CHINA (UCAN): The funeral and burial of Bishop Joseph Ma Zhongmu of the unofficial Church in Ningxia, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China’s oldest and only ethnic Mongolian bishop, was severely restricted by Chinese officials. Only 15 people, including a bishop and two priests were allowed to attend and the burial was moved to the early morning.
The government barred people from attending because of the restrictions in place to check the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
The bishop died on March 25 aged 100 of an age-related illness, said an official communication from the diocese of Ningxia.
Bishop Ma, was ordained bishop in 1983 and led the diocese until his retirement in 2005. He had been ailing for the past two years after he was diagnosed with pulmonary edema, Father John a priest of Ningxia said.
The priest explained that the bishop lived in retirement in Chengchuan, but since last year had failed to recognise anyone.
Father John said the local religious bureau asked him not to attend the funeral because of the pandemic. He said the reason for barring people from the funeral might also be related “to the identity of Bishop Ma.”
Local Catholic sources said that the government interfered and moved the funeral from 8.00am to 5.00am.
“Authorities blocked the entire street and no priest could approach it. They also did not allow participants to bring mobile phones or take pictures,” one source said.
Bishop Ma’s obituary, issued on March 25, named him only as “Father Ma Zhongmu” as the late bishop was not recognised by the government.
Anthony Lam Sui-ki, a China Church expert, said the region now has two bishops—Bishop Matthias Du Jiang of Bayan Nur League and Bishop Li Jing of Ningxia (official Church community), who are both recognised by the state.
Lam said Catholics followed the bishop of their preference when Bishop Ma was alive.
He said that although the government did not recognise Bishop Ma, they had good relations. “The authorities still respect Bishop Ma,” he said.
Lam said Bishop Ma’s Mongolian ethnicity of was significant because they are “a minority and a bishop from such as minority shows the diversity of the Church.”
The Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary had admitted an ethnic minority Mongolian, which also showed the universality of the Church, he said.
Bishop Ma was born in a town in the Ordos, Inner Mongolia, in November of 1919. He entered a local minor seminary then later studied philosophy at Suiyuan Seminary and theology at Datong Theological Seminary. He was ordained a priest in July 1947 for the Diocese of Ningxia, at the age of 27.
He attended the Agricultural College of Peiping Fu Jen University for two years from 1948. He then worked at a parish and later taught at Suiyuan University.
During the Cultural Revolution, he was arrested and sent to jail and only released in April 1979. In 1980, he returned to his parish.
After retirement, he lived in the Catholic Church of Chengchuan, Inner Mongolia.
According to Tripod, a publication of the Holy Spirit Study Centre, Bishop Ma translated the Mass into Mongolian and presented his work to the Vatican, but it has not yet been formally published.
