Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Chinese Photographer Documents Catholic Resilience Lu Nan exhibit at Loyola University shows that faith thrives in China despite government opposition March 01, 2011 A Lu Nan photograph of Chinese Catholics Photo: Lu Nan A Lu Nan photograph of Chinese Catholics The Loyola University Museum of Art in Chicago is displaying a collection of photographs that document the resilience of the Roman Catholic faith in China, an officially atheist country. Lu Nan, a Beijing photographer specializing in humanitarian issues, photographs Chinese people engaged in simple acts of practicing their faith. The photos contain no grand churches or liturgical objects, but have been praised by viewers as âstrikingâ and âstirring.â Click here to listen to Loyola University's Donald Heider interviewed by VOA's Dave DeForest One picture shows a small child carrying a large painting of Jesus down a dirt path, with only the childâs hands and feet visible. Another shows two old women praying at a grave marked by a rudimentary cross. âIt sort of shows people in very rural settings, in very simple places, carrying out the rituals of Catholicism,â says Donald Heider, the Dean of the School of Communication at the university. Belief thrives even in Communist China Lu Nan Belief thrives even in Communist China The Communist government in China for years discouraged religious activities, so the church went âundergroundâ as believers worshipped in private. Lu Nanâs photographs bring these practices out into the open by showing the practices and private devotion of China's hidden Catholics. .