Among China’s new breed of businessmen, there are Roman Catholics doing their best to spread Christian beliefs among their employees or to support their Church in a variety of other ways, reports the French Catholic news agency and bulletin Eglises d’Asie (July 16).
Some have gone so far as to build a prayer hall in their factory and to invite priests to come to celebrate Masses: employees are encouraged to attend. Such activities are not advertised too widely, however, since the Chinese legal system does not allow religious activities outside of places officially registered for such purposes.
This missionary zeal by Catholic businessmen has shown results: in one factory in Wuan (Hebei province), 300 out of 700 employees have become Roman Catholic. There are also attempts by some factories to recruit primarily Roman Catholics in order to create an atmosphere in which newly-arrived people –who have left their homes looking for work –can keep and reinforce their faith. — By Jean-Francois Mayer
(Eglises d’Asie, 128 rue du Bac, 75341 Paris Cedex 07, France – Website:http://www.mepasie.org)