Recently I strolled slowly up a hill with a local priest in a remote area of China. He remained close to me as we ascended steep slopes to a Marian pilgrimage church, not because he was unsteady on our climb, but because he wanted to speak in a quiet whisper about what is going on in China.
“The local authorities sent workmen with heavy equipment to ‘Sinicise’ our church,” he told me, “which meant that they destroyed our outdoor statues while we all watched in agony. What can we do? This is just the way things are.”
