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Has there been any news forthcoming from Rome regarding the restoration of the heirarchy for the Byzantine Russian Catholics? Since the number of these churches and their faithful on a worlwide basis are so small can anyone venture an opinion as what the future may hold? Yours in Christ, Paul

I believe the prevailing ostpolitik of the Vatican is such that no overt attmepts to restore a hierarchy for those in unia will be made.

For better or worse, "Not rocking the boat" seems to be the order of the day. I don't think we will see a bishop appointed or hiearchy erected anytime soon.

Since the Orthodox have set up several emigre jurisdictions in Western lands, there should be no great ecumenical concern for at least restoring the emigre Russian Greek Catholic exarchate of Harbin, even if the other and older exarchate of Blessed Leonid (Feodorov) in Russia itself is to be left vacant.

Since the largest concentration of Russian Greek Catholic parishes outside of the former Soviet Union is now in the US, it makes sense to re-establish the former Harbin Exarchate there. Rome could, of course, establish a new one but there are two "on paper" that are vacant.

Let's not hurry to give up on China!

Fr. Serge

I think it is premature to expect Rome to be able to resurrect the Exarchate for the Russian Byzantine Catholics in Harbin. The Exarchate has been vacant since the communist takeover of China, as well as the Apostolic Administration for the Latin Church in the same city, now reduced to a mission status.

The Latin Church in China has 145 Archdioceses, Dioceses, and Apostolic Administrations that are being slowly rebuilt despite the strictures imposed by the Communist government through the PCA. It should improve if and when normal diplomatic relations between China and the Vatican is restored sooner or later.

A visible thaw in the relations was seen with the recent appointment and installation of a new Archbishop for the Archdiocese of Beijing (Peking), the capital city of China, both approved by Rome and the Chinese communist authorities. At 43, Msgr. Li Shan will be the shepherd of the most visible Catholic Archdiocese in China for a long, long time!

Harbin in Singkiang is off the radar yet but, hopefully, its day will come!

Harbin in Singkiang? How's that again? The only Harbin I know of is in Manchuria, a long, long distance from Singkiang.

In any event, it might well make good sense to move the seat of the Exarchate; Harbin is a bit out-of-the-way. But that's not the first item on the agenda.

Fr. Serge

My mistake!

I know that Harbin is in Manchuria but I was referring to where the Catholic mission can be contacted in Harbin, which is: Harbin, Sungkiang, China.

Move it to Dublin, and you know who can be the Exarch!

Gosh. That took me a while to figure out. I'd never even heard of Sungkiang until today. I did a google, and got this:

Songjiang (松江; pinyin: Sōngjiāng; Wade-Giles: Sungkiang) is a former province (c.32,000 sq mi/82,880 km�) of Northeast China. Mudanjiang was the capital. It was one of nine provinces created in Manchuria by the Chinese Nationalists government after World War II. Since the Nationalists never gained effective control of Manchuria, the province existed only on paper. It was bordered on the east by the USSR, and along part of the southern border ran the Nen (Nonni) and Songhua rivers. In 1954, Songjiang became part of Heilongjiang province.

No wonder I'd never heard of it before!

I was also unaware of the KMT fantasy of a Sungjiang in Manchuria.

As to the proposal to transfer the Harbin Exarchate to Dublin and make you-know-whom the Exarch, I am authorized to state categorically that you-know-whom if nominated will not run and if elected will not accept the position!

Fr. Serge

It goes to show that the Vatican's cartographers are stuck with 1949-vintage maps of China when the Nationalists repaired to Taiwan defeated. The new maps will be accepted and used by Rome when diplomatic relations with Communist China is finally restored sooner or later.

It also shows that there remain, to this day, sympathizers of Gen. Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang Party.

In a free-for-all elections, Hong Kong and Macau, and probably Shanghai, would side with the Nationalists in the "renegade province" of Taiwan!

ho ho, joke! they wouldn't. they know on which side their bread's buttered.

St. John Chrysostom also tried to run away and hide. I can just hear " Axios" being sung by all!

Dn. Robert

You can count me among them. The Generalissimo was a Christian (a Protestant, but, nevertheless a Christian). When considering the alternative (the followers of Mao Tse Tung, whose Bolshevik government, by the early 1970's, it was estimated by a U.S. Senate Committee, had already put to death some 80 million innocent people), how can anyone possibly not be favorable to the Nationalists? The Bolsheviks are still in control on the mainland, and only God knows how many more innocents have been put to death, esp. amongst the Catholics.

Dn. Robert

How can anyone possibly not be favorable to the Kuomintang? Well, let's see:

when they were on the mainland - a long, long time ago - they were unable to hold their position;

they had the nerve to accuse the US government of betraying them to the Communists and forcing them to withdraw to Taiwan (no, I am not making that up);

for decades they maintained the pretense that they were going to return to the mainland under their own power and take over China - and did everything possible to promote a war between China and the US to advance this cuckoo idea;

between the Kuomintang itself and their supporters in the USA they managed to blacken the names of Christianity and Christians in China for a very long time;

the US taxpayers have invested huge amounts of money in the Kuomintang and in Taiwan. Just what return have the US taxpayers reaped for all this dosh?

And on, and on. But, whatever else about the Kuomintang, they have no particular connection with the Byzantine Russian Catholics, so perhaps we should drop the subject of the Kuomintang or at least start a new thread somewhere. Or maybe we could find some other cause to endorse - say the restoration of the Pharaohs of Egypt, or the Tasmanian Liberation Front.

Fr. Serge