Madrid, Spain, Aug 21, 2011 / 11:19 am
Corrected Oct. 14, 2011 12:59 MDT. Changes number of Chinese pilgrims from zero to 60 and corrects name of Zeng's university.
The final Mass of World Youth Day was a sea of national flags. In the million-strong crowd, however, it was hard to find one particular flag – China. That’s until CNA bumped into Thomas Zeng.
“This week has been absolutely fascinating,” said the university student who’s traveled all the way from Shanghai to be at World Youth Day in Madrid. Thomas says he met with 60 other pilgrims from mainland China.
“It is wonderful that I can meet so many Catholics, more than one million. That could never happen in my country, but I believe with the grace of God that it will one day.”
Thomas is actually one of 8 to 12 million Chinese Catholics. About half of them, though, have ties to the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, a state agency founded in 1957.