The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-04-07
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Rev. dear Father:

ftef. uedF FdLner.
According to a report just sub
mitted by the Chinese government
there are in the Republic Christian
converts to the number of 1929 $685."
That the figures in this report do not
square with actual facts is quite
evident from the following statistics
which have been gathered from
reliable sources. Assuming that
the Christians of whom the Chinese
government speaks are marshalled
under either the Catholic or the
Protestant standard it would seem
that the numerical attestation is
incredibly high. If Father ellis THE
Hour OF God in the Foreign Missions"
may be taken as sufficiently anthem
tic criterion the number of Christians,
Catholic and Protestant, in the whole
Pagan world falls far short of the
above figure. Permit me to quote two
statements from this interesting lit
tie work, 1.-THE number of Catholics in
pagan countries is about 100000, a
good part of whom have been convert
ed in the few years of the present cen
tury.' Again Tin all their foreign
missions, the Protestants number
some four million followers, that is,
natives who adopt in greater or less
degree the elastic doctrines called
Protestant" These statements have
reference to conditions existing in
1916.
Coming now to the specific missions
of the Chinese Empire, note in re-
cent issue of the Missionary that in
1914 in China proper, i. e., Manchuria,
Mongolia, and Thibet, the Catholics
numbered 1,615,1O7. The Catholic En-
cyclopedia, in it's Statistical Table of
Catholic Missions estimates the num-
Der of Catholics in China (including
Macao, at 1,026,16S. Since then the
increase has been about 100000.
Relative to Protestants' statistics /
have only information from one
source to submit. The Shanghai
Mercury" (Protestant), of Dec. 81,
1907, places the total number of bap-
tized Christians and catechumens at
256,779. Now allowance may be made
for a reasonable increase in the num-
Der of Protestant converts since 1907,
since there is no one but admits that
the various non-Catholic denomina-
tons carry on most active propa-
ganda. 1t must be borne in mind,
however, that many of the Protestant
Christians are the so-called rice-Chris-
tians, who embrace Christianity with
marked enthusiasm, lured thither by
the promise of full stomach. 1t
must needs be that many of these
scarcely deserve the name of Chris
tian.
Allusion to such Christians is al
ready had in the stern rebuke of that
first of all missionaries, the Divine
Master Himself, Who when He had
miraculously fed the multitude in the
desert and had been followed by them
across the sea to Capharnaum, an
swered to Jews you seek me-be.
cause you did eat of the loaves and
were filled. Labor not for the meat
which perisheth, but for that which
endureth unto everlasting life
If a pretense be sought for this
seemingly exaggerated report of the
Chinese government, the explanation
suggests itself that reference is had
here to the number of inhabitants who
are monotheists and this would in
clude the 2O,OOO,OOO Mussulmans. But
if Christian means in the mind of the
Chinese government what it means to
us, then an explanation of the error
must be sought elsewhere.
This meager rehearsal of mission,
airy activities in China should bring
home to the mind Of our good Catho-
lie laity the striking fact that the mum
Der of heathens who still sit in the
darkness of paganism is most appall'
ing. Our Divine Lord seems to sug.
gest the duty which would one day
devolve upon them of saving these
poor souls by their good prayer and
generous financial aid, when He said
to His Apostles, land other sheep
have that are not of this fold, these
also | must bring and they shall hear
Ny voice, and there shall be one fold
and one Shepherd" Let us bear well
in mind that Christ's Redemption was
universal and that He died for all of
these, and make a special effort to
gather up these fragments lest they
perish.