When the Chinese Communists took over the mainland, Father Kung was the director of Shanghai's Chin Ko Middle School, a Catholic institution formerly known as the Gonzaga College. Early in 1950, he was appointed bishop of the newly created diocese of Soochow, west of Shanghai. Before his episcopal consecration, he retired to the Jesuit Residence at Zikawei, where he was trained for his priesthood, to spend 30 days in prayer to prepare himself spiritually for the great struggle that he knew was awaiting him.
In August, 1950 he was appointed bishop of Shanghai, largest city on the Chinese mainland with a Catholic flock of 40,000 within its boundary and another 110,000 in suburban areas also under his spiritual leadership. He was still responsible for Soochow diocese as apostolic administrator. A little more than a year later, he was given a third job as the administrator of the diocese of Nanking. He held these three posts until the time of his arrest by the Chinese Communists.
Bishop Kung is not an eloquent man in the ordinary sense of the word. But his mind is clear, direct, forceful and unswerving. The· Chinese Communists have already begun then the campaign to pressure the religions, and their initial strategy was to divide and conquer. Bishop Kung's answer was simple. He stressed perfect unity—unity of the faithful with their pastors, unity of all the priests, both Chinese and foreign, among themselves and with their bishop, unity of the bishop with the Pope. Day in and day out in public sermons, private conferences, and in all his practical instructions, he kept stressing over and over again this principle of perfect unity.
He directed that there should be absolutely no compromise with the Communists and no attempt by anyone under his command to negotiate any form of peaceful coexistence with them. To follow out this plan required all the heroic patience and calm courage of the early Christian martyrs. There was never any question of physical violence or rebellion. He simply urged all humbly and patiently not to yield an inch on any point that would compromise the faith or the conscience of a true Christian. He expected all to resist the Communist coercion to force them to falsely accuse priests in prison, to separate themselves from the Pope, to publicly approve communism, or to perform any other act that would directly or indirectly violate the basic morality of the Ten Commandments.
Bishop Kung did not delude his people. He knew what would be in store for those who dared to resist the Communists. Three of his priests and one seminarian died in Communist jails before early 1953: Fr. Beda Tsang, rector of the Zikawei Middle School, Fr. Louis Teteau, both Jesuists, Fr. Joseph Shen Shih-hsien, and Mr. Peter Yeh, S.D.B. Another has since died under the tortures of imprisonment, Fr. Hou Chih-cheng. But Bishop Kung believes that for a true Christian there is no other choice. Imprisonment and death, in his opinion, are preferable to a life of sin and betrayal of one's fellowmen.
Bishop Kung saw to it that his people were thoroughly instructed and encouraged by all the priests at his command. The public preaching was handled mainly by the Chinese clergy, who formed teams going from one church to another, giving a series of talks and conferences. The foreign priests cooperated by conducting small study clubs, spiritual retreats and individual direction to all who came to them. This campaign was especially effective among middle school and college students, teachers and professors who would then pass on what they had learned to others. The inspiration and guiding light of all this was Bishop Kung himself.
His program was one of vigorous, positive, practical Christianity. He urged the people to live the life and doctrine of Christ. His was no mere passive resistance to the destructive forces of communism.
For example, the Communists attacked family life. Confucius' idea of reverence and filial love of parents was branded as reactionary and unscientific. Bishop Kung counteracted by a positive series of instructions on the sacredness of family life and the dignity of parents. He insisted also on the right of parents to care for and educate their own children.
The Communists preached class hatred and class warfare. Bishop Kung stressed the Christian teaching of brotherly love and the Christian social ideal of mutual respect and cooperation between all classes of people. The Communists sought to destroy economic freedom by confiscating private property in their land reform campaign. Bishop Kung reminded his people that private property is a right given to man by God and no one can violate the legitimate right of others. He emphasized that the loss of economic independence is the first step to take away all freedom and make the people slaves of the state.
The Communists tried to force all to participate in their public accusation meetings. Bishop Kung insisted that such meetings were a gross violation of basic justice and that no man with a conscience can approve lies and false accusations against his fellow man. He staunchly defended the Christian and Confucian ideal of complete honesty and justice.
The force of Bishop Kung's personality and the effectiveness of his courageous leadership can be seen from the fact that while he was still free, from 1950 until September 1955, all his priests and people followed him with absolute fidelity. Not one of them compromised with communism in any way. The nucleus of the team of Chinese priests was sentenced in March 1960 along with Bishop Kung to various prison terms up to 20 years. About 50 more were still in prison, although they have not, as far as is known, been formally convicted or sentenced. Until 1955, not one of his Catholic people in good standing failed him in any way. Many hundreds of them also went into prison with him rather than sacrifice truth or justice.
When the Chinese Communists pushed the "triple autonomy movement" among Catholics on the mainland, Bishop Kung refused to yield to their pressure. When "Catholic Patriotic Associations" were formed elsewhere, Shanghai did not follow suit. Clearly, someone had to be blamed. The Communists arrested Bishop Kung and his close associates on September 8, 1955.
The Religiao e Patria, a Catholic weekly published in Macao, gave an account of the first two trials of Bishop Kung in its issue of February 26, 1956. It reported:
"On the first time he was arrested, Bishop Kung was sent to the Zikawei Seminary of the Jesuits, in suburban Shanghai, where he faced the 'People's Court.' There was a large crowd of about 4,000 Catholic people there, most of them students of the nearby area.
"The bishop was dressed in civilian clothes and had both hands tied behind his back. He was forced to go up a platform and listen to a series of accusations made by the Communists. After that the Reds pushed him in front of a microphone and forced him to confess all his 'crimes' and ask the people's mercy.
"Without losing a moment, Bishop Kung shouted three times: 'Hurrah, King Christ.'
"The large crowd, amazed by his dramatic gesture, also shouted: 'Hurrah, our bishop.' Almost immediately the guards attacked the bishop, forcing him to keep quiet and put him inside a police car and sent him back to the prison.
"The second trial took place in January last. This time his captors were hardest to satisfy. One eye-witness declared that: 'I was almost near to dismay when I saw the bishop. He had a suavity in his expression. Not even a single word came out from his mouth. Soon before the end of the trial, he put his hands in his heart and remained firm until the last moment.'"
That was January 1956. Four years later, for reasons best known to themselves, the Chinese Communists hauled Bishop Kung once again before the "Intermediate People's Court" and sentenced him to life imprisonment for leading "a traitorous counter-revolutionary clique under a scheme of the United States imperialists and the Vatican to subvert the Chinese people's democratic regime."