Chinese Intelligentsia Open to Christianity, Says Missionary

Father Cervellera Sees Signs for Optimism

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ROME, NOV. 2, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Chinese intellectuals, dissidents and sociologists say their country needs Christianity «because it gives the individual a sense of the absolute and creates a mentality of love and charity,» says a missionary-journalist.

Father Bernardo Cervellera gave that assessment of China during a press conference last week in a Roman bookstore where he presented his book «Mission China: Journey to the Empire Between Market and Repression,» published by Ancora in Italian.

«Seventy-five percent of students of Beijing and Shanghai are interested in Christianity,» said Father Cervellera, who is director of the Asia News agency.

«Christianity helps to lay the foundation for freedom and to really serve the people, which was Mao Tse-tung’s motto, but was not realized with Marxism,» said the priest, who from 1997 to 2002 was director of the Fides agency of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

«With Christianity, more hope would be given to China, especially among young people, who are suffering from a terrible collapse of ideals; this is why many of them opt for suicide,» he said. China has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, he said.

Regarding religious freedom, Father Cervellera said that this human right should include the possibility of association or «contacts at the international level. … At present, this does not exist in China.»

In this connection, Father Cervellera, who was once a professor at the University of Beijing, made an appeal to financial investors, to remind them that «they cannot only look for quick earnings but must be concerned about human rights.»

This «link between business and ethics is a necessity,» the priest stressed.

He gave the example of John Kamm, a North American Catholic, who for the past 15 years has been advising multinationals that invest in China. He asks them to include ethical conditions in their contracts, such as adequate salaries, clean dining rooms and suitable dormitories for workers, and the release of dissidents from prison.

«Dr. Kamm has been successful in having 500 people released with these ethical clauses in business contracts,» the author revealed.

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ZENIT Staff

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