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Catholicism flourishes in Tibetan village
By Mu Qian (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-10 14:13

Yang, himself of the Miao ethnic group, is experienced in working with minority Catholics.

"In the western part of Yunnan, almost all Catholics are minority people," said Yang. "I have been to villages where there is no electricity, and no road."

Language is a problem in Yang's work. For many villagers of Cizhong, only a part of his sermon in putonghua could be understood, but Yang said that even if some people couldn't fully understand what he said, they could feel God in their hearts.

"For all the people in the world who believe in Jesus Christ, today is a jubilant day," said Yang.

Customs and habits of minority people can be another problem.

During Mass, non-Catholics were still singing and dancing outside the church, while some Catholics, having drunk too much wine, forgot Mass and kept singing and dancing too.

"Later I criticized those church members who forgot Mass," said Yang. "A Catholic can drink wine, but shouldn't drink too much, or it will cause trouble."

When the French missionaries brought Catholicism, they also brought seeds of vines and techniques for brewing wine. Today planting grapes and brewing wine still brings important income for the villagers. The wine used in Mass was also locally brewed.

During Mass, the villagers read scriptures and sang chants in Tibetan language, but the texts they used were written in Chinese characters.

Most people in the church held in their hands such a book of scriptures and chants, the cover of which has a picture of the church.
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