Local Chinese Catholics share stories of devastation after quake

Published: 2008-05-15

MIANYANG, China (CNS) -- Sister Zhang Yimei expressed gratitude to God for protecting her younger brother, a priest, during the recent earthquake, but is concerned for the well-being of the family of another nun serving in her parish. "My brother, Father Francis Zhang Yiqiang, was preparing for the centenary of the former seminary in Bailu town and just happened to be out buying things for the celebration when the church building collapsed," she told the Asian church news agency UCA News. The siblings serve in different parts of the Chengdu Diocese, near the epicenter of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake that shook Sichuan province in southwestern China May 12. Sister Yimei, 35, who serves at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Mianyang, told UCA News May 14 that the other nun, who was only identified as Sister Zhan, could not reach by phone her parents, one sister and two brothers-in-law in Bailu after the quake. She said Father Zhong Cheng, the parish priest, had driven to her home to find out what happened.

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