Maria Kung Chu

But China has also been a country where Christianity found fertile soil. An early legend states that St. Thomas the Apostle preached in China. The first documented appearance of Christianity in China dates back to the 7th Century.

Monks and monasteries came and went in China’s history. Some monasteries were suppressed in the 9th Century. In the 14th Century Franciscans had some evangelization success, but also many martyrs. The Jesuits, led by St. Francis Xavier, converted many of the Chinese; Dominicans, Augustinians, and priests from the Paris Foreign Mission Society also served as missionaries. By 1700 China boasted of 300,000 Catholics. But then the Manchu emperor who detested Western ways threatened death to all preachers and converts, making China a land of martyrs. In the second half of the 19th Century, some degree of toleration of Christians was evident. Then came the time of the Boxers who saw all Christians as enemies; possibly as many as 30,000 Christians died as martyrs. Two large groups of these martyrs were beatified, one group in 1946, and another group in 1951.

After the Boxer Rebellion had ended, Christianity sprang up anew and in 1949, there were 4,415 missionary priests and 6,927 religious women. The Catholic population grew to nearly four million despite the fact that Communistic persecution had moved into China by Japanese invaders, nationalist Chinese, and Chinese Communists who had established what they called the Patriotic Church. All priests, bishops, laity who refused to join this church were due to be persecuted.

Cardinal Ignatius Kung was one of the many who suffered under this Communistic Regime, for refusing to join the Patriotic Church. He was arrested in 1955 and for the next 30 years was held captive for refusing allegiance to the Patriotic Church. After three decades of suffering and persecution, Kung was at last released and left China in 1987. In exile in the States, the Cardinal set up a foundation to support those in China who were faithful to their Christian beliefs.

Harsh punishments were to come to the Cardinal’s niece, Maria Kung Chu, who was arrested in 1958 and spent 21 years in Communist prisons for refusing to join the so-called Patriotic Church. She was subjected to brainwashing and denied access to the university. She lost jobs with little hope of finding others in the party-dominated economy. Her future was sealed in advance. She who had hoped to make a contribution to Chinese society was denied this hope because of her religious affiliation.

In May of 1958, her house was broken into by members of the Patriotic Church and she was dragged off to a propaganda meeting. She prayed the rosary while others shouted at her and abused her for three days. She knew that to renounce the pope, she was renouncing Christ. She was arrested three months later at the age of 22.

Her first cell was a filthy, smelly hole with 16 people crammed into a small dark space. She tried discussing the faith; for this she was assigned to a cage. Her sentence was eight years imprisonment for "counter-revolutionary" activities. Work was horrific: 18 hours a day, seven days a week. Two friends died after a brief period. Others were beaten and hung from the ceiling. Indoctrination was constant. Maria was the special target for brainwashing; she was persecuted because of her uncle, Cardinal Kung, and her refusal to admit to having committed any crime. She was not released on the appointed date but transferred to a less rigorous camp where half her hair was cut and her arms tied in such a way behind her that it caused great pain. She was later handcuffed for 100 days. She was constantly insulted and she prayed for death. She admitted she grew impatient with God for allowing her sufferings to be so prolonged.

Transferred to a third camp, Maria was made to pick tea and vegetables and carry 100 pound loads of firewood. In this camp she met Joseph Chu, a Catholic whom she had known for many years. The two decided to marry secretly, and Joseph’s brother who was an imprisoned Jesuit priest, performed the ceremony. After three years of trying, the couple finally received their passports. On Sept. 5, 1979, they flew to New York City. Since then the couple has worked at exposing the lack of press coverage, the lack of concern by Western governments, and the outrage of many Chinese Catholics over the persecution of the Church in China.