Free Fr. Wang! Chinese Catholic Priest Sentenced to Hard Labor for Loyalty to Pope

With our growing economic reliance and dependence upon the Regime in China: Are we sacrificing our fundamental obligation to defend human freedom and human rights because we depend on the economic assistance of a repressive regime? Everyone reading this article should send an outcry in both word and deed which will be heard, loudly and clearly, by the Chinese Communist Regime- Free Fr. Wang Chengli!

BEIJENG, China (Catholic Online) - I have been regularly writing about the horrid persecution of faithful Catholics by the Communist Regime currently ruling mainland China. Sadly, because these Maoist Atheists now wear business suits, smile a lot, and hold commercial paper which represents a substantial amount of American I.O.U.'s, few politicians in either major political party have the courage to call them out for their egregious human rights abuses. For example, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, who claims to be a practicing Catholic failed to oppose the brutality of forced abortions and sterilization during his recent State visit. He remained silent before a brutal regime which subjects parents who have more than one child to fines, human rights abuses, beatings and imprisonment. He said he would not "second guess" this murderous policy. Instead, he addressed these communist materialists with an argument rooted in another version of materialism, an American economism which does not value the dignity of the human person. This regime has been complicit in the killing of 400 million of its youngest neighbors. Forced abortion was decried at the Nuremberg trials as a crime against humanity. Yet, this Catholic Vice president, Joe Biden, remained silent. In addition to this Communist Chinese regime's crimes against humanity such as forced abortion and sterilization, they also persecute Christians and other religious believers - with a special hatred directed against the Catholic Church. On the weekend the Vice President was smiling and affirming this brutal regime - in order to curry favor in our debtor/creditor relationship -  the regime's police were arresting Catholic priests and  lay men and women who refused to renounce their faith. Among the courageous Catholic priests being persecuted in China is Fr Wang Chengli. He was arrested earlier this month. He has been a leader in what is called an "underground" Catholic Church  for 48 years. In mainland China, the communist tyrants have erected a State Controlled "Patriotic Church" (PA) through which they attempt to sever the ties between the faithful and the successor of Peter. The Holy See has tried diplomatically to deal with this blatant statist attack against the Catholic Church. The Holy Father has spoken out boldly and called the faithful to prayer and action. On Friday, December 17, 2010 the Holy See issued a strongly worded statement concerning the oppression of the Catholic Church by the regime in mainland China. They affirmed their continued willingness to engage in dialogue but condemned the 'grave violation' of the religious freedom of Catholics. They specifically decried the action of forcing priests and Bishops to attend the illegitimate gathering of what the statement rightly referred to as the "so called Bishops Conference and Catholic Patriotic Association". However, there has been very little outcry from other world leaders. This flagrant denial of the fundamental Right to Religious Freedom is hardly mentioned, nor is the brutal policy of forced abortion and sterilization. This must end. There are exceptions such as Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey. In an interview with Catholic Radio commentator Laura Ingraham on Tuesday he said:  "It is hideous. Women are hunted down, if they evade these family planning cadres into the ninth month, they are forcibly brought into a clinic and [their children] are aborted. I had a...Chinese student here in the United States, who finally got asylum, and she told her story, how they literally held her father, they held other people until she surrendered for this so-called voluntary abortion, and then she literally, roughly, had her baby removed. And, as she said, they actually put one of the body parts on her to mock her. I mean, that's how cruel this policy is. "And there's Joe Biden, saying that he fully understands this one-child per couple policy. That is an outrageous statement. He prides himself on his combating violence against women. This is the worst, most pervasive act of violence against women anywhere in the world. It is systematic, and it is state-sponsored. And the United States of America under Obama, Hillary Clinton, and now the vice president, in this outrageous statement, is showing the world that we do not care about Chinese women and about Chinese babies." Congressman Smith offered Congressional testimony earlier this year which included this statement: "Since 1979, brothers and sisters have been illegal in China as part of the barbaric one child per couple policy. And for 30 years, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has vigorously supported, funded, defended, promoted, even celebrated these massive crimes against humanity. "The uncontested facts are these: Any Chinese, Tibetan, or Uyghur mother without a birth permit is put under coercive pressure to abort - if need be, she is physically forced to do so. All unwed moms are compelled to abort. In what can only be described as a search-and-destroy mission, disabled children are aborted as part of a nationwide eugenics program." Asia News recently reported  that Fr Wang has been sentenced for three years to hard labor, in a "re-education camp", for his refusal to join the "Patriotic Church". The sentence was handed down on Thursday August 25, 2011. This faithful, 48 year old Catholic Priest has been interred in Jining in a re-education camp. You read that right- a re-education camp! In case you thought those sorts of activities disappeared, think again.  His sentence is three years of "re-education through hard labor". The moderators of the upcoming Presidential debates should ask every Republican candidate to state their view on the Chinese Regimes forced abortion and sterilization policy. In addition they should be asked about their view on the religious freedom as a human right and the Chinese Regimes' persecution of Christians.

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Sadly, I have not yet heard any of the Republican candidates address this important issue! This is an area where their position should be clear. The current administration just spoke loud and clear through the Vice President and his visit.  With our growing economic reliance and dependence upon the Regime in China: Are we sacrificing our fundamental obligation to defend human freedom and human rights because we depend on the economic assistance of a repressive regime? Finally, all of us, - you and me and everyone reading this article - should send an outcry in both word and deed which will be heard, loudly and clearly, by the Chinese Communist Regime - Free Fr. Wang Chengli!

For updates on the status of Faithful Catholics in China visit the Cardinal Kung Foundation.

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