Mother Teresa made several requests to open a nursing home in China, but was always denied permission. Fr. Alberico Crescitelli of Pime was martyred in 1900 and canonized by John Paul II in 2000. The Prayer for China accompanied by the choir of the Chinese community of Rome and Augustin Zhang, of the Giotto Cooperative from Padua prison.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - A relic of Mother Teresa and one of Pime's martyrs killed in China in 1900 will be exhibited at the AsiaNews Symposium scheduled for tomorrow at 3:30 pm in the Great Hall of the Pontifical Urbanianum University (Via Urbano VIII , 16, Rome).
The relic of Mother Teresa, a drop of her blood, was donated to AsiaNews's online edition 14 years ago. The Mother, canonized last year by Pope Francis, is a witness to the Church's love for China. Three times she asked the authorities and some Chinese bishops to open a Missionaries of Charity home in the country, but she was always refused. In China, though, there are tens of thousands of people inspired by the Mother in their daily mission to the sick and the disadvantaged.
The Pime martyr is Fr. Alberico Crescitelli, killed during the Boxer Revolt and canonized by John Paul II on October 1, 2000. Fr. Crescitelli was a missionary in Hanzhong (Shaanxi) and devoted himself to evangelization and the poor. At his canonization, the Patriotic Association launched a smear campaign to denigrate him, accusing him of shameful acts, but which cannot be traced back to the chronicles of the time.
The World Day of Prayer for the Church in China on the feast day of Our Lady of Sheshan on May 24 was convoked by Benedict XVI 10 years ago. In his Letter to Chinese Catholics in 2007, he expressed the intention that through prayer the unity between underground and official Christians be strengthened as well as communion with Peter's successor, also asking the Lord for the strength to persevere in the Christian witness, to bear the sufferings of persecution. The pontiff also asked that Catholics worldwide contribute to the good of Chinese society, praying also for persecutors.
The symposium will be enriched by the choir of the Chinese community in Rome and a young Chinese, Agustine Zhang, who converted to Catholicism in the Padua prison, where he works with the Giotto Cooperative,. Augustine offered his testimony in front of Pope Francis during the Jubilee for Prisoners Ceremony.