The experience that I choose was the priests in Fuling. This
experience is different from most than I personally heard of when dealing with
priests. Priests, in the United States that is, are usually well taken care of
and respected by their Catholic people. In Fuling, I can’t say that it’s quite
the same. Now, I don’t know much about Catholics and Priests, but from Hispanic
friends, I’ve never heard them speak badly about any of their priests. In River
Town, Father Li was a Priest in Fuling for half a century. He was a fragile and small man with many health
issues such as knee and kidney pains and he walked with a cane. He wasn’t just
any priest; he worked hard in serving his people and not to mention, he was an
educated priest. Over time, things seem to have gotten bad. He was moved
around, particularly to the North of Fuling (the countryside) and the people
there did not have much to eat. He did not have with him his vestments, but
eventually he returned back to Fuling, but not church because it was closed
down. He could not be a priest anymore
therefore he worked on the docks mopping, sweeping, and cleaning. He continued
saying the Mass to himself, but after the Great Cultural Revolution, that was
taken away. The Red Guards turned the church into a sock factory and always
watched him. This lasted at least three years and they also took Father Li out
on the street for demonstration. Through all of this, Father Li managed to not
turn bitter, yet behind the flash in his eyes was the pain of this event. It
seems to be that Hessler is making known to his readers that Priests were not
valued in the Chinese culture. Mao was the reason these things took place, “All
of that was his idea” says Father Li. Because of this they do not respect him,
but he manages to not be bitter and show any hatred towards him which is the significance
of this experience.
The summary I chose to write about is about the priest on page 220. The priest in this text I thought was extremely committed to god and his work. I personally thought that the priest has such a strong mentality on his religious teachings that it is inspirational. The fact that father li Hairou will continue to push through the difficult pains that he gets from his kidneys is true dedication, not only to the people of the community and church but to his faith. This particular priest was a very hard working individual no matter how much pain he was feeling. He would still push through his pain and continue to try and walk around and get his jobs completed. “he is strong and although he moves slowly, and there is a pronounced dignity in his carriage.” In this culture of china many people often have this certain type of dignity because he is so elderly and in Chinese culture the older you are the more respect is obtained.
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