ICC Note: As a part of China’s ongoing effort to control the growth of Christianity, the Catholic Church has been heavily monitored and restricted. All Catholics must legally belong to the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which often ordains ministers without the permission and against the will of the Vatican. In July, Bishop Thaddeus Ma publicly renounced his membership in the organization during his ordination as bishop in Shanghai. Since then he has been under house arrest and forced to attend “re-education” classes. Bishop Ma recently expressed his sadness at the passing of Nelson Mandela and quoted some of his well-known sayings, which are strikingly applicable to Bishop Ma’s own situation. 
12/6/2014 China (AsiaNews) – Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Ma, in his weibo (microblog) message this morning Dec. 6, mourns the first black president of South Africa Nelson Mandela and cites Mandela’s quotations that call for freedom, faith and justice.
Bishop Ma usually issues spiritual or biblical reflections through his microblog (s.weibo.com) in the mornings and evenings, even though his blog remains stagnant since his reflection article on Pope Francis’ Lumen Fidei was blocked since mid-October.
Bishop Ma cited three quotations of Mandela, the first black president of South Africa who died on Dec. 5. The first one says: “Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.”
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The quotations also seemed to describe Bishop Ma’s present situation. He has been under house arrest at Sheshan seminary, Shanghai, right after his episcopal ordination on July 7, 2012. He was occasionally given limited freedom of movement. His appointment as bishop was revoked by the Chinese authorities in December 2012. However, the Catholics in Shanghai and the universal Church recognize him a bishop of Shanghai.
On Dec 2, four days ago, Bishop Ma turned 45. His faithful wrote in his microblog birthday wishes and addressed him “Most respectable bishop”
Earlier on Nov. 24, some Catholics wished Bishop Ma happiness on the Feast of Christ the King, and proclaimed “Christ conquers, He reigns and He commands” on his microblog.
A Catholic in Shanghai told AsiaNews: “We are praying earnestly for the freedom of Bishop Ma everyday. We hope he will keep himself in good spirit despite all the difficulties. We pray that he will be freed soon and can exercise his episcopal authority. Our Shanghai diocese needs his leadership.”
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