The Altar of the Former Abbey Church Decorated ... - St. John's Abbey

Chinese graduates of Saint John’s
University and the College of Saint
Benedict honored Thomas Thole, OSB,
at a reunion in Hong Kong in November
2003. Father Tom, wearing a red tie, is
front and center in the first row. At his left
is SJU president, Dietrich Reinhart, OSB.
The Collegeville-
China Connection
by Doug Mullin, OSB
East is East and West is West
and the twain do meet!
The contrast between Collegeville
and China could not be
more pronounced. Collegeville
is a Midwest area of 2,950 people
during the school year, situated on
2,600 acres of forest, lakes, lawns and
asphalt with less than 150 years of
existence. China is a Far East land of
more than a billion people, sprawled
over 3.6 million square miles with five
thousand years of continuous civilization.
Yet their connections are strong
and stable.
Brother Doug stands between Fathers Joseph
Xia (l.) and Martin Wu at their graduation from
Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary in
May 2003.
The Collegeville-China connection
began with the 1929 arrival of Aidan
Germain, OSB, at Saint Benedict’s
Priory in the city now called Beijing.
Father Aidan joined the faculty of Fu
Jen Ta Hsueh, the Catholic University
of Peking. The priory and university
were founded by Saint Vincent
Archabbey several years earlier at the
request of Pope Pius XI. Aidan was
followed by two other Saint John’s
monks, Terence Carroll, OSB, and
Basil Stegmann, OSB.
Beginning with only twentythree
students, in four years the
university was officially recognized
by the Chinese government
and enrollment increased to more
than a thousand. Nonetheless, the
depression-struck American Benedictine
monasteries were unable
to support the school financially.
In 1933 the Holy See transferred
responsibility for the university
to the Society of the Divine Word
and the Saint John’s monks returned
home.
In 1941 Japanese troops occupied
China, forcing Americans to
leave Fu Jen. This was followed
FEATURE
by the 1950 Communist takeover of
Beijing. Two years later Fu Jen was
annexed to Beijing Normal University
and Fu Jen ceased to exist.
But hope never dies in China. In
1954 the Fu Jen Alumni Association
in Taiwan proposed that the university
be reestablished there. Pope
John XXIII supported the request
and the university was approved by
the Taiwan Ministry of Education in
1963. To endorse the establishment
of this resurrected Fu Jen, St. Vincent
Archabbey founded Wimmer Priory in
Taiwan in 1964.
When Thomas Thole, OSB, became
adviser for international students
at Saint John’s, new connections
emerged. Students from Hong Kong
quickly developed an appreciation
for Tom’s fatherly care. By the early
70s Saint John’s enrolled more than
two dozen students from Hong Kong.
The relationships he built continue to
be a strong component of the current
Collegeville-China connection. In
November 2003, Hong Kong alumni/
ae of Saint John’s and the College
of Saint Benedict honored Tom who
received a Presidential Citation from
Dietrich Reinhart, OSB.
(continued)
The Abbey Banner Winter 2004 page 7