The desire to preach the Gospel in China runs through the history of the Augustinian Recollects. His wishes began to take shape in the early 20th century. But they did not achieve their goal until 1923, when the Holy See entrusted them with a part of Eastern Henan and established their headquarters in Shangqiu. It had an area of 8,500 km2 and a population of over two million. Catholics barely numbered 600.
Their first superior graphically described their situation: “There were no missionaries and, therefore, no Christians were found; there were no Christians and, therefore, no churches were built; there were no churches and, therefore, no houses for the residence of the missionaries”.
The Order received the mission with joy. In October 1924, nine religious were working there, and they had already begun the construction of a spacious mission house, which was soon joined by the seminary (1929), the cathedral (1931), the medical dispensary (1932), the school for catechists (1933) and the convent for nuns (1933). In 1949, on the eve of the expulsion of the missionaries, it had a church with a capacity for 300 faithful, a house for 22 missionaries, a minor seminary for 45 students, and houses for 30 Chinese nuns, for girls of the Holy Infancy and Christians passing through. At the same time, chapels, parsonages and schools were built in the capitals. In 1939, 200 students, almost all of them pagans, attended the Shangqiu school.
The Holy See expressed its pleasure by elevating the mission to the rank of prefecture, vicariate and diocese. Such rapid development was the fruit of his interest in strengthening the Catholic hierarchy in China. But at the same time it is a good index of the progress of the mission.
These achievements were made in a territory dominated by wars, bandit and guerrilla plundering, poverty and a climate that was freezing in winter and scorching in summer. The wars slowed down the development of the mission, putting an abrupt end to several works. The catechists’ school was turned into a hospital of blood, the catechists disappeared and the bandits ran wild. In another sense, they facilitated conversions. The charity of the missionaries destroyed prejudices and brought many unfortunate people together. In some periods its non-denominational centers fed up to 3500 people.
On the eve of the proclamation of the People’s Republic (October 1, 1949), the mission had 10,000 Christians, 1,000 catechumens, ten mission stations, 25 native nuns, several schools, homes for Holy Childhood girls, medical dispensary, etc. Everything was confiscated by the government between 1949 and 1951.
There were 21 religious. The foreigners were expelled. Nine native priests and some 25 nuns remained in China. Of the nine priests, five died in “ideological re-education” camps. Nicolas Shi, Jose Wang, Lucas Wang and Marcos She managed to survive.
In 1979, news of the mission began to reach Manila, and the Order was able to initiate tentative contacts with it. The religious regained a modicum of freedom, resumed their work and began to receive vocations and visits from Chinese Recollects from Taiwan and the Philippines. In 1994 the Prior General visited them.
Nicholas Shi and Joseph Wang, bishops, respectively, of Shangqiu and Hezé since 1991 and 1996, revived both Christianities by dint of self-sacrifice. In 1987 they resumed the celebration of the Eucharist. The Easter Vigil was attended by 200 faithful. More than 1,000 participated in the 1996 event. In the year 2000, there were close to 2,000. Today the mission has 17 Chinese religious.
During the year 2024, the Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentine is celebrating the centenary of its presence in China under the theme Sowers of Hope .You can follow its contents from the Province’s website.