Antoine Ren SJ
Abstract: China is the world’s largest source of international students, with 1.021 million students studying abroad in 2021. According to my preliminary estimation, among these students, there are only about 206 Chinese Catholic youths in Europe. This paper is a theological reflection based on my interviews with 13 of them, aged 22-35. The main question of this reflection is how the European society and Church, and the “outgoing experience” of these Chinese students have influenced their faith or affected the construction of their Christian identity. My methodology is partly inspired by Étienne Grieu’s concept of “resonance” which highlights the resonance between the life story of the poor, the Bible, and the inner movement of the listener-theologian.
Based on the analysis of my interviews with these Chinese students, and by distinguishing between theological or theoretical (Bible and theology) resonance and pastoral or practical (pastoral action) resonance, and associating the latter with historical resonance, this paper concludes that the “outgoing” experience, as the very life dynamism of the Holy Trinity and of Jesus, is the only way for Christians and the Church to construct their Christian identity. And the Christian identity construction of the Chinese overseas students, as an outgoing experience, can help reconstructing the identity of the Church in China. Therefore, the pastoral resonance is to help these Chinese overseas students to deepen their faith. For me, following the footsteps of Matteo Ripa (1682–1746), Vincent Lebbe (1877–1940), and the missionary congregations (since 1990s), this pastoral action can be considered as the fourth revolution in mission to Chinese Catholic overseas lay students, which will bring about a turning point in the destiny of the Church in China.
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