Milan (AsiaNews) – A source in mainland China spoke to AsiaNews about how some Chinese Catholics are experiencing the death of Pope Francis. Affection and an awareness of being part of the universal Church emerge as the main themes.
“The Pope had the Chinese Church in his heart, so he had me in his heart." "The Pope who loved Our Lady of Sheshan, who loved the Chinese!" Francis loved us, I have always felt my life connected to his.”
These are some of the messages I received following the announcement of the death of Pope Francis. As soon as the news spread, WeChat groups were filled with prayers and nice words dedicated to the Pope. For a few hours it was as if time was on hold (and protected) while remarks, images, photographs, videos that Christians tend to self-censor out of reasonable concern scrolled fearlessly.
Amid the sorrow and the mourning, the joy of announcing love prevailed, as if to reciprocate the announcement heard so many times. It was a spontaneous explosion, not very cautious, but conscious that death and fear are not the last word.
Francis loved China! And the Chinese felt that the Pope loved them, reached out to them, sought them out, above all never forgot them. Through the Pope’s heart, they discovered themselves as the beating core. Many expressed their love and gave sincere thanks.
A young man told me that Francis had the image of Our Lady of Sheshan in his room and told me that he prayed every evening for China. I don't know if this is true, but it doesn't matter, because the point is that from that moment that young person and his community felt that they were "united for life" with that of the Pope. They felt part of the Church! Thus the Pope of the peripheries, who came from the end of the world, made the periphery feel at the centre of things.
An elderly lady told me that her dream had always been to visit the Vatican. She knows that it will never be possible, but since she knows that Francis also dreamt of visiting China, she is happy to share a similarly impossible dream with the Pope.
Over the past few years, Francis took positions that have sometimes required people to have greater trust. In fact, the difficulty of the situation, increasingly harsh and complex, never darkens here; but complexity has been welcomed, not only because "the Pope is the Pope", but also because "he loves China" and took upon himself the responsibility for making difficult decisions.
Non-Christian Chinese too show a healthy curiosity for a universal figure far from their way of thinking. From informal chats one can perceive the misinformation about him. One teacher, for example, asked me if the Pope had ever been to China, and was then amazed when I explained why that was impossible, while another was convinced that the Pope was the leader of Italy.
At present, a sense of great gratitude prevails for the wind of openness the Pope brought, for the movement of encounter between centre and periphery that cancels borders. It makes one breathe fresh air, the air of the Church.
