www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Last Orthodox priest in Peking dies

Father Archpriest Alexander Du Li-Fu reposed earlier this month (December 2003); he was the only remaining Orthodox priest in Peking. A Russian Orthodox priest was sent from Moscow to conduct the funeral service, which was held in the Catholic Nantang Cathedral - Catholic Bishop Michael Fu Tie-shan preached, probably because there was no Orthodox priest available who could preach in Chinese. The Cathedral was filled for the service; there are estimated to be at least 250 Chinese Orthodox faithful in the city, but no one seems able to send a priest to serve them regularly, nor is the Chinese government favorable to receiving a priest for such a purpose from outside the country.
Father Alexander was born in 1923 and ordained priest in 1950. All the Orthodox churches were closed during the "Cultural Revolution". There may still be a priest in Harbin, but if so, he would be older than Father Alexander. Pray that something may be done to serve whatever remains of the Chinese Orthodox Church. Incognitus

PRIEST'S DEATH LEAVES RUSSIAN ORTHODOX ADRIFT IN BEIJING
Beijing, Dec. 18 (CWNews.com) - After today's funeral of Beijing's last Orthodox priest, it is still unknown when the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church will have a church in the capital, the Forum 18 news service reports.

A visiting Russian Orthodox priest, Father Dionisy Pozdnyayev, told Forum 18 that Orthodox believers "have no priest now, no church, and nowhere to pray"--although he said the authorities were positive about the idea of Chinese Orthodox studying for the priesthood in Russia.

The Russian Orthodox Church has being trying to help the Chinese Autonomous Orthodox Church, which the Cultural Revolution decimated, without notable success. The only surviving Chinese Orthodox clergy are in the southern city of Shanghai.

It appears Harbin is without a priest as well.

Here is a related article:
http://www.chinese.orthodoxy.ru/ENGLISH/problems.html

Clearly this situation is closely related to the less than friendly relations between Russia and the People's Republic of China. There is a functioning Greek Orthodox Metropolitanate at Hong Kong, but I don't know whether that Church has any Chinese-speaking priests, nor do I know whether the People's Republic would be willing to allow such priests to enter China itself and conduct public worship. I believe that the Russian Church Abroad serves a parish in South Korea, but Korean and Chinese are quite different languages.
The language problem will be formidable no matter who does what for these faithful. The existing translations were all done into Mandarin, and archaic Mandarin at that. But to serve the people adequately the priest must know not only Mandarin, but also whatever the local variant of Chinese is - and that is no easy assignment.
Prayer is definitely needed - we do not want the Chinese Orthodox Church to go the way of the Apostolic Catholic Church of the East in China. Incognitus

Michael Fu Tie-shan is apparently a Bishop of the infamous Patriotic Church of China isn't he?

http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/1535.html

Mexican,

Yes. I believe he is the presiding hierarch.

Many years,

Neil

Catholic "China-Watchers" are adamant that there is one and only one Catholic Church in China. When Blessed Theresa of Calcutta was in Peking a few years ago, she received Holy Communion in Nantang Cathedral, directly from the hands of Bishop Michael Fu Tie-shan. Not too long before that, Bishop Michael had endured ten years in prison for the Faith. There are problems, certainly, and no one denies that; God will resolve those problems in His own good time. Incognitus

Dear incognitus,

Are you speaking of the Assyrian Church of the East? I've wondered what became of ACE Christians in Tibet and China.

Paul

Peking? PEKING?
Really it's been Beijing for a generation.
A google fight already shows dominance for Beijing. Is this usage a thinly veiled political statement?

Interestingly, there is vestigal use for ducks Peking Duck over Beijing Duck ~10:1. (Like "chicken" in another context).

So I'm old fashioned and I still refer to Peking. Be grateful I didn't write "Peiping". If you wish to refer to Beijing, I shall not argue. Either way, I seldom care for the duck dish thus described - it's a bit too dry for my taste. I'm not overly fond of Chicken Kiev either. There's also a Chinese desert called "Peking Dust", which is highly edible.
May you live in interesting times. Incognitus

Dear Incognitus:
Peking Duck dry???
Perhaps you are eating the wrong part of the duck. Or need to find a new chef.

Dear Incognitus,

Yup! the Orthodox Metropolitanate of HongKong and South East Asia under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Its center is in HongKong and extend to India, Singapore, Indonesia and my homeland - the Philippines. His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas is the ruling Bishop here.

Now that the community in China has lost their pastor maybe Hong Kong could help. Now the HK is part of China and have clergy could speak the native tongue.

God bless!
eumir

Slava Isusu Krystu!

Im a bit confused with the Apostolic Catholic Church of the East in China... i tried search engines but of no result. Could anyone give me a bit back ground of them (who is their mother church?)

and Bishop Michael Fu Tie-shan to what church does he belong to? I know that the Patriotic Church is an off shoot of the Catholic Church when communism took control. And I know of one clergy (i could not mention his name) who serves in the Patriotic Church but at the same time serves the underground Catholic faithful.

All of this are sad moments for Christians of China... and as a brother in their faith i am compelled to pray for them...

Through Christ!
eumir

The Apostolic Catholic Church of the East (otherwise called pre-Ephesinian, otherwise called Nestorians) is, alas, gone these several centuries - all that remains is one or two monuments and some historical records. It was a thriving mission at one time, long ago.
For those who like law and order, the situation of the Catholic Church in China is a mess. The clergy who joined the Patriotic Association (which is not a separate Church) were highly unpopular with Pius XII, because they consecrated bishops without a papal mandate. But then the clergy who preferred to function in an underground fashion did the same thing, since communications with Rome were impossible. Communications with Rome are still very difficult indeed, although not completely impossible. The two groups of clergy do, thank God, cooperate to a considerable extent. Rome seems to recognize everyone de facto and no one de iure, so to speak. Best thing to do is pray for them. Incognitus

While we discuss the state of the Church in China, let us not fail to notice Archimandrite Gregory's related post in the Prayer Forum

For the Repose of the ArchPriest Alexander

As Archimandrite Gregory says there:

Many years,

Neil