Caldwell Grad Using His Master's Degree In Pastoral Ministry to Help Persecuted Catholics in His Homeland
Chung Ping Mak is so proud that he is a graduate of Caldwell College that he wears his Caldwell College sweatshirt any chance he gets. "I'm 60 years old and here I am putting on my college sweatshirt walking down the street. People ask me if my daughter goes there and I tell them that I am a graduate of the College."
Mak, who graduated on May 18 from Caldwell with a master's in pastoral ministry, says the degree has helped him grow in his understanding of Catholic Theology. A former treasurer for a major corporation, Mak already had a MBA degree when he started at Caldwell College. While teaching CCD at his parish, Transfiguration in Chinatown, New York City, a friend challenged him to join the Caldwell College pastoral ministry program. "Once I was in the program, everything was fascinating. It is amazing to see the difference between the secular business world and the spiritual civilization."
Recently, he was asked to speak on the history of the mass at his parish. Then, he says, he was "being put to the test" on what he learned in the graduate program at Caldwell College.
He says his degree and deeper understanding of the teachings of the Church are helping him in his volunteer work as treasurer and board member of the Cardinal Kung Foundation. The foundation promotes the Roman Catholic Church in China, through financial support and prayer. They work to inform the public about the persecutions of the underground Roman Catholics in China, foster religious vocations, educate underground seminarians and priests and provide basic support to Chinese Roman Catholic clergy and religious. China began persecuting Roman Catholics in the early 1950s when the Communist government took power and it established the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, whose members severed ties with the Vatican. Catholics who did not join the patriotic association and stayed loyal to the Vatican have suffered decades of persecution as underground Catholics.
Still Mak is hopeful for the Chinese Catholics. He points to the letter that Pope Benedict XVI wrote to Chinese Catholics in July 2007 where he called for reconciliation between the underground Catholics and the Catholics of the government sanctioned Patriotic Church. Although the letter strongly criticized the Chinese government's interference on Church activities and depriving the freedom of religion for the faithful, it did encourage dialogue between Vatican and the Chinese government to improve their relationships. "We need to continue to pray for Church of China. There will be a day that the merciful God will deliver the Chinese Catholics out of sufferings and persecutions," Mak said.