To Understand the Enemy We Face
Stories of the Persecuted Catholic Church during the time of Mao.
During this maddening time of an absence of sacraments, masses, and shuttered churches around the world, this book will deepen your faith and your appreciation of the half century of suffering and persecution of Catholics in Communist China and which continues today.
Nothing has changed in China in the 21st century. In fact, the persecution of Christians and all religions has increased at the brutal hands of the CCP and President Xi Jinping. With his vast array of sophisticated technological weapons and tools at his disposal, Xi hunts down and routs out the faithful. Xi reigns as god and Emperor of China, according to his self-declared edict.
The age old question: how does the faith survive during a time of unimaginable persecution and genocide? The moving testimonies of these Chinese priests, who were imprisoned and tortured in the most inhumane gulags imaginable will inspire you.
The world needs to be reminded of the words of Bishop James E. Walsh, imprisoned for 12 years from 1958-1970, for refusing to join the Communist run Patriotic Catholic Church. Walsh knew that:
“Nobody has any illusion about Red determination to eliminate all religion.”
The battle for the soul of the Catholic Church is upon us. We will either cower and capitulate, like our shepherds, or we will stand firm against the evil bully and expose his diabolical deeds, confident in the protection and grace of Our Almighty.
Let the brave testimonies of these good, humble, brave, and faithful priests inspire you to follow in their footsteps and restore the Catholic Church to its rightful place here on earth.
One such priest, Fr. John Huang Yongmu was imprisoned for 25 years by the Chinese Communists for the crime of being a Catholic priest. He described the mental torture:
“The purpose of thought reform was to develop our political sensibility, and so they tortured us diabolically in our thoughts, in the very essence of our freedom…It consisted of subjecting our minds, imperceptibly to an unbearable agony so as to bend them to their way of thinking.”
Fr. John conveys how he survived during his years in his labor camp. His account of those endless years in prison and being tortured both physically and psychologically is a powerful and lasting testament to his strong faith. :
“We worked shifts of twelve hours a day and often more, so that I was completely exhausted…We were permitted to rest only five or six hours per day. Despite this, I always recited five decades of the Rosary each day and the litanies of Our Lady for the souls in purgatory. Once I had been put into prison, I used to recite mentally the whole Mass from memory while lying down in bed.”