Online ebook & audio: “Crimes of the Communist Regimes”, by Jiří Liška et al.

See this online ebook and audio record:

• Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010, by Jiří Liška et al., edited by David Svoboda and Cóílín O’Connor, translated by Cóílín O’Connor, Ian Willoughby, Neela Winkelmann-Heyrovská, and Markéta Hofmannová (Prague: Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, 2011).
  • The ebook is available in pdf format (here) through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes; and the individual chapters are available in pdf format at the Central and Eastern European Online Library (requires registration).
  • The audio recordings of the proceedings (in the original languages) are available in mp3 through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, which also contains the text of the Declaration on Crimes of Communism issued by the participants at the Conference.

See also these related texts:

• Albanian Catholic Bulletin (Buletini Katholik Shqiptar), Vol. 6 (Santa Clara, California: Albanian Catholic Information Center, 1985). In 108 pages. Available at the Gleeson Library Digital Collections. [N.B., This issue commemorates the 40^th anniversary of the Communist persecution of Catholic Albanians.]
• Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, No. 10: Struggle for Survival (Maspeth, Long Island, New York: The Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests’ League). With a letter to the Lithuanian people from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty dated “75 02 22” or 22 February 1975, which only appears on the pdf copy. May be read online on this page and available in pdf format on this page at Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. [N.B., The title of the Chronicle in Lithuanian appears to be Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios Kronika. In English it contains the subtitle: Translation of Authentic First-Hand Reports from Soviet-Occupied Lithuania.]
• “Communist Interrogation and Indoctrination of ‘Enemies of the State’: Analysis of Methods Used by the Communist State Police (A Special Report)”, by Lawrence E. Hinkle Jr., M.D. and Harold G. Wolff, M.D. Reprinted from the AMA [American Medical Association ] Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, vol. 76, no. 2 (1956), pp.: 115-174. Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Central Intelligence Agency Library (“Approved For Release 2000/09/06”) [N.B., This is evidently not a Catholic Christian source, but it contains information on methods used against Catholics like Cardinal Mindszenty, and notes that Catholics were particularly targeted by Communist regimes.]
• Crimes against Humanity under Communist Regimes: Research Review, by Klas-Göran Karlsson and Michael Schoenhals (Stockholm: Forum for Living History, 2008). Available in pdf format at the Forum for Living History (Forum för levande historia).
• Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes: Crimes and Other Gross and Large Scale Human Rights Violations Committed during the Reign of Totalitarian Regimes in Europe: Cross-National Survey of Crimes Committed and of Their Remembrance, Recognition, Redress, and Reconciliation: Reports and Proceedings of the 8 April European Public Hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”, Organised by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January–June 2008) and the European Commission, edited by Peter Jambrek (Ljubljana: Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, 2008). The “draft before final editing” is available in pdf format at the Republic of Slovenia Ministry of Justice, at Academia.edu, and at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
• “The Crimes of the Communist Regime in Hungary: National Report”, compiled by János M. Rainer. Available in pdf format (through this page) at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. Part of the larger work Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010.
• Encyclical Letter “Iniquis Afflictisque” on the Persecution of the Church in Mexico, by Pope Pius XI (18 November 1926). Available at the Holy See.
• “Reflections on Communism Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall”, by Paul Hollander (Development Policy Analysis No. 11, November 2, 2009) (Washingto, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2009). Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Cato Institute.

For the observance of the National Day for the Victims of Communism in the United States of America. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), particularly our index page Anti-Catholicism and Persecution.

“[M]illions… were killed in anonymity by Communism’s brutal hand. They include innocent Ukrainians starved to death in Stalin’s Great Famine; or Russians killed in Stalin’s purges; Lithuanians and Latvians and Estonians loaded onto cattle cars and deported to Arctic death camps of Soviet Communism. They include Chinese killed in the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution; Cambodians slain in Pol Pot’s Killing Fields; East Germans shot attempting to scale the Berlin Wall in order to make it to freedom; Poles massacred in the Katyn Forest; and Ethiopians slaughtered in the “Red Terror”; Miskito Indians murdered by Nicaragua’s Sandinista dictatorship; and Cuban balseros who drowned escaping tyranny. We’ll never know the names of all who perished, but… we have an obligation to those who died, to acknowledge their lives and honor their memory…

“[W]e recall the great lessons of the Cold War: that freedom is precious and cannot be taken for granted; that evil is real and must be confronted; and that given the chance, men commanded by harsh and hateful ideologies will commit unspeakable crimes and take the lives of millions.”

(President George W. Bush, Dedication of Victims of Communism Memorial)

Online ebook: “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”, edited by Peter Jambrek

See this online ebook:

• Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes: Crimes and Other Gross and Large Scale Human Rights Violations Committed during the Reign of Totalitarian Regimes in Europe: Cross-National Survey of Crimes Committed and of Their Remembrance, Recognition, Redress, and Reconciliation: Reports and Proceedings of the 8 April European Public Hearing on “Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes”, Organised by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (January–June 2008) and the European Commission, edited by Peter Jambrek (Ljubljana: Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, 2008). The “draft before final editing” is available in pdf format at the Republic of Slovenia Ministry of Justice, at Academia.edu, and at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

See also these texts on communist oppression:

• Albanian Catholic Bulletin (Buletini Katholik Shqiptar), Vol. 6 (Santa Clara, California: Albanian Catholic Information Center, 1985). In 108 pages. Available at the Gleeson Library Digital Collections. [N.B., This issue commemorates the 40^th anniversary of the Communist persecution of Catholic Albanians.]
• Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, No. 10: Struggle for Survival (Maspeth, Long Island, New York: The Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests’ League). With a letter to the Lithuanian people from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty dated “75 02 22” or 22 February 1975, which only appears on the pdf copy. May be read online on this page and available in pdf format on this page at Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. [N.B., The title of the Chronicle in Lithuanian appears to be Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios Kronika. In English it contains the subtitle: Translation of Authentic First-Hand Reports from Soviet-Occupied Lithuania.]
• “Communist Interrogation and Indoctrination of ‘Enemies of the State’: Analysis of Methods Used by the Communist State Police (A Special Report)”, by Lawrence E. Hinkle Jr., M.D. and Harold G. Wolff, M.D. Reprinted from the AMA [American Medical Association ] Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, vol. 76, no. 2 (1956), pp.: 115-174. Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Central Intelligence Agency Library (“Approved For Release 2000/09/06”) [N.B., This is evidently not a Catholic Christian source, but it contains information on methods used against Catholics like Cardinal Mindszenty, and notes that Catholics were particularly targeted by Communist regimes.]
• Crimes against Humanity under Communist Regimes: Research Review, by Klas-Göran Karlsson and Michael Schoenhals (Stockholm: Forum for Living History, 2008). Available in pdf format at the Forum for Living History (Forum för levande historia).
• “The Crimes of the Communist Regime in Hungary: National Report”, compiled by János M. Rainer. Available in pdf format (through this page) at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes. Part of the larger work Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010, indexed below.
• Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010, by Jiří Liška et al., edited by David Svoboda and Cóílín O’Connor, translated by Cóílín O’Connor, Ian Willoughby, Neela Winkelmann-Heyrovská, and Markéta Hofmannová (Prague: Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, 2011). The ebook is available in pdf format (here) through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes; and the individual chapters are available in pdf format at the Central and Eastern European Online Library (requires registration). The audio recordings of the proceedings (in the original languages) are available in mp3 through this page of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, which also contains the text of the Declaration on Crimes of Communism issued by the participants at the Conference.
• Encyclical Letter “Iniquis Afflictisque” on the Persecution of the Church in Mexico, by Pope Pius XI (18 November 1926). Available at the Holy See.
• “Reflections on Communism Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall”, by Paul Hollander (Development Policy Analysis No. 11, November 2, 2009) (Washingto, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2009). Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Cato Institute.

For the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, 2019. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), particularly our index page Anti-Catholicism and Persecution.

“Your nation now faces probably the hardest ordeal of its history. Do not lose heart. Injustice, wrong and crime will never be transformed into justice, right and blessings merely by the fact that a long interval has elapsed. Have confidence, pray and renew yourselves spiritually and your country and your nation will be restored to freedom and dignity. Do not hate; the more and better we pray for our persecutors, the sooner will their hearts be converted to what we pray for.” (Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, Letter to the Lithuanian People, 1975)

Free audiobook & ebook: “The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII”

See this legally free audiobook and ebook:

• The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII: Translations from Approved Sources, with Preface by Rev. John J. Wynne, S.J. (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1903). With Imprimatur.
  • The ebook may be read online, and is available in pdf, epub, mobi, and other formats at Internet Archive, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive and Open Library. It may also be read online at Wikisource; and it is available in pdf format at Today’s Catholic World.
  • The audiobook, read by Maria Therese, may be listened to online and downloaded in mp3 and other formats at LibriVox and at Internet Archive. [N.B., The recording states that it is in the public domain.]
  • The LibriVox audio is also reproduced for Youtube in 2 parts at Classic Catholic Audiobooks: Part 1 of 2 (11:16:51) and Part 2 of 2 (7:70:43), said Part 2 being also available at Padre Manuel Antonio Garcia Salcedo; and in 2 parts at Full Audiobooks: Part 1/2 (9:10:55) and Part 2/2 (9:56:40); and in 13 parts at Priceless Audiobooks: Part 1/13, Part 2/13, Part 3/13, Part 4/13, Part 5/13, Part 6/13, Part 7/13, Part 8/13, Part 9/13, Part 10/13, Part 11/13, Part 12/13, and Part 13/13.  A portion of the recording (4:26:34) is available at Padre Manuel Antonio Garcia Salcedo and Free Audio Books, and likewise, a part (10:42:14) is available at GreatAudioBooks In Public Domain.

• The work (audiobook/ebook) includes the following encyclicals and other letters (as listed on LibriVox):
  • On the Evils Afffecting Modern Society “Inscrutabili”;
  • Socialism, Communism, Nihilism “Quod Apostolici Muneris”;
  • The Study of Scholastic Philosophy “Aeterni Patris”;
  • Christian Marriage “Arcanum Divinae”;
  • Freemasonry “Humanum Genus”;
  • The Christian Constitution of States “ Immortale Dei”;
  • Human Liberty “Libertas Praestantissimum”;
  • The Right Ordering of Christian Life “Exeunte Jam Anno”;
  • On the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens “Sapientiae Christianae”;
  • The Condition of the Working Classes “Rerum Novarum”;
  • Allegiance to the Republic “Au Milieu des Sollicitudes”;
  • The Pope and the Columbus Tercenary “Quarto Abrupto Saeculo”;
  • The Study of Holy Scripture “Provindentissimus Deus”;
  • The Reunion of Christendom “Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae”;
  • Catholicity in the United States “Longuinque Oceani”;
  • To the English People “Amantissima Voluntatis”;
  • The Unity of the Church “Satis Cognitum”;
  • Anglican Orders “Apostolicae Curae”;
  • The Prohibition and Censorship of Books “Officiorum ac Munerum”;
  • The Holy Spirit “Divinum Illud”;
  • True and False Americanism in Religion “Testem Benevolentiae”;
  • On the Consecration of Mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus “Annum Sacrum”;
  • Christ Our Redeemer “Tametsi”;
  • Christian Democracy “Graves de Communi”;
  • The Religious Congregations in France;
  • Congratulations to the American Hierarchy;
  • The Most Holy Eucharist “Mirae Caritatis”;
  • The Holy Scriptures; The Biblical Commission “Vigilantiae”;
  • The Church in the Philippines; and
  • Review of His Pontificate.

In remembrance of Pope Leo XIII (d. 20 July 1903), vicarius Ss. Petri et Pauli, faithful shepherd and teacher. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

Online text: “The Crimes of the Communist Regime in Hungary”, by János M. Rainer

See this online text:

• “The Crimes of the Communist Regime in Hungary: National Report”, compiled by János M. Rainer. Available in pdf format at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.
• This text forms part of a larger work, Crimes of the Communist Regimes: Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague, 24-26 February 2010, by Jiří Liška et al., edited by David Svoboda and Cóílín O’Connor, translated by Cóílín O’Connor et al. (Prague: Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, 2011), which has been made available in pdf format at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.

See also the following ebooks previously posted in the Project:

• Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania (Translation of Authentic First-Hand Reports from Soviet-Occupied Lithuania), No. 10: Struggle for Survival (Maspeth, Long Island, New York: The Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests’ League). With a letter to the Lithuanian people from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty dated “75 02 22” or 22 February 1975, which only appears on the pdf copy. May be read online on this page and available in pdf format on this page at Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. [N.B., The title of the Chronicle in Lithuanian appears to be Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios Kronika]
• Mindszenty Report, Vol. XLVII, No.10 (October 2005), “The City of God: Cultural Conflict in a World of Contradiction”. Available in PDF format on this page of the Cardinal Mindszenty Foundation.
• Nonviolent Resistance in Lithuania: A Story of Peaceful Liberation, by Grazina Miniotaite. Available in PDF format at the Albert Einstein Institution.

In solidarity with the observance of the Memorial Day for the Victims of the Communist Dictatorships in Hungary. For other texts relating to the persecution perpetrated under Communism, see Part II. Historical Persecution: Attacks on the Church and the Faithful: Under Communism of our index page Anti-Catholicism and Persecution. For other online texts and legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“The Church of Silence will never understand the kind of diplomacy which would make it possible for the atheists to rejoice over the fact that the Vatican itself disagrees with those priests and laity who are struggling and suffering for the Fai[t]h. In return for diplomatic concessoins [sic], the atheistic government can promise much, sign the most beautiful treaties, but these will remain a dead letter, like the Declaration of Human Rights, which the atheistic government signed.” (Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, No. 10)

“Your nation now faces probably the hardest ordeal of its history. Do not lose heart. Injustice, wrong and crime will never be transformed into justice, right and blessings merely by the fact that a long interval has elapsed. Have confidence, pray and renew yourselves spiritually and your country and your nation will be restored to freedom and dignity. Do not hate; the more and better we pray for our persecutors, the sooner will their hearts be converted to what we pray for.” (Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, Letter to the Lithuanian People, 1975)

Online text: “The Martyrs of Mexico and Their Influence in the New Evangelization”, by Ricardo Ramirez

See this online text:

• “The Martyrs of Mexico and Their Influence in the New Evangelization”, by Ricardo Ramirez, C.S.B. Talk delivered at the XXIII ANSH Convention, October 8, 2012. Available in pdf format at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces.

On the Feast of Saint Margarito Flores García. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“At times the bark of Peter, favored by the winds, goes happily forward; at other times it appears to be swallowed up by the waves and on the point of being lost. Has not this ship always aboard the Divine Pilot who knows when to calm the angry waves and the winds? And who is it but Christ Himself Who alone is all-powerful, who brings it about that every persecution which is launched against the faithful should react to the lasting benefit of the Church?” (Pope Pius XI, Encyclical “Iniquis Allictisque“)

Free ebooks: “The Arians of the Fourth Century”, by Cardinal Newman (various editions)

See these legally free ebooks:

• The Arians of the Fourth Century: Their Doctrine, Temper, and Conduct, Chiefly as Exhibited in the Councils of the Church, between A.D. 325, & A.D. 381, 2^nd edition, by Blessed John Henry Newman (E. Lumley, 1854). May be read online, and available in various formats (pdf, epu, mobi/kindle, etc.), at Open Library and Internet Archive, with a second copy at Open Library and Internet Archive, and another copy at Hathi Trust Digital Library.
  • The 1^st edition of the same title (London: J. & F. Rivington, 1833), written before Blessed Newman was converted to the one true and Catholic faith, is available at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a second copy at Internet Archive and Open Library, and a third copy at Internet Archive and Open Library, and a fourth copy at Open Library and Internet Archive; and it may be read online at e-Catholic 2000.
• Subsequent editions have the shorter title, The Arians of the Fourth Century:
  • The 3^rd edition (London: E. Lumley, 1871) is available at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a second copy at Open Library and Internet Archive, and at Hathi Trust Digital Library.
  • The 4^th edition (London: Basil Montague Pickering, 1876) is available at Hathi Trust Digital Library.
  • An edition “Printed for Private Circulation Only”, as stated in the copyright page (London, 1871) is available at Open Library and Internet Archive.
  • The 5^th edition (London, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1888) is available at Open Library and Internet Archive, with another impression (London: Pickering and Co., 1883) available at Open Library.
  • The 6^th edition (London, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1890) is available at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a second copy at Internet Archive.
  • The 7^th edition (London, New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1890) is available at Open Library and Internet Archive, with a second copy at Internet Archive, and a third copy at Internet Archive; and at Hathi Trust Digital Library and Google Books.
  • A “New Edition” (London, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891) is available at Open Library and Internet Archive, and at Hathi Trust Digital Library.
  • A “new impression” (London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1897) is available at Open Library and Internet Archive.
  • A subsequent impression (London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1901) is available at Internet Archive and Open Library.
  • A later impression (London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1908) is available at Open Library and Internet Archive, and may be read online at Newman Reader (revised September 2002).
  • An even later impression (London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1919) may be read online, and is available in various formats (pdf, epu, mobi/kindle, etc.) at Open Library and Internet Archive.
• The work is also available for purchase:
  • An ebook of an unknown edition may be purchased at Google Books.
  • The Birmingham Oratory Millennium Edition, in hardback format, may be purchased at the Catholic Truth Society Bookshop. [N.B., With introduction and notes by Dr. Rowan Williams, a noteworthy but non-Catholic scholar and formerly the seniormost ecclesiastic in the Anglican communion. We have not read the work and hence cannot suggest whether Catholic Christian readers, especially those without sufficient theological formation, should avoid reading the said introduction and notes or should read them with prayerful caution.]

On the anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea (ended 19 June AD 325).

“But some one will ask, How is it then, that certain excellent persons, and of position in the Church, are often permitted by God to preach novel doctrines to Catholics?… Let us listen, then, to Holy Moses… [who] writes thus in Deuteronomy… For the Lord, your God, tries you, to know whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. The reason is clearer than day why Divine Providence sometimes permits certain doctors of the Churches to preach new doctrines — That the Lord your God may try you” (Saint Vincent of Lerins, Commonitory For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All Heresies, x)

 

 

Online & worth-it ebook: “Fatima: A Message More Urgent Than Ever”, by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo

See this online and worth-it ebook:

• Fatima: A Message More Urgent Than Ever, by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo (Spring Grove, Penn.: American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property – TFP, 2008). The ebook is available in pdf format (on this page) and may be read online (on this page) at the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property. It may also be purchased on this page.

On the Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

Online text: Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, 10: Struggle for Survival

See this online text:

• Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania (Translation of Authentic First-Hand Reports from Soviet-Occupied Lithuania), No. 10: Struggle for Survival (Maspeth, Long Island, New York: The Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests’ League). With a letter to the Lithuanian people from Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty dated “75 02 22” or 22 February 1975, which only appears on the pdf copy. May be read online on this page and available in pdf format on this page at Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. [N.B., The title of the Chronicle in Lithuanian appears to be Lietuvos Katalikų Bažnyčios Kronika]

Bishop Motiejus Valančius. Image from Wikipedia

On the Feast of St. Hilarius of Aquileia and St. Julian of Antioch; and in observance of Knygnešio diena, or the Day of the Book Smugglers, in Lithuania. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

From page 12 of the text:

“The atheists, taking a page out of the Czars’ book, wish to use ecclesiastical leadership in their war against the Catholic Church. They try to place in responsible positions bishops cr [sic] priests submissive to the government, who would carry out directives detrimental to the Church, misinform the faithful world-wide about so-called freedom [sic] of the Church, and promulgate the regulations of the atheists government among the priests, to restrict the priests’ work: the catechizing of children, canonical visitation of parishes, etc.

“The Church of Silence will never understand the kind of diplomacy which would make it possible for the atheists to rejoice over the fact that the Vatican itself disagrees with those priests and laity who are struggling and suffering for the Fai[t]h. In return for diplomatic concessoins [sic], the atheistic government can promise much, sign the most beautiful treaties, but these will remain a dead letter, like the Declaration of Human Rights, which the atheistic government signed.”

From the letter of Cardinal Mindszenty to the Lithuanian people (on page 3 of the text):

“You are one of the oldest nations on European soil and firmly rooted in the Faith and in the Church of Christ… [Y]ou have lived through glorious times and—more important—through times of persecution and suffering. Your nation now faces probably the hardest ordeal of its history. Do not lose heart. Injustice, wrong and crime will never be transformed into justice, right and blessings merely by the fact that a long interval has elapsed. Have confidence, pray and renew yourselves spiritually and your country and your nation will be restored to freedom and dignity. Do not hate; the more and better we pray for our persecutors, the sooner will their hearts be converted to what we pray for.”

Online text: Letter to Catholics in China, by Pope Benedict XVI

See this online text:

• Letter to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China, by Pope Benedict XVI, 27 May 2007. Available at the Holy See.
  • An “Explanatory Note: Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics, 27 May 2007” (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2007) is available at the Holy See and on this page through the Focus: China page of Sandro Magister’s former website.
  • A “Compendium of the Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China”, which reproduces the letter in question-and-answer format, is available in pdf format at the Holy See.
• For a Chinese Catholic perspective on the letter, see:
  • “Cardinal Zen on Pope’s China Letter”, by Cardinal Joseph Zen Zi-kiun, 1 July 2007, at Catholic Culture.
  • “Card. Zen: It is time to put into effect the Popes Letter to China’s Catholics, whatever the cost”, 16 June 2009, at AsiaNews.
  • “Card. Zen: Do not manipulate Pope Benedict XVI’s Letter”, by Cardinal Zen, 6 February 2018 at AsiaNews.
  • “A decade on from Pope Benedict’s letter to Chinese Catholics”, 17 February 2018, at the Sunday Examiner.

For those studying the current debate and developments concerning Church-State relations in China, the news and analyses listed below may be relevant. [N.B., Please note that the inclusion of any article in the list, in which various sides of the debate are represented, does not necessarily imply agreement or endorsement.]

• “Msgr. Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou freed after 7 months”, 4 January 2018 at AsiaNews.
• “The Vatican asks legitimate bishops to step aside in favour of illegitimate ones”, by John Baptist Lin, 22 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Underground Church as a pawn in China’s political game, a thorn in the side of the Holy See”, 25 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Vatican, Eager for China Ties, Asks ‘Underground’ Bishops to Step Aside”, 29 January 2018, at the New York Times.
• “Pope ‘prefers to avoid support for dissident clergymen’ says former Hong Kong cardinal after Vatican asks Chinese bishops to stand down”, 29 January 2018 at South China Morning Post
• “Zen on the bishops of Shantou and Mindong” by Cardinal Zen, 29 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Explaining why the Vatican seems so eager for a deal with China” by John L. Allen Jr., 30 January 2018 at Crux.
• “Vatican denies rift between pope, collaborators on China” by Charles Collins, 30 January 2018 at Crux.
• “Vatican and China: Cardinal Zen’s intervention raises some very uncomfortable questions”, by Michael Davis, 30 January 2018, at Catholic Herald.
• “Parolin, ‘Why we are in dialogue with China’”, 31 January 2018 at La Stampa.
• “Parolin: No person can claim to be “exclusive interpreter” for Chinese Catholics“, 31 January 2018 at Crux.
• “Celebrations as Msgr. Shao Zhumin returns to Wenzhou (Video)”. 31 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Vatican rebukes retired Hong Kong cardinal after remarks on ‘selling out’ of Chinese Catholics”, 31 January 2018 at South China Morning Post.
• “The tears of Chinese bishops. A portrait of Msgr. Zhuang, bishop of Shantou” by Padre Pietro, 2 February 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Chinese Bishops Illegitimate, Official, Clandestine… Which Ones Francis Is Rewarding and Which He Is Not”, by Sandro Magister, 5 February 2018 at Settimo Cielo.
• “Zen: ‘The Vatican Secretary of State Is Wrong’”, by Sandro Magister, 6 February 2018 at Settimo Cielo.
• “‘China is the best implementer of Catholic social doctrine,’ says Vatican bishop”, 6 February 2018 at Catholic Herald.
• “Cardinal Zen accuses Vatican of ‘caging’ loyal Catholics in China”, by Charles Collins, 6 February 2018 at Crux.
• “Sanchez Sorondo in Wonderland”, by Bernardo Cervellera, 7 February 2018, at AsiaNews.it.
• “China expert: Vatican official “naive” for saying China “best implementer” of Church’s social doctrine”, by Charles Collins, 7 February 2018 at Crux.
• “Worries Rise as Pope and China Edge Closer to Deal on Bishops”, 9 February 2018, at the New York Times.
• “The future of the Sino-Vatican dialogue from an ecclesiological point of view”, by John Cardinal Tong, 10 February 2018 at the Sunday Examiner. [N.B., Although the article merits reading for its prudential/policy argument, readers are cautioned concerning some statements that may be problematic, namely:
  • The article’s claim that, unlike “the freedom for the pope to appoint bishops”, “lack of the ways to spread the faith” will not “cause great harm to the nature of the Catholic Church”, which appears to disregard the essential and divinely ordained character of the missionary mandate of the Church qua Church (cf. Matthew xxviii, 19-20, and Redemporis missio, 46); and
  • Its assertion that “the moral principle of the Church teaches us to choose the lesser of two evils”, which may have meant merely that we may “tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good” (Veritatis splendor, 80, italics supplied; cf. Matthew xvii, 24-26 and S.T., 1a 1ae, q.96, a.2), but whose unhappy formulation is inconsistent with the norm that we may not do evil even as a means to achieving good (cf. Romans iii, 8 and Veritatis splendor, 80.]
• “Holy See-China accord in the offing but at what cost?”, 10 February 2018 at Sunday Examiner.
• “Chinese Church preparing to celebrate 60th anniversary of ‘independent’ episcopal ordinations”, by Li Zhao, 10 February 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “The China Invented by Bishop Sánchez Sorondo. His Diary From Half a Century Ago Has Been Discovered”, by Sandro Magister, 10 February 2018 at Settimo Cielo.
• “In praise of China’s outspoken cardinal”, by Fr. Raymond De Souza, 11 February 2018, at Catholic Herald.
• “Catholic Bishop Says He’s Willing to Step Down for Vatican Deal With Beijing“, 11 February 2018, at the New York Times.
• “Hong Kong Catholics to the bishops of the world: Stop the possible agreement between China and the Holy See“, 12 February 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Zen: I still don’t understand why they are in dialogue with China” by Joseph Cardinal Zen, 13 February 2018, at AsiaNews.it.
• “Vatican deal with China moves closer“, 13 February 2018 at Catholic News Asia.
• “Cardinal Zen to Pope on China: ‘You’re Putting Wolves Before Your Flock,’ Will ‘Make a Massacre’”, 14 February 2018, at CNS News.
• “Breaking the trust”, by Francesco Sisci and Francesco Strazzari, 15 February 2018, at Catholic News Asia.
• “Beijing-Vatican deal not normal: Zen rebuts Kelly”, 16 February 2018, at Catholic News Asia.
• “Chinese Catholics will not gain freedom from a Vatican-China deal”, 16 February 2018, at Catholic News Asia.
• “Cardinal Zen: I Fear the Vatican’s Ostpolitik With Communist China”, 17 February 2017, at the National Catholic Register.

On the Memorial of Saint Martin Wu Xuesheng and Companions in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (calendar of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“If, after all, you should have to suffer in the cause of right, yours is a blessed lot. Do not be afraid or disturbed at their threats; enthrone Christ as Lord in your hearts. If anyone asks you to give an account of the hope which you cherish, be ready at all times to answer for it, but courteously and with due reverence. What matters is that you should have a clear conscience; so the defamers of your holy life in Christ will be disappointed in their calumny. It may be God’s will that we should suffer for doing right; better that, than for doing wrong.” (I Peter iii, 14-17)

Online lecture: “Christian Martyrdom in the Thought of the Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon”, by Cardinal Burke (updated)

See this online lecture:

• “Christian Martyrdom in the Thought of the Servant of God, Father John A. Hardon, S.J.” (lecture), by Raymond Cardinal Burke. Delivered 13 March 2012, at the 15th Annual Lenten Symposium on “The Christian Vocation: A Call to Martyrdom” of the Holy Trinity Apostolate.
  • A video of the lecture, entitled, Cardinal Burke on Fr John Hardon’s ‘Call to Martydom’, published on 12 March 2013, may be viewed on this page of the Youtube channel of Sensus Fidelium.
  • Another copy of the same video, entitled Call to Martyrdom talk by Cardinal Burke, published on 22 February 2013, may be viewed on this page of the wwwtldmorg Youtube channel.
  • The audio of the lecture is reproduced in a video entitled Cardinal Raymond Burke 2017 – Call to Martyrdom talk by Cardinal Burke, published 21 July 2017, which may be viewed on this page of the Catholic Channel.
  • According to the article “Cardinal Burke’s address from HTA symposium to air on EWTN this Sunday”, posted 22 March 2012, CD’s and DVD’s on all talks may be purchased at the Holy Trinity Apostolate.

Still from the Youtube video

On the Feast of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, and in advance of the Feast of Saint Thomas Becket (29 December), in the Roman Rite. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“[W]hoever acknowledges me before men, I too will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven; and whoever disowns me before men, before my Father in heaven I too will disown him” (Matthew x, 32-33)

“Although not every Cardinal will be called to give his life in red martyrdom for the sake of the Church and, above all, for the sake of the exercise of the ministry of the Vicar of Christ on earth, he is called daily to be intrepid, to give his life in white martyrdom, steadfastly and courageously defending the Catholic Church and her holy faith in the care of Saint Peter and his successors…

“The Cardinal today is called, in a special way, to assist the Roman Pontiff in announcing all of the truths of the faith, but, in a particular way, the truth regarding the natural moral law to be observed for the good of all in society…

“The Cardinal today is called, in a special way, to assist the Successor of Saint Peter, in handing on, in an unbroken organic line, what Christ Himself has given us in the Church, His Eucharistic Sacrifice… The right order of Sacred Worship in the Church is the condition of the possibility of the right order of her teaching and the right order of her conduct.” (Homily of Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, 22 November 2010)