FRASER'S VISION OF A CHINESE CHURCH

By Fr. Raymond O'Toole, S.F.M.
January/February 2002

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In 1902 Fr. John Mary Fraser set sail from Vancouver to begin his missionary career in China. China had been experiencing the Boxer uprising – a reaction to the presence of foreign nations in its midst since the middle of the previous century. These foreign powers had carved out for themselves parts of China over which they exerted control. The Church accompanied these colonial powers and all of the bishops and most of the priests and religious were foreign.

At the time whole territories in China were assigned to religious orders from France, Germany, Italy and other European countries. Fr. Fraser served in the Diocese of Ningpo, in Chekiang (Zhejiang) Province. The diocese was run by a religious order called the Vincentians or Lazarists and the bishop was from France.

Fr. Vincent Lebbe – a young Lazarist priest from Belgium and a contemporary of Fr. Fraser – became over the years more and more involved in this question of making the Church more Chinese. It is from Fr. Lebbe's letters to a friend, Fr. A. Cotta, that we learn also of the involvements of Fr. Fraser in this question.

In a letter dated June 9, 1917, Fr. Lebbe writes about two visits he had from Fr. Fraser. During these visits Fr. Fraser shared his desire and his efforts to establish a diocese which would eventually come under the control of a Chinese bishop and priests.

Not long after he arrived in 1902, Fr. Fraser became disillusioned with the style of Church in China. He could not understand the life of missionaries who seemed to spend more time in their religious communities than in evangelizing the Chinese. As well, there was a certain degree of anti-Chinese sentiment among some of the missionaries. They lived in compounds that separated them from the Chinese who perceived the Church as foreign.

Fr. Fraser, having experienced this, returned to an idea he had had for some time – to make the Church more Chinese, or as he called it, "to normalize the Church." This meant changing the model of Church in China from one run by foreign religious orders to one run by Chinese bishops and priests.

Fraser proposes a diocese run by Chinese clergy

Fr. Fraser's vision was for a diocese which would have two bishops, one foreign and the other Chinese, and the Chinese bishop would eventually take over. In this diocese, European and North American secular priests – those not belonging to a religious order – would be brought in to help out.

In the archives of Scarboro Missions, there is a note written in Fr. Fraser's own hand giving further reasons for founding such a diocese. These included:

1) the scarcity of priests from the Lazarist religious order and the fact that they alone had to supply seven dioceses in China;

2) the immense size of the Diocese of Ningpo which could easily be broken up to allow for this new diocese Fr. Fraser envisioned;

3) secular priests, not belonging to a religious order, would be more inclined to work under a Chinese bishop rather than a bishop who was a member of a religious order; and

4) secular missionaries would not have to divide their loyalties between a religious superior and the local bishop.

At the time there were about 19 secular priests working in the Diocese of Ningpo. Ten were Chinese. This was more than enough to start the new diocese.

In 1910 Fr. Fraser went to America for the purpose of founding a seminary to supply future priests for this new diocese. The Cardinal of New York liked the plan but requested a letter from Bishop Reynaud, the Bishop of Ningpo, to show that he was in agreement. The letter arrived and the Cardinal abandoned the project. Bishop Reynaud, a Lazarist, was against Fr. Fraser's plan.

Shortly after, in 1911, Fr. Fraser left for Rome to bring his case to Propaganda Fide, known today as the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He prepared a report on the rationale for founding a diocese with a secular bishop and priests.

In one of Fr. Fraser's letters to Propaganda he clearly states, "I know that we are not supposed to approach Propaganda without going through our bishop, but you understand how this is not possible in this case, since our bishop belongs to a religious congregation."

Cardinal Gotti, the head of Propaganda, approved the project but it would never be realized because of opposition on the part of the Lazarists. Claude Sautens in his book, The Catholic Church in China in the 20th Century gives three reasons on the part of the Lazarists:

1) the project was proposed by a (North) American who could not accept the French Protectorate;

2) the plan aimed at putting secular priests in charge of a mission territory; and

3) the project was considering the gradual handing over of the entire diocese to the Chinese clergy.

As a result of all this, Bishop Reynaud of Ningpo stopped recruiting foreign secular priests; that is, priests that did not belong to a religious order.

After 10 days in Rome Fr. Fraser left for Ireland by way of Genoa, Italy. He had an idea to recruit missionaries for his project through the Genoa seminary. On this he also met with opposition from the Lazarists. It is Fr. Lebbe's belief that Fr. Fraser should have stayed longer because of Propaganda's basic support for the project.

Fr. Fraser returned to China in 1912 but little is mentioned about the project from then on, save for his recounting the story to Fr. Lebbe in 1917. Fr. Fraser did receive a letter from a bishop in Rome indicating his report was good but needed to be further developed and that to deal with such a big issue would take at least three to four years and require continuous lobbying.

In 1918 Fr. Fraser returned to Canada and founded a China Missions College. Eventually a territory was given to Scarboro Missions which became the Diocese of Lishui. However, the agreement was along the lines of the existing model in China – with a religious congregation responsible for the territory – and not as Fr. Fraser had hoped.

There was no doubt that Fr. Fraser was a pioneer in his attempt to put the Church in China under the leadership of Chinese bishops and clergy. Fr. Lebbe was inspired by Fr. Fraser's work. We know that in 1926, six Chinese bishops were appointed. Several were appointed to dioceses in the same province of Chekiang where Fr. Fraser worked. Most of the credit must go to Fr. Vincent Lebbe, but Rome was already prepared by Fr. Fraser's earlier efforts.

In 1998, Fr. Raymond O'Toole, Assistant General of Scarboro Missions, visited the Vincent Lebbe Archives at Louvain-la-Neuve University in Belgium. There he discovered five pieces of correspondence that revealed new information concerning Monsignor Fraser's pioneering vision of a Chinese Church.

Special thanks as well to Pont Viau Father Eloy Roy, Montreal, for making the handwritten letters in French legible for translation.

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