China dedicated this memorial marker to remember the 9 United States Passionists, 6 Sisters of Charity from Convent Station, New Jersey, 1 Grey Sister from Canada and 1 lay doctor from Germany. All gave their lives in service alongside the people in China for the sake of the Gospel. This journey of Lent 2025 provides us the opportunity to recognize international grief. Who might you know: relative, friend, or person of the past? How might their memory enable us to live with grace in the world of today? How might all of us open our hearts and minds through prayer, conversation, listening, friendship and dialogue to bring reconciliation in the face of international grief? In what way does the sacrifice of twentieth century missionaries to China assist us as we witness the Gospel locally and with peoples of the world? Father Robert Carbonneau served as Executive Director of the US-China Catholic Association from 2014—2017. At the Ricci Institute, he is historian and curator of the Passionist China Collection (PCC), an archive of over 10,000 photos and 60,000 documents, photographs, reports, films, and correspondence that reveal the twentieth century Passionist-based mission in Hunan, China. ---------------------- 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.

How has this Lenten season challenged you to grow in your faith? Journeying together through the midpoint of Lent in 2025, we invite you to read this year's Lenten pastoral letter from Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, SJ, Cardinal of Hong Kong . In his letter, Cardinal Chow reminds us that it is "wise to examine our hearts and re-orient them to where we want to be in eternity." May Catholics in the U.S. and in China grow together in friendship and dialogue as we journey through this Lenten season and beyond! Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, SJ ---------------------- 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.

By Yiyi Zhang Photo of Mother Elizabeth, shared with Yiyi Zhang by Mother Eliane, who serves at the Skete of the Holy Cross in Romania, founded by Mother Elizabeth. Mother Elizabeth, a cloistered missionary in Chongqing, endured profound turmoil in the middle of the 20th century. Yet, her memoir reveals a soul who carried the cross not with despair, but with peace, hope, and even joy. She kept a gentle smile while facing war, persecution and upheaval, not because it was easy, but because she trusted that God was with her. Mother Marie Elizabeth of the Trinity (Mother Elizabeth for short) was born as Marie Roussel in Remiremont, France in 1903. Raised in a devout Catholic family, she entered the Carmel of Nancy in 1926, and responded whole-heartedly to a call to be a missionary soon after. As a result, she came to live in a cloistered monastery in Chongqing, China during the tumultuous years of 1933-1951. Though unable to remain in China after 1951, her ministry continued in other forms, as she later founded a Byzantine Rite Carmelite monastery in St-Rémy, France in 1986, and a skete in Romania in 1994. Her dying words were: “it seems as if I am in a great company, keeping watch. I am falling asleep in the Light .” Between 1938 and 1943, during five years of relentless bombing, Japanese planes dropped a total of 21,593 bombs on Chongqing, the temporary capital of China. The devastation was staggering—11,889 lives lost, 14,100 wounded, and 17,608 buildings reduced to rubble (Li and Yang, Fenghuo Suiyue Chongqing Dahongzha , p. 8). Amid this chaos, Mother Elizabeth and her fellow sisters endured constant destruction: tiles ripped from their monastery’s roof, windowpanes shattered, floors torn open by explosions. Yet, in the fallout shelter beside their monastery, they reserved a place for the Eucharist, ensuring that the Lord’s presence remained both safe and near. Their bishop urged them to take refuge in the mountains, farther from the capital, but the sisters refused. They chose to remain, steadfast in their vocation, offering their contemplative lives for China as long as God willed it. Even as bombs fell and debris flew, they continued to pray—whether between air raids or in the very midst of the bombing itself. “ We were squeezed into the shelter in the middle of a fine autumn night,” Mother Elizabeth recalled. “ Our chaplain put the holy ciborium in its little niche, and we adored the Risen Christ, sacramentally present in our midst... What a comfort that divine Sacramental Presence would be to us! ” (Mother Elizabeth, Leaving for, Living in, & Farewell to China , pp. 69-71). As the earth trembled beneath her, she turned her gaze to Christ—scourged, climbing the road to Calvary. She prayed for those on the front lines, for peace in China and in Europe. Her calling as a Carmelite was clear: to “keep in our hearts and in community the peace, hope, and joy of the Beatitudes ” (Mother Elizabeth, Leaving for, Living in, & Farewell to China , p. 71). Yes, not only peace and hope, but even joy was to be preserved in the midst of suffering. There were even moments of laughter in the shelter. One night, in the darkness of their cramped refuge, Mother Elizabeth records that her mother superior, overcome by exhaustion, fell backward off her small bench—straight into a pool of water. On other nights, she dozed off, only to launch forward unexpectedly. Even in the midst of great sufferings, these faithful sisters still found reasons to giggle. Photo of Mother Elizabeth and the Carmelite community in Chongqing, shared by Mother Eliane Through the trials of war, the deaths of fellow sisters, and countless other difficulties, Mother Elizabeth maintained her capacity for joy, not because the suffering was insignificant, but because her Christian hope was not dependent on the circumstances. Her strength did not come from sheer willpower, but from her deep faith in the Eucharistic Lord and her total reliance on His grace. “ In the Eucharist ,” she wrote, “ we communicate in the glorified Body of the Risen Christ; we receive the Pentecostal gift, from the Spirit sprung from Christ the Lord. Should we not then be in the world bearers of Christ and bearers of the Spirit, sowers of love and joy? ” (Mother Elizabeth, Leaving for, Living in, & Farewell to China , p. xv). If Mother Elizabeth could hold fast to Christian hope and joy while bombs rained down around her, so can we. The question is: do we truly believe in the sacramental presence of the Risen Lord, made so tangibly available to us each day? Do we carve out the silence necessary to hear Him, or do we allow the noise of the world to toss us around constantly, to steal our awareness of His nearness? Concluding Reflection: During this Third Week of Lent, may our travels enable us to learn from Mother Elizabeth and from many more missionaries to China who have lived out peace, hope, and joy in the midst of suffering. May we pass through these forty days as a desert, a time to consume the world’s voices less and to sit in the Eucharistic presence of God more, to meditate on the way of the cross, and to die with Christ so that we may truly rise with Him, smiling in the Light. References and further reading: Mother Elizabeth (Mère Élízabeth), Leaving for, Living in, & Farewell to China – the Life Experiences of a Carmelite Nun . (Eastern Christian Publications, 2010). Jinrong Li and Xiao Yang. Fenghuo Suiyue Chongqing Dahongzha . (Chongqing Press, 2005). Click here to learn more about Mother Elizabeth.   Yiyi Zhang is a PhD student in Theology at Boston College. Her decision to study theology was inspired by John C.H. Wu and his example of striving to be both fully Chinese and fully Catholic. In her Ph.D. work, she seeks to draw on the wisdom of Chinese religious traditions to inform her theological—and especially Christological—reflections . ---------------------- 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.

by Kathy Stout, Ph.D. This Lent, may you taste a portion of the transfiguration experienced by Wu and promised by Christ. Image from The University of Notre Dame Press To strengthen us in our Lenten journey, the Church recalls the memory of Jesus’s Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in this Sunday’s reading. According to St. Maximus the Confessor, the Transfiguration reveals the future of human destiny as a direct participation in the divine light of God. The second reading of this Sunday reminds us that Christ will change our corruptible body “to conform with his glorified body” (Phil 3:21). If this promise of immortality and divinity by participation sounds difficult to believe, we may receive additional encouragement from the Chinese Catholic John C. H. Wu (1899-1986), who in the darkest hour of his life came to believe through the humble witness of the Little Flower, Thérèse of Lisieux.  Why was a statesman and legal scholar converted by a cloistered nun who died at the age of 24? Why did Wu spend his time translating the Psalms to classical Chinese during the Japanese attack of China? Why did he leave politics at the end of WWII to teach comparative mysticism in US colleges? Why did he never lose hope when his political dreams for China failed to materialize? The answer is this:  With Christ, There is peace in war The poor are rich Adversity is sweet The ignorant are wise And life is a prelude to Heaven Adapted quote from John C. H. Wu, Beyond East and West (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2018), 307. Dr. Kathy Stout is a facilitator of the USCCA Book Circle and an Incoming Associate Director of the USCCA Board. She received her Ph.D. in theology from the University of Dayton, and she has taught classes on Catholic theology and Chinese traditions at the University of Dayton and the University of Oklahoma. Her current research interest is the dialogue between Chinese Buddhism and Christian spirituality.  ---------------------- 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.

Have you ever wondered about the first Christians in China? On March 20, ChinaSource will host a free public lecture by Dr. Glen Thompson, Professor Emeritus of Asia Lutheran Seminary in Hong Kong. The topic of the lecture will be "China's Earliest Christians: Who Were They and What Can We Learn From Them?" Dr. Thompson's book, Jingjiao: The Earliest Christian Church in China , was recently given an Award of Merit from Christianity Today .  Dr. Thompson will introduce us to an eighth-century stele indicating thata community of Chinese Christians of the time understood and referred to Christianity as "luminous teaching." By learning about these early Chinese Christians, we can draw lessons for the Church in China and beyond. The lecture will be held at Nazareth Chapel, University of Northwestern - St. Paul, on March 20, 2025. Light refreshments will begin at 6:15 PM, followed by the lecture itself at 7:00 PM. Please click here to read more and to register . Image from ChinaSource ---------------------- 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.

by Rev. Rob Carbonneau, CP, Ph.D. image from The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History at Boston College The life of Xu Guangxi reminds us how our Lenten encounters offer us the opportunity to increase our respect for people we meet, intellectual discovery, and offering support for greater religious understanding and harmony. Xu Guangqi first met a Catholic missionary in Guangdong, China in 1596. In 1600, he traveled to Nanjing to visit Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). Xu was baptized at Catholic in 1603, taking the Christian name Paul. Xu Guangxi passed the Chinese Civil Service Exam in 1604. Thereafter discussions he had with Ricci led him to translated into Chinese texts on astronomy, hydraulics, and geometry. As a result of their personal heartfelt friendship, Xu Guangxi wrote a statement in support of the Jesuit missionaries in 1616.  Guangxi's statement prompts consideration of how all of us might find harmonious paths and relationships with each other in 2025. According to one source the statement reads: “(Catholic missionaries) are the disciples of the holy sage, their way is right, discipline strict, knowledge vast, understanding deep, hearts pure, opinion firm, and in their country they excel above most people.” He further argued that Christianity was a positive influence on China, and not incompatible with loyalty to the emperor and the ideals of Confucianism.” To learn more about Xu Guangxi, go to  this article from China Heritage Quarterly . Father Rob served as Executive Director of the U.S.-China Catholic Association from 2014—2017. At the Ricci Institute, he is historian and curator of the Passionist China Collection (PCC), an archive of over 10,000 photos and 60,000 documents, photographs, reports, films, and correspondence that reveal the twentieth century Passionist-based mission in Hunan, China. ---------------------- 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.

This Lenten season, may we remember Pope Francis's invitation to "journey together in hope" ( Message of the Holy Father Francis for Lent 2025 ): This Lent, God is asking us to examine whether in our lives, in our families, in the places where we work and spend our time, we are capable of walking together with others, listening to them, resisting the temptation to become self-absorbed and to think only of our own needs. Let us ask ourselves in the presence of the Lord whether, as bishops, priests, consecrated persons and laity in the service of the Kingdom of God, we cooperate with others. Whether we show ourselves welcoming, with concrete gestures, to those both near and far. How might Catholics in the United States and in China journey together in hope through this year? Peace and blessings to you on this Ash Wednesday 2025. ---------------------- 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.

Have you heard about the USCCA's Book Circle Discussions ? Through Zoom meetings on select scheduled Saturdays, we learn together about history, Chinese culture, theology, philosophy, and the life of the Church in China. The next Book Circle discussion will be held on March 15, 2025; we will be discussing the section entitled "Taoism" (pp. 51–57) in John C. H. Wu's Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality , which is now available from Angelico Books for 15% off with the discount code wu15 . As participants read the passages selected for March 15, we ask them to consider the following message from the Book Circle facilitators: We will read the chapter of "Taoism" on pages 51-57. Even though it is a short chapter, it is peppered throughout with excerpts from the Daodejing  ( Tao Teh Ching ) that are "sententious and pregnant with meaning" (p. 55). The chapter concludes with two stories from the Book of Zhuangzi  ( Chuang Tzu ), which introduce us to two of the most important Daoist spiritual disciplines indispensable to one's union with Dao. Here are some questions that may help guide your reading: 1) What verses from the Daodejing  ( Tao Teh Ching ) do you find illuminating, and why? 2) What verses from the Daodejing  ( Tao Teh Ching ) do you find puzzling? 3) Do you see any points of contact between Daoist ideas in this chapter and the Christian faith? 4) How do you understand the spiritual practice of "the Fast of the Mind" (p. 56-57)? 5) How do you understand the spiritual practice of "Settled in Forgetting" (p. 57)? We invite you to sign up for Book Circle updates  and to share this information widely with friends, family, and church communities! ---------------------- 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.

Looking back on the year of the USCCA's 35th anniversary, we appreciate the historical and ongoing importance of our mission to build bridges of peace and friendship across countries and cultures. In 2024, the USCCA promoted dialogue through programs like the Book Circle, the Chinese and American Friendship Ministry, and the 29th USCCA International Conference with the help of supporters like you. We invite you to read more about the USCCA's mission and accomplishments in our recently published 2024 Annual Report . ---------------------- 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.

The USCCA Board of Directors was pleased to welcome Dr. Kathy (Huili) Stout and Ms. Vicky (Lianghui) Sun as Incoming Associate Directors. Dr. Stout (left), who has been serving as a USCCA Book Circle organizer for over a year, 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. As the co-founder of Wise Promise Advisory, Ms. Sun (right) works with international businesses on ethical strategy, media engagement, and corporate philanthropy. She holds a Master of Theological Studies from the University of Notre Dame, specializing in ancient Chinese philosophies and comparative theology, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from the University of Dallas. We greatly appreciate the commitment that Dr. Stout and Ms. Sun have made to serve as Associate Directors of the USCCA! Thanks to the steadfast engagement of supporters like them, the USCCA has been building bridges of friendship and dialogue for more than 35 years. If you would like to volunteer with the USCCA, please contact Interim Chief Administrative Officer Gerald Doyle at director@uscatholicchina.org . ---------------------- 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.

On February 15, 2025, the USCCA Book Circle gathered to discuss pp. 15–50 of John C. H. Wu's Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality . In these passages, Wu shares his perspective on "Mencius' Philosophy of Human Nature and Natural Law" (pp. 15–35) and on "The Spirit of Joy in the Chinese Sages" (pp. 39–50). This Book Circle discussion touched on such themes as natural law, joy as harmony, and the mandate of heaven understood through Catholic tradition and Chinese culture. One aspect of this week's reading which spurred particular interest among participants was the way in which Wu's position as a legal scholar and as a Catholic informed his understanding of natural law in the teachings of ancient Chinese sages. Western philosophy tends to rely on metaphysical speculation as a source of wisdom, but discussion participants found that the Chinese sages challenge readers to find wisdom in the ways of our ancestors, learning from their examples in accordance with nature and ritual propriety. Such ways of living are described by sages as a kind of harmony, and are closely related to joy, as Wu notes: "According to the Chinese way of thinking, music is joy, and joy is music, because both of them are essentially bound up with the idea of Harmony" (p. 39). In turn, USCCA Book Circle participants reflected on the harmony of joy as it is portrayed in different religious and philosophical thinkers and traditions, from Mencius to Augustine. Participants suggested that dialogue between East and West could deepen our understanding of joy as an individual and collective phenomenon. The next Book Circle discussion will be held on March 15, 2025; we will be discussing the section entitled "Taoism" (pp. 51–57) in John C. H. Wu's Chinese Humanism and Christian Spirituality , which is now available from Angelico Books for 15% off with the discount code wu15 . As participants read the passages selected for March 15, we ask them to consider the following message from the Book Circle facilitators: We will read the chapter of "Taoism" on pages 51-57. Even though it is a short chapter, it is peppered throughout with excerpts from the Daodejing ( Tao Teh Ching ) that are "sententious and pregnant with meaning" (p. 55). The chapter concludes with two stories from the Book of Zhuangzi ( Chuang Tzu ), which introduce us to two of the most important Daoist spiritual disciplines indispensable to one's union with Dao. Here are some questions that may help guide your reading: 1) What verses from the Daodejing ( Tao Teh Ching ) do you find illuminating, and why? 2) What verses from the Daodejing ( Tao Teh Ching ) do you find puzzling? 3) Do you see any points of contact between Daoist ideas in this chapter and the Christian faith? 4) How do you understand the spiritual practice of "the Fast of the Mind" (p. 56-57)? 5) How do you understand the spiritual practice of "Settled in Forgetting" (p. 57)? We invite you to sign up for Book Circle updates  and to share this information widely with friends, family, and church communities! ---------------------- 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.

As we enter 2025, the USCCA is glad to share the news of several individuals who committed in 2024 to serving our mission: John Dewan Alfred Gui Kathleen O'Brien, M.A. Fr. Aaron A. C. Bohr, SJ Fr. Edward Griswold Drew McNeil Margaret Smetana Sr. Dong Hong Marie Zhang, CSSF Karina Patman In addition to the new Board members mentioned above, we have been recently blessed to welcome Phoebe Qian as an Affiliate in the role of Digital Designer. If you are interested in volunteering your talents for our mission, we invite you to become an Affiliate of the USCCA . We invite you to view our Board and Affiliates page to learn more about these USCCA supporters and their stories. We are deeply grateful for the time that they have shared in service of the mission of the USCCA! ---------------------- 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.