The Church moves in mysterious ways

And for good reasons. As humans we tend to be very short sited and see others actions filtered by our own biases. I am slowly learning to trust more and judge less. It is a slow process, but with God's grace I will learn.

It is a bit easier to trust when that someone is the Church. 2000 years of experience tends to remind me how limited my "wisdom" is. But even so, I was confused and somewhat angered when I first read about the Church's eagerness to establish diplomatic relations with Communist China when that meant severing relations with Taiwan.

What I couldn't see was the effect this move had on the millions of Catholics in China. According to Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the Catholics are winning.

The universal Church is concerned about the millions of faithful in Communist China and is willing to take a very painful step.

A painful step indeed. But as Jesus showed us so dramatically, being meek and humble can bring down the powerful and proud. Those in power may see this as a move of weakness and quickly move to expand their power. But in doing so, they are cementing their own tomb. The lay faithful recognize the true Church.

Many bishops, appointed by the Beijing government, had no peace of heart and wanted to be recognized by the Holy See.

Beginning in the '80s, Pope John Paul II, with great generosity, accepted such petitions. At present 85% of the episcopate of the official Chinese Church has been legitimized by the Vatican. Now the bishops that are not approved by Rome feel marginalized; they are rejected by the clergy and the faithful.

Through humility, the Vatican is slowly crumbling the communist run Patriotic Association of Catholics.

So it is win-win in China. By grabbing for more power, Red China loses power over the Church and most of all, the faithful can worship more freely.

Pray for them. And if you want to support the underground Church, check out PRI. The rosary in their bookstore is made by the underground church in China.