Church in China

Father Francis Jose Cruz is a Filipino man with a Spanish name, educated in Boston who evangelizes in China.

"And the strangest thing is that we're official!"

Father Francis is referring to the official appointment he enjoys from the Religious Bureau of the Patriotic Church (the Communist Party's religious arm) and the Catholic Patriotic Association (which, despite it's name, has actual ties to the government and no actual ties to the Catholic Church).

Father Francis found himself in Tianjin because Beijing was looking for an English-speaking priest to hold service at Tianjin's "Official Olympic Church." The government wanted to have an English-language mass available for foreigners wishing to worship during their Olympic vacation, never mind that it might be a Catholic mass for a Mormon.

Cruz is preparing for his first Christmas in China and finds himself struggling with first time issues like how to keep people out of Christmas Eve mass.

Many non-Catholics and non-religious Chinese people attend service because the cathedral is like a museum from a strange culture, Father Francis said. He would like Christmas Eve to have some of the dignity and solemnity it would other places. But considering Christmas Eve is a bit of a sideshow to the hundreds and hundreds of Chinese people who flood the church on the 24th, Father Francis is worried there won't be seats for those actually hoping to worship.

But he says he feels company in these and other struggles.

"Many of the foreigners who worship here aren't Catholic and that's very strange for a Catholic Priest," Father Francis said. "But we're all struggling in the fact that you are looking for something familiar because we want to feel comfortable. If you don't get that sense of home, than we can't get that sense of Christian community."

Photos: Our Lady of China at St. Joseph's Cathedral is the largest and most well-attended Patriotic Church in Tianjin. Above: The French Catholic-style cathedral is at the Southern end of Bin Jiang Dao, the largest pedestrian shopping street in Tianjin. Right: Father Francis from afar. Bottom right: Inside St. Joseph's.