China's tiny Catholic Tibetan community's uneasy truce with the Communist Party

mountains soaring into the clouds a flowing river that carves the valley lush cliffside fields and a french catholic church with a congregation of ethnic tibetans [Music] the village of chujong a unique community nestled in rural china that has survived war and famine over the decades managing still to stay afloat amid a sweeping religious and ethnic crackdown [Music] tibetan culture is often linked to buddhism large monasteries dot the tibetan plateau but other religions have taken root french missionaries settled in the area 150 years ago bringing with them the catholic faith building a church amidst monasteries like this one this rare pocket of tibetan catholics has kept the faith alive from generation to generation holding strong for decades even without a priest all expelled from china after the communist party took power in 1949 today religion remains tightly controlled by the state with children no exception folena now 94 years old studied as a child at the only school in the area attached to the church her great nephew told me he believed in god but still put the communist party first i asked why he liked catholicism he said it was simply a part of who he is having grown up with religious values passed down by his elders daily he prays for loved ones and for the pandemic to pass [Music] missionaries built an original church burned down during clashes with tibetan buddhists in 1905. at least two priests were killed memorialized in a mountain chapel where villagers seek blessings daily [Music] driven upriver the french built a new church in 1914 in chijon bolo has visited this church since he was born french missionaries built this church more than a hundred years ago it's now mid-morning on sunday and mass is about to start worshippers trickling in from chidong itself and surrounding villages services held four times a week are a colorful blend of traditions mass is in both tibetan and mandarin outside the church is flanked by two palm trees the bell tower framed with red lanterns and topped with a chinese style roof and inside the church buddhist lotuses decorate church columns tibetan yin yang symbols panel the ceiling statues of mary and jesus stand stowing across the village the same mix of symbols tibetan stupas line the road crosses hang around necks buolo's car and home decorated with a communist party flag and a cross portraits of mary and jesus draped in tibetan scarves [Music] a handful of churches like the one you see behind me can be found in surrounding villages built as the number of faithful grew in 2008 the state appointed father yao faye to children making him the first resident priest [Music] father ma joined four years ago assigned to his hometown church the two rotate through the areas for churches for sunday services for worshipers reminders of the state loom large the chinese flag a portrait of leaders xi jinping all required to be displayed religious texts like the bible hymn books subject to government censorship a few people have disappeared from the trejong congregation after being harassed authorities threatened to take away their pensions and jobs if they continued to join religious gatherings afraid they stopped participating beijing has waged a widespread religious crackdown imprisoning buddhists and christians millions of muslim minorities have been thrown into detention camps in far west xinjiang the us uk and other governments have called the campaign a genocide in chujung the pressure weighs on the community where everyone is either family or a neighbor china already suppresses tibetans an ethnic minority forcing young children into boarding schools to synthesize them cutting them off from their traditional roots others are barred from traveling abroad authorities likely fear they'll speak poorly of beijing or flee to india where the dalai lama has lived in exile for more than 60 years being catholic and tibetan makes them vulnerable on two fronts but here authorities have a delicate balancing act trying to control religious and ethnic activities allowing just enough to promote tourism showcasing the area's fascinating history learning this tibetan string instrument is one example of how local officials are encouraging some culture among the farmers lively scenes like this one are part of what attract visitors another draw local wine when the french came they also brought with them grape vine cuttings planting them to make wine for communion those grapes still grow right here in the vineyard where i'm standing next to the church the harvest though was a few months ago and it's now winter so as you can see the vines are a bit bare wine making continues today villagers have planted new vineyards to produce a variety of wines including what the region is most well known for yunnan home or yunnan red works at a boutique winery just next to a village church that produces up to 12 000 bottles a year another part that makes locals proud of their heritage the quality of a wine defined by its unique set of circumstances same goes for this community unlike any other in the world with residents here fighting to keep hold of their special way of life [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Telegraph

Views: 42,564

Keywords: Telegraph, News, china, tibet, tibetan, catholic, religious crackdown, china news, relgion, religious news, religion crackdown, pope, vatican, bishops, churches, catholic church, vatican authority, catholicism, muslim, muslim minorites, torture, southwest china, french, misonnaries, tibetan catholics

Id: swK1K5yT7L4

Length: 7min 43sec (463 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 18 2021