Hours after the conclave of March 2013 ended, another ritual ballot took place 5,000 miles away in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. As Francis prepared for his first full day as Pope, Xi Jinping was elected president of China by 2,952 votes to one.
While the differences between the two men are obvious, there are striking parallels. Both men come from relatively humble backgrounds. Both trained as chemists. Both are men of the people: Francis travelled by tram in Buenos Aires and Xi toiled for seven years in a remote village as a young man. Both are now in charge of ancient institutions that comprise more than a billion souls. Francis was elected, in part, to reform the Roman Curia. In his first speech, Xi said that “corruption, taking bribes, being out of touch with the people, undue emphasis on formalities and bureaucracy must be addressed with great efforts”.
One of Francis’s unfulfilled dreams is to become the first pope to travel to China. He mentioned this aspiration again last Saturday on his flight home from Bangladesh. He described his sensations as he became the first pontiff to fly through Chinese airspace in August 2014 (John Paul II had always flown around it). “When they told me that we were flying over Chinese territory, I wanted to say something: I would so much like to visit China,” he recalled.
Francis has made an unprecedented series of overtures to the Chinese government since his election. He has given interviews in which he lavishly praised China’s history. He has encouraged the Vatican Museums to send works to the Forbidden City. He has tacitly given Chinese doctors a platform at the Vatican to declare (somewhat implausibly) that China no longer harvests prisoners’ organs. He has toned down criticism of China’s treatment of Catholics: in June, the Holy See condemned the arrest of a bishop in Wenzhou only after the German ambassador spoke out first.
How has China responded to this campaign? With its characteristic ambivalence. Beijing has welcomed talks over the appointment of bishops. At the same time, the Communist Party recently reminded its 90 million members that they are required to be atheists. Officials in eastern Jiangxi Province have offered money to poor Catholic families if they replace religious images with posters of Xi. Chinese tour operators have been forbidden to organise group visits to the Vatican.
It is essential that the Holy See engages China. The welfare of an estimated nine million Catholics depends on it. But so far the Vatican seems to have conceded much but gained little. “Patience is needed,” Pope Francis said last weekend. “But the doors of the heart are open. And I believe that a trip to China will do well.” A pope may indeed visit China this century. But the chances are that it will not be Francis – or even his successor.
Our Lady never fails
A new study by the University of Alabama has found that people with a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe have fewer health issues related to stress. The research was conducted among a group of Mexican immigrants in the United States. It is another indication, if one were needed, that religious practices are good, not just for the soul, but also for the body and mind.
Mexican workers in the United States typically face many challenges: their work is labour-intensive and poorly paid; they encounter discrimination and racism; and they often have problems with the immigration laws.
But when they pour out their troubles to Our Lady of Guadalupe, this seems to make their burdens easier to bear.
Our Blessed Lady, as every Catholic will know, is the refuge of sinners and the comforter of the afflicted. As the prayer known as the Memorare boldly states: “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.” The Virgin’s intercession never fails.
Moreover, Our Lady of Guadalupe is particularly known as a consoler of the afflicted. Her words to St Juan Diego were: “Listen, put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest son, that the thing that disturbs you, the thing that afflicts you, is nothing. Do not let your countenance, your heart be disturbed… Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you, disturb you.”
The apparitions took place in December 1531, but these words still echo in the minds of the kinsfolk of St Juan Diego. The harsh conditions under which so many Mexican people live have sadly not changed much over the centuries; but also constant has been the love of God, ministered to them by the Virgin of Guadalupe.
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