By Fr. Lanfranco M. Fedrigotti
Hong Kong, 10 March 2024 -- Four years ago, today, the great soul of Br. Paolino Lin Yin Nien S.D.B., confessor of the faith, left his body to enter, we hope, the Salesian Garden in Paradise. The body was cremated in Shanghai, where he had died. It was the time of the outbreak of Covid-19 and of the 28th General Chapter. Provincial Fr. Joseph Ng Chi Yuen and Provincial Vicar Fr. Domingos Leong Teng Kok were in Turin, and so unable to take part in the funeral. After the funeral, Br. Paolino's ashes were kept in a temporary shelter while waiting for a definitive collocation in a mortuary building of the city of Shanghai. Once moved there, the memory of Br. Paolino's ashes would have easily disappeared among the thousands of other ash niches. Realizing this, Provincial Fr. Joseph Ng decided to have the ashes brought to Hong Kong, to be kept in the CIN "Salesian Community" of deceased confreres in the Holy Cross Cemetery of Chaiwan, close to Hong Kong's 94-year-old Salesian Missionary House in 18 Chaiwan Road, Shau Kei Wan.
Actually, in the last few years before his death, Br. Paolino had made it a point to come at least once a year to Hong Kong to see his Salesian Superiors and Confreres. The last time he came, he expressed to Fr. Provincial his desire to come to Hong Kong for good and to die here. Strong with this request of Br. Paolino and grateful to the ready collaboration of his relatives, Provincial Fr. Joseph Ng Chi Yuen, in January this year, personally went to Shanghai to receive from their hands Br. Paolino's ashes.
In translatione cinerum, on the afternoon of Saturday 3 February 2024, at 16:30 hours, in the chapel of Salesian Missionary House, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze Kiun, assisted at the altar by outgoing CIN Provincial Fr. Joseph Ng Chi Yuen and incoming CIN Provincial Fr. Domingos Leong Teng Kok, celebrated a Requiem Mass for the eternal rest of Br. Paolino was attended by representatives of all groups of the Salesian Family in Hong Kong. His ashes were placed in front of the altar in a beautiful marble urn next to a picture of his. In his homily, Card. Joseph spoke like this:
"Today we remember Br. Paolino Lin. From 1949 to 1950, we were together in Salesian Missionary House Shau Kei Wan. But we were newly professed students of philosophy, while he was a novice, and so, according to the tradition of the times, we could not have much contact with the novices.
After his profession in 1950, the Provincial, Servant of God, Don Carlo Braga, sent him back to the mainland, in the vain hope that we could continue our work there. The same Don Carlo Braga in 1948, very foresightedly, had transferred about 30 aspirants from Shanghai to Macau and then to Hong Kong. Now, instead, he would send back to Shanghai this newly professed Brother... Was Don Braga unduly optimistic? Difficult to judge. But God knows what He does. It was in this way that Br. Paolino had the opportunity to give his wonderful witness to the faith. Let us remember that in Greek, the word "witness" is "martyr". Only God knows how fruitful Br. Paolino's witness must have been and continues to be.
From 1989 to 1996, for seven years, I was blessed with the possibility of teaching in the mainland Seminaries. A directive given to me was this: "Do not get in touch with the underground Catholic community". I asked: "But can I at least contact my Salesian confreres?" The answer was: "Yes." So when I visited the home of the confessor of the faith Fr. Francis Leong Ming Shiun, there I would meet Br. Paolino. Br. Paolino would speak little of himself. Only when asked would he say something. In the forced labour camp he had been a very appreciated hard worker. He was appointed head of his work team. His work team distinguished itself in the camp. Because of his outstanding work contribution, he was exempted from the evening "Public Criticism" sessions.
When another confessor of the faith, Br. Marco Wong Wing Sang was preparing to be freed from a forced labor camp in Hei Long Jiang; his residence certificate was needed so that we could apply for the transfer of his residence to Beijing first and then to Shanghai. I would have been happy to go myself to do this, but I could not leave the Seminary where I was teaching. So I asked Br. Paolino to go to Hei Long Jiang and fetch Br. Marco's residence certificate. Br. Paolino immediately accepted the task. The Shanghai police referred us to the Shenyang police. So, Br. Paolino had first to go to Shenyang. There a police chief with an escort would bring him to the labour camp in North Hei Long Jiang. Arrived in Shenyang, in his simplicity, Br. Paolino gave to the police chief all the 10,000 RMB I had given him for the task (a big amount of money at that time). Luckily, the police chief was an honest man. The 10,000 RMB was very effective; everything went very smoothly.
Later on, back in Shanghai, Br. Paolino and Br. Marco bought a shanty house that in winter did not protect them from the cold because, out of a spirit of poverty, they did not want to keep the stove burning. At that time, Shanghai was developing. Developers expropriated their shanty houses but offered housing elsewhere at a rather cheap price. What they could buy was a little apartment that other tenants would not want to buy, on the top floor of a 5-6 storey building. Br. Paolino began to live there, while Br. Marco was soon called to Hong Kong. Being on the top story, the apartment had both a drawback and an advantage: the drawback was that in summer, it was very hot; the advantage was that, being on the top, nobody would pass before the door of his apartment. So, even though I forbade him to let underground priests come to celebrate Mass there (an order that he faithfully obeyed), the door of his home was open for Salesian confreres who went to see him. In his home Br. Paolino was allowed to keep the Blessed Sacrament and a Shanghai parish priest invited him on weekends to take care of Sunday School children in his parish. Br. Paolino did this work very zealously.
When we had the occasion to meet, I asked him how he had lived his spiritual life in the labour camp. He said he lived the prayer life of Salesian Houses, morning prayer and evening prayer of Salesians and boys together, etc. Once I found him a little discomfited, because his confrere, also a confessor of the faith, Fr. Mathias Yao Wai Li, had visited him, asking: "What did you do in the labour camp when working in the fields?" He had replied: "When I was planting rice in the fields, I would say: One, two, three, four, five..., making sure that the little rice plants were planted in a straight line". Fr. Mathias had commented: "Not good, you should have accompanied every act of planting with the words: 'Jesus, I love you!'." I assured Br. Paolino that he need not be upset by what Fr. Mathias had said. His own diligence in doing his work well, indeed, was also very good spirituality!
Br. Paolino never asked to leave the mainland. He was happy to be in China, to continue doing what he was doing. And yet, now that his ashes are brought back here, he certainly would not object. I hope that the facts of all our other confessors of the faith in the mainland are being collected and brought to the knowledge of our confreres.
In the first reading of the Mass we heard that the souls of the righteous are in peace. And the Gospel told us that we live in Jesus' home, that God is our home! Before receiving Holy Communion, we say: "Lord, I am not worthy that you enter under my roof". At Communion, our roof becomes Jesus' roof! Br. Paolino lived his 35 years in forced-labour camp united with God, living in God. Let us imitate him and so many other our elders! With God's grace we can do this. There is no need to look for martyrdom (a dangerous thing to do! we are so weak...) The essential thing is to bear witness to the truth. Today the world is in great confusion. We, instead, have received the gift of truth. When we have the opportunity, let us speak out in witness to the truth. But more important is our life witness. The witness of a happy life, whatever may happen! In his 9-year old dream, Don Bosco heard Jesus and Mary tell him: "Speak of the beauty of virtue and of the ugliness of sin". We who believe in God are really blessed!"
