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A drawing of the Crucifixion by imprisoned Catholic and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai is unveiled by Lai’s godfather, William McGurn, and his wife and daughter at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Feb. 22, 2024. / Credit: Patrick G. Ryan/The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 23, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).
The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C., has installed a drawing of the Crucifixion by imprisoned Hong Kong Catholic and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.
Father Robert Sirico, a supporter and friend of Lai’s, said during the installation ceremony on Thursday that the sketch is a testimony “not just of Jimmy’s struggle but the struggle of all people of Hong Kong” and “all of the people of China, who will, by faith, resist [oppression].”
The large drawing depicts Christ on the cross flanked by eight orange flowers. It was created by Lai in prison, where, according to Sirico, he has been kept in solitary confinement for close to 1,500 days.
The picture was blessed by university chaplain Father Aquinas Guilbeau. It is now on permanent display by the St. Michael the Archangel Chapel in Catholic University’s Busch School of Business.
A successful entrepreneur, newspaper owner, Catholic, and outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Lai has been in a Hong Kong prison since 2020 for his pro-democracy and free speech advocacy.
The activist, a convert to Catholicism, was originally arrested in August 2020 under that year’s controversial national security law, which was passed by China’s communist-controlled government. The law sharply curtailed free speech in Hong Kong in an effort to quash what the Chinese Communist Party considered subversion and sedition in the separately administered region.
The plaque below Lai’s drawing at Catholic University explains that he “cites his Catholic faith as the basis for his refusal to be silenced or flee to save himself from arrest.”
Sirico said that the Hong Kong activist willingly chose to give up his comfortable, affluent life by resisting the CCP and refusing to leave Hong Kong. Although Hong Kongers have for years enjoyed a greater degree of freedom than that found in mainland China, that is now quickly changing as Chinese officials crack down on the region.
“If I go away, I not only give up my destiny, I give up God, I give up my religion, I give up what I believe in,” Lai said in 2020. “I am what I am. I am what I believe. I cannot change it. And if I can’t change it, I have to accept my fate with praise.”
Sirico told CNA that Lai sees his imprisonment as a way of joining in Christ’s passion on the cross. He said that the drawing should serve as an inspiring reminder that the “blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
In prison, Sirico said that Lai has devoted himself to religious reading and prayer. He has also begun creating religious drawings, mostly pictures of the Crucifixion, like the one now on display at Catholic University.
CUA has been a vocal supporter of Lai in previous years. In 2022, the university awarded Lai an honorary degree.
Dr. Peter Kilpatrick, Catholic University’s president, told CNA that Lai “represents resistance to real oppression” and that he “represents freedom.”
Kilpatrick said that he hopes students will look at the drawing and learn about Lai and his resistance in Hong Kong and realize that “there are still people in the world who are willing to fight for the truth and who are willing to fight for freedom.”
“I see freedoms being denied all around the world,” Kilpatrick said. “In 2024, we may have to fight harder … not just in Hong Kong, but perhaps right here in the United States, for freedom to worship as we should and must, for the freedom and the dignity of the human person, which is under assault.”
Chen Guangcheng, a world-renowned Chinese human rights activist known commonly as the “barefoot lawyer,” was also at the dedication ceremony. He told CNA that he came to show his support for Lai.
“Jimmy Lai is a good person,” Guangcheng said. “He used his media to see the truth; that is why the CCP persecuted him.”
Guangcheng urged Americans to do more in support of freedom in Hong Kong and mainland China.
“I think if the Western people and government stand with them, the situation still can change,” he said.
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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).
An exhibit that includes more than 100 relics of Jesus Christ, the Holy Family, and numerous saints will be exhibited at a parish in northern New Jersey on Saturday, Feb. 24, from noon to 7 p.m.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Oratory in Montclair, New Jersey, will host the exhibit at its Capozzelli Hall on 94 Pine Street. The parish is located in the Diocese of Newark, about 20 miles west of New York City.
“I think it’s going to be an experience for people — especially for an exhibit this large,” Joe Santoro, the regional delegate to the United States for the International Crusade for Holy Relics (ICHR), told CNA.
Santoro is supplying the relics for the exhibit, which he obtained personally through his work to preserve these holy objects. He said his preservation of the relics is “saving them from places where they’re not going to be honored in the appropriate way.”
The exhibit includes a handful of relics from the passion of Jesus Christ: a small splinter of the cross, a piece of the crown of thorns, a piece of Christ’s tomb, and a piece of the column on which Christ was whipped before his crucifixion. It also includes relics from the Nativity, such as a piece of the Blessed Mother’s veil, a piece of Christ’s crib, and parts of the bones of the three Wise Men.
Other relics include a piece of skin and blood from St. Padre Pio’s stigmata, a piece of St. John Paul II’s hair, and the scarf of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (the first American saint). The exhibit will also include relics from the evangelists, the apostles, and other saints and martyrs.
The relics will be displayed in three sections: one for relics related to the Passion, one for the Nativity, and one for all of the other relics.
“It is a privilege and a joy to host a relics exhibit of this magnitude,” Father Giandomenico Flora, the rector at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Oratory, told CNA.
“Some of them date back to biblical times and others are relics of saints of our time,” Flora said. “To have such an exhibition of relics is a blessing for the church [and for] people who will attend the event because it gives the opportunity to pray and to ask for particular graces.”
Santoro said the relics can help the faithful become closer to God and help them meditate on the Passion of Christ near the beginning of Lent. “People are drawn to them,” he said.
“A relic doesn’t contain any magical power or anything like that,” Santoro added. “The people have to bring their faith and God performs these miracles through these great men and women.”
The Catholic Church has three classifications for relics. A first-class relic is any part of a saint’s body, such as hair, blood, or bones, or objects directly associated with Christ, such as a piece of the cross, a piece of the tomb, or a piece of his crib. A second-class relic is any item that was used by a saint during his or her life. A third-class relic is an item that touches a first-class relic.
Although this exhibition is a one-off event, Santoro told CNA that he hopes there can be a tour in the near future. He said this weekend is “the kickoff to see how it goes.”
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