The Victimized

“The Victimized” is a truthful and soul-searching story of the life and faith journey of a Catholic from communist China. The story also gives a glimpse on the history of a more than half a century long persecution on the Catholic Church in People’s Republic of China. More than just a narrative on religious persecution, this book displays untold circumstances and background of the persecution including behind the scene stories of both the Church and the Government. A Vatican-China relatioship of hostility mold-ed by the conflict between Roman Catholic Hierarchy and the Chinese Communist Authority has been the cause of persecution on the Catholic Church in China and the source of misery in daily life for the faithful. When quite a number of persecuted Catholics had told their heroic experiences, what the author is sharing here are rather true feelings of a persecuted Christian and a twisted soul: human frailty under trials; confusion and loneliness of heart in the dark hours of the soul; painful helplessness of going astray from the Almighty and finally the new recognition of God’s wondrous mercy when a rebirth of faith was bestowed. This book is written in view of the Vatican’s trasition with dramatic change of its policy toward China and the Church of China under the new Pope Benedict XVI since 2005 which has inevitably led to a reflection on the past, a realistic look on the present, and the hope for a brighter future of the Catholic Church in China. Readers could be brought to a new understanding of the situation and way of life of Catholics living under the communist system of China which is quite different from that of the ex-communist European nations owing to cultural and historical reasons, as well as a new understanding of why the Catholic Church has been the most persecuted amid the nation’s political change and turmoil and how faith has prevailed in a communist country in spite of long term hardships of life.