For bishop of Shanghai, Mother Teresa is the love that defeats religious parochialism

From the seminary next to the Marian shrine of Sheshan, where he is still confined, Mgr Thaddeus Ma Daqin celebrates the canonisation of the saint of Calcutta. She looked at the world for what it is and defeated the “ossification” of the faith. “Inside the barrier mutual love, forgiveness, acceptance, trust, or hope no longer matter. What is important is only the law." She defeated this way of thinking. The bishop remembers the Mass at Sheshan.

Shanghai (AsiaNews) – Mother Teresa of Calcutta "eliminated all barriers with love. Her canonisation is a great gift full of meaning for the modern world, a gift the Lord has given us in the Year of Christian Jubilee for everyone on earth. The thing I prefer to remember is that she defeated religious parochialism with universal love,” writes Mgr Thaddeus Ma Daqin, auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, in his blog.

The prelate is still confined in the seminary at the Sheshan Marian shrine, after resigning from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association upon his ordination in July 2012.

Some of his blog posts that seemed a retraction of his position made quite a stir in recent months. But so far it is not at all clear who wrote them or if he was forced to. In any event, his status has not changed and he remains confined and isolated in Sheshan.

It is here that he had a chance to meet the Mother. "I was lucky enough to meet the saint in person. On 23 October 1993, she came to Sheshan seminary in Shanghai. At that time, I was a seminarian in third year theology. Together with the saint, all of us – 150 seminarians – and dozens of nuns attended Mass celebrated by Mgr Jin Luxian in the Basilica of Sheshan, on top of the mountain."

The bishop has many memories. "I also took a picture of the precious moment when the saint took communion from Mgr Jin. I witnessed a beautiful story: in the heart of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, there was no barrier. Indeed, she had no barrier in the heart. In her eyes there was only the person that God created with his merciful hands. And she was one of them."

This is the 'secret' of the new saint. 'Thanks to this she could be a friend or sister to everyone, regardless of nationality, culture, social class, religion, with a great and boundless love. She mirrored the original image of God . . . So for her extraordinary nature, for her heart without barriers, the Church today proclaimed her a saint. "

Despite all the memories, praise and exaltation in the Catholic world, Mgr Ma prefers however another aspect. "Mother eliminated every barrier with love, even the barrier represented by religious parochialism. The opposite of religious pride is universal love. The reality is that we have locked up our Church with a barrier. Inside the barrier mutual love, forgiveness, acceptance, trust, or hope no longer matter. What is important is only the law. "

By contrast, "through her charities, the saint of Calcutta opened this rigidity, this 'ossification' of the evangelical spirit of Jesus Christ that stifled the wind of the Holy Spirit, and made the mercy of God the Father a cold word. Some have criticised Mother Teresa because she spoke too much of charity, neglecting justice ... But for her, the justice of this world is to love the person. She herself said that 'we have no right to criticise, judge or speak ill of others, to hurt them on the basis of our faith'."

• china
• mother teresa
• catholic church
• sheshan
• canonisation
• mgr thaddeus ma daquin