BEIJING, Jul 16, 01 (CWNews.com/Fides) - Like an ocean of joy and emotion more than 2 million people poured into the streets and squares of Beijing last Friday to hail the historic event after the president of the International Olympic Committee announced that Beijing had been awarded the 2008 Games.
In over half a million they gathered in Tiananmen Square; only a few miles away another 800,000 headed for China's national monument. They were workers, housewives, peasants, students, office workers, scientists in every field and of all ages. One elderly citizen remarked: "This is the greatest gathering since the one after the arrest of the 'Gang of Four.'"
Professor Li, an expert on religion at Beijing's Social Academy, explained, "The fact that Beijing has won, offers the whole country a great opportunity for progress in the economy, socially, and also for human and religious rights."
China's poor people also hope to gain from the Beijing Games. An unemployed worker said, "I have to worry about the cost of living, how to pay the rent, how to find work. But today, all the same, I am happy. Who knows, the Olympics might even mean jobs." Beijing's triumph is being celebrated also in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, and among overseas Chinese everywhere.
Catholics and other Christians in China share the emotion of their compatriots. During Mass in the Church of the Savior at the Beitang, the young priest voiced congratulations. "We, Catholics, are with the people, the nation; we work to guarantee our homeland progress and prosperity." In many parishes over the last few days believers were encouraged to pray that Beijing would win the assignment. Now, in official Catholic Church communities throughout China, the faithful are being asked to thank God that China has won and to pray for the success of the event.
The underground Church is no less excited. One underground priest said by the phone, "The Games will be a wonderful opportunity for the world to know China and for China to know the world. Up to now we have been so isolated." Several priests are already thinking about volunteering as chaplains for Chinese and foreign athletes in the future Olympic Village. "It will be a great opportunity for evangelization, for spreading the faith," one said. "Meeting and talking with athletes we can announce the Gospel of Christ. What is more, it will give us a chance to show just how much the Church in China has grown and matured in all these difficult years."
The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in churches that, while openly loyal to the government association, secretly pledge allegiance to the Pope.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
16. juli 2001