CHINA-ITALY ‘We, young Chinese, and our encounter with the Gospel’

From Mindong, Hong Kong and Taiwan to the Chinese community in Milan: the voices of the evening he organized on the occasion of the feast of Saint Francis Xavier. Between gratitude to the communities that, beyond all difficulties, have preserved and transmitted the faith, and new encounters based on the need to find meaning in a changing world.

Milan () – A “fire that burns under the ashes”. Fueled by the questions of today’s young Chinese who face profound transformations in contexts that are also very different from each other: from the cities of the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, to the Chinese communities of the diaspora. This wealth of stories was what illuminated the meeting “Young people and faith in today’s Greater China”, organized by at the PIME Center in Milan on the afternoon of December 3, the feast of Saint Francis Xavier, the great missionary of the East who died on the island of Shangchuan, at the gates of that China to which he would have wanted to reach.

A moment of friendship lived with the Chinese Catholic community of Milan, which animated the solemn Eucharistic celebration that preceded the meeting. But, above all, it was a moment to look at this great people – which today finds itself in the center of attention for many geopolitical, economic and cultural reasons – with a different perspective: that of the paths of encounter of its young generations with the Gospel of Jesus. In the midst of the transformations that China is experiencing, the social and cultural pressures on young people are strong, to the point that they have provoked reactions such as those of the Tangping movement (躺平 “lying down”), a philosophy that is expressed in the rejection to conventional expectations of success and productivity, to choose a more minimalist lifestyle and above all free of limitations. But it is especially in the questions about meaning posed by young Chinese that faith finds a fruitful place.

That faith has been preserved for years with enormous resilience by Catholic communities in China, despite thousands of difficulties, and continues to be transmitted to new generations to this day in Catholic families. But today it also asks to open new paths. It can be seen in the testimony given at the Milan meeting by Maristella Wheng, a young consecrated woman originally from the diocese of Mindong. “I have participated in many church activities, such as catechesis, youth meetings and youth summer camps,” he said. All those experiences shaped me a lot, but I had never thought about a consecrated life for myself. My desire was to live the same life as most people: study, work… But after a year of work I felt the need to take a break: I didn’t feel confused about my future, but I needed to find some deeper motivations to live my life better.”

Through a Chinese priest he came to Italy to the community of Montetauro, near Rimini, to experience a volunteer service alongside Chinese immigrant children. “In the Little Family of the Assumption I found much more than a simple Chinese school, I found a community – he said -. I began to deepen my faith in Jesus even more, understanding that He already knew me. And through his words, to live the daily Eucharist in a new way, through a very simple daily life made of prayer and work being part of a true community of brothers and sisters, now I know that the Lord wants me to follow him in this way of life, for all the signs you have left on my path throughout these years.” When asked what she would like her friends in her Catholic community in Mindong to take away from this experience, she responded decisively: “The direct encounter with the Scriptures that I discovered here. It’s something we don’t have in China.”

Yirui Eleonora Weng, 30, Chinese from Hangzhou, had never had contact with Christianity until she was 26. Until, being a professional pianist, music brought her to Milan. “During a sacred music class at the Conservatory – he said -, while I was playing the piano and reading the score, I realized that I did not completely understand the text; I felt a particular, almost inexplicable sensation inside me.”

The invitation of a former Italian colleague to attend Mass was the next step: “It became a special moment for me. Although I was not a Christian and did not know what they were, those first masses ignited in me the desire to know more about the faith”. Until that same former colleague introduced him to Father Francesco Zhao, the chaplain of the Chinese community in Milan: “I felt immediately welcomed – he recalled -. Not only could I express myself in Chinese, but he also understood the difficulties I had in reconciling my culture with the new faith. Thanks to him I was able to understand deeper aspects of Christianity and feel that this path could really be part of my life. On Easter night 2023, in the Cathedral of Milan, Eleonora received the sacrament of Baptism: “In that moment – she said – I realized that I had never really been alone. God, in one way or another, had always been at hand. my side. The presence I felt at my side in moments of joy and the silent support in the most difficult times.

Adelia Lau, for her part, spoke of faith lived in difficult times, becoming the voice of so many young Catholics in Hong Kong: “I grew up in my parish, with the other young people in the choir, playing the organ like many others – she said – But for many of us, everything changed in July 2020 with the repression of protests and the entry into force of the National Security Law. Today he lives in Milan, like hundreds of thousands of his colleagues and young families who in recent years have left the Chinese metropolis, where no questioning is anymore allowed. And where – according to a recent statistic – 1 in 4 of the young people left have problems with stress, anxiety or depression. “It is a really difficult and confusing time for everyone – commented Adelia -. I think young people need guidance that helps them distinguish what is right and what is wrong, to understand what important values ​​are. They precisely need faith. That faith that allows us to continue seeing day by day in a difficult environment and have hope in the face of a future that is uncertain.”

A future that starts from simple relationships like those told at the Milan evening by Father Donato Contuzzi, who for ten years lived as a priest in the mission of the Fraternity of Saint Charles in Taiwan, whose story has recently been collected in the book ” The cross and the dragon.” A context that in many ways “has the same face as our secularized cities or the cult of the god of money,” said Father Donato. But where – precisely – the Gospel is also transmitted through “a different smile on people’s faces or the decisions that a couple makes in the face of a child who does not arrive.” Small miracles of faith that leave their mark even in the Chinese world today.