The Catholic Weekly 9 August 2020

catholicweekly.com.au 20 NEWS 9, August, 2020 WORLD Abuse in orders Missing bishop mystery App hits the top of the Catholic charts Journal looks at little known problem in womens’ congregations THE DISAPPEARANCE – and rumours of the possible death – of a Chinese Catholic bish- op was the subject of a hear- ing by a US politician.’ The prelate in question, Bishop James Su Zhimin of Baoding, was arrested in 1997. “We are saddened by the recent reports that Bishop Su may have died during his recent imprisonment,” said Nury Turkel, a Uighur Amer- ican who is a member of the US Commission on Interna- tional Religious Freedom, in testimony during the hearing. Bishop Su, if he is alive, would be 88 years old. “Today, I again join many, including the bishop’s rela- tives and ask (Chinese) Pres- ident Xi Jinping: Where is Bishop Su?” said Christopher Smith, co-chair of the Lan- tos commission, who led the hearing. “What have you done in se- WHEN THE developers of the Catholic meditation app Hal- low launched it in 2018, they hoped to attract young Catho- lics, but what is now the coun- try’s No. 1 Catholic app has a bigger reach than that. “ It started as this focus on young adults but actually we’ve seen a lot more. ... Par- ents and retired folks get re- ally excited about it and start using it,” said Hallow’s CEO and co-founder, Alex Jones. Hallow – https://hallow. com – has seen a dramatic increase in popularity and THE ABUSE occurring with- in women’s religious orders deserves more attention from the media and must be reme- died, said a Jesuit journal. Novices and women reli- gious, especially those who have been assigned to a coun- try where they don’t know the language, can be particularly vulnerable to abuses of pow- er and conscience by superi- ors, and sexual abuse by their formators, said an article in La Civilta Cattolica . “The dynamics of women’s religious life turn out to be very different from that of men in many ways. The education andmany pastoral opportuni- ties of those who receive Holy Orders allow men religious to live with greater openness and autonomy,” even in a religious community, said the article, written by Jesuit Father Gio- vanni Cucci, a professor of psychology and philosophy at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University. The articlewas titled “Abuse of authority in the church: Problems and challenges of women’s religious life.” It cit- ed different forms of abuse known by the author through his own work and from inter- views given by Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Socie- ties of Apostolic Life. While much attention has been given to the abuse of minors and vulnerable peo- ple, and abuse perpetrated by priests, not enough has been said about the kinds of abuse women religious and novices have experienced within their own religious communities, the article said. Some dangers, it said, in- clude when a superior general ¾ ¾ Mark Pattison ¾ ¾ Carol Glatz A protester carries a portrait of imprisoned Chinese Bishop James Su Zhemin of Baoding in Hong Kong during a 2012 religious freedom demonstration. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/BOBBY YIP, REUTERS The Catholic prayer and meditation HallowApp, has experienced a dramatic increase in popularity. GRAPHIC: CNS/COURTESY HALLOW A religious prays. A Jesuit journal has canvassed the problems of abuse in womens’ congregations. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/DEBBIE HILL cret to this extraordinary man of God?” Smith asked. “And why does a power- ful dictatorship fear peaceful men and women of faith and virtue?” Smith said he met Bish- op Su once, in 1994, after the bishop had already spent many years in prison, “yet he had extraordinary gentleness, strength, courage and a peace that surpassed all under- standing. “Bishop Su told my dele- gation after celebrating Mass in a tiny apartment that he prayed for his persecutors, and he especially prayed for getting more and more users each day. The No. 1 rating is based on “Apple’s algorithm, which they don’t disclose,” Jones told CNS. “It’s based on how many people have reviewed it in the last few weeks, how many people are downloading it, how many have viewed. We started off on the bottom of the list, went to No. 3, then jumped to No. 1 about six months ago.” Hallow is based out of Chi- cago even though the compa- ny started off in California’s Silicon Valley. - CNS exploits the enthusiasm and trust of young novices, tar- geting women with “generous hearts, but also vulnerable to manipulation.” Sometimes unscrupulous leaders arbitrarily decide on who gets to continue their ed- ucation, turning it into “a kind of prize given to the most loy- al and compliant, excluding those who express thinking differently,” it said. An abusive leader may see her position as coming with “exclusive privileges,” such as getting the best medical care, while the other members are not allowed to see an eye doctor or dentist because “we have to save money.” The same thing can happen when it comes to clothing, vacation time, a day off, even just going outside for a walk – these activities can be wielded as rare “privileges” that must be approved of according to the whims of the superior. The article also reiterated criticisms going back dec- ades against the practice of “importing” vocations from other countries, using young women as “fill-ins” instead of guaranteeing them the best formation possible. - CNS the cruel and misguided lead- ership of the Chinese Com- munist Party.” He added: “Bishop Su was beaten, starved and tortured for his faith. Yet he prayed not just for persecuted believers but for God’s mercy on those who hate, torture and kill. His faith in Jesus absolutely amazed me. “Cynically, Chinese au- thorities arrested him before my delegation even left the country and held him for nine days. He was arrested again in 1997 and has not been seen since, save for once in 2003 when he surfaced in a hospital in Baoding.” After stretches in prison totaling about 40 years, Smith said, “the Chinese Commu- nist Party refuses to disclose where he is and what they have done to him. What are they hiding?” Bishop Su is “a great hero to the cause of religious free- dom,” said Nina Shea, direc- tor of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Insti- tute. “He’s simply a victim of persecution. He made a de- liberate choice to resist” terms that would have won him his release because he would “not to give to Caesar what belongs to God.” Shea estimated Bishop Su’s 40 years of confinement “by the Chinese government in secret detention without due process” as longer than Nel- son Mandela’s imprisonment on Robben Island in South Africa, which lasted 27 years. Today, I again join many, includ- ing the bishop’s relatives and ask (Chinese) President Xi Jinping: Where is Bishop Su?” Rep. Christopher Smith ¾ ¾ Ian Alvano Unfortunately, history teaches that without that effort of confronting (the issues) and seeking new pathways, the charism risks losing its vitality, triggering a slow, but unstoppable decline ...” La Civilta Cattolica