Tiananmen Square 20 Years Later

A great article put out today in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the state-sanctioned massacre of an estimated 2600 students, workers, and other young adults who were part of a much larger throng of protesters demanding political reform in Communist China. To this day, the morally bankrupt Chinese government - which, in my opinion, is the greatest human rights abuser that currently plagues our planet - still claims a far smaller number of dead, and does everything in its power to erase memories of the event. The tragedy should serve as a sober reminder of what happens when socialist ideas are imposed on a free state, and why efforts to impose such ideas should be resisted at every turn.

Here is a link to an English translation of the article, originally published by Asia News.

In addition to its abhorrent "One-Child" Forced Abortion Policy, the Chinese government is also the most prolific persecutor of Christians in the world today. Its animus against the Catholic Church is such that Catholicism is illegal in China, and the government has formed its own "official" Catholic Church, which requires its members to formally renounce obedience to Magisterium and allegiance to the Vatican. Catholics who refuse membership in the "official" Church are forced underground, and Chinese Bishops elevated to the rank of Cardinal often have to be named in pectore (Latin for "in the heart"), which means that their elevation is known to the Pope alone (even the appointee is unaware of the honor) until such a time as it can be made public without being cause for political persecution of the appointee. If an in pectore elevation to the College of Cardinals is ever made public, then the appointment is retroactive so as to preserve the Cardinal's seniority. If a Pope dies before an in pectore appointment is made public, then the appointment is necessarily rendered null and void, as no living person would know the identity of the appointee.

There are a number of organizations dedicated to making known the plight of and bringing aid to persecuted Christians not only in China, but also in other parts of the world. The best known of these organizations is the Voice of the Martyrs. I strongly encourage you to visit their website and blog and, if possible, to offer prayers and whatever other support can be given for those this very worthy organization seeks to help. In the meantime, please read the above article, especially if you are too young to remember the horrible events of June 4, 1989 and the courage of the young men and women who risked the Chinese Communist Party's wrath to serve the cause of freedom. God bless!


In Jesus and Mary,
Gerald