Mary Queen of Xincheng - The Ark Church and Truku Memory

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In Xincheng, at the entrance of Taroko, a church shaped like Ark is dedicated to Maria Reina. The compound brings together a living parish, vestiges of a colonial Shinto shrine and the memory of violent episodes suffered by the Truku people. Their beauty can only be understood without hiding any of these layers.

Maria Reina

The royalty of Mary is not political power or domination over other peoples. The Church sees her as Queen because she is the Mother of Christ, King and Lord, and because she participated in her work in a unique way with faith, humility and service. His exaltation comes entirely from God and always leads to Jesus.

Pius XII set up the feast of Mary Queen so that Christians would come to their maternal protection and seek peace. The advocation therefore invites us to reject all forms of imperial pride: the true greatness of Mary is manifested in her availability to the plan of God and in her closeness to the little ones.

An ark-shaped church

The Catholic presence began to consolidate in Xincheng during the 1950s. The Church acquired the ground and in 1964 began the construction of the temple, completed approximately two years later. The building takes the symbolic form of the ark of Noah: a community protected by God that crosses the waters of history without losing hope.

The parish also serves chapels in the areas of Fushi, Zhucun, Xibao and Tianxiang. The title of Mary Reina gives spiritual unity to this pastoral centre located next to communities in the Taroko region.

The ancient Japanese sanctuary

The Catholic temple shares an enclosure with vestiges of the Shinto shrine built during the Japanese colonization. Access, headlights and other elements are preserved. In the 1970s, when a government policy threatened to destroy colonial symbols, the priest Anton Probst visually modified some remains to protect them. This intervention survived part of the whole.

Conservation does not mean identifying both religions or presenting the sanctuary as a doctrinal origin of the advocation. They are different realities that today occupy the same historical landscape.

A possible space for reconciliation

The church does not erase that past. His presence can be read as a call to transform places marked by domination and death into spaces of prayer, truth and encounter. Christian reconciliation does not require forgetting: it begins by recognizing the victims, listening to the memory of peoples and renouncing to justify violence.

Verified location

The official catalogue of the diocese confirms 64 Boai Road, Xincheng. The register of the Ministry of Culture places the premises in 24.129284, 121.650359, matching position with OpenStreetMap and with geo-referenced photographs. The marker identifies the Catholic temple within the historical set.

Para visitr with reject

It is a parish and, at the same time, a sensitive place of memory. It is appropriate to confirm the hours, not to interrupt celebrations, to ask for permission before photographing people and to avoid descriptions that reduce the enclosure to a picturesque mix of religions. If you talk about your history, you must also mention the Truku people and colonial violence.

Prayer to Mary Queen

Mary Queen, humble servant of the Lord, protects the community of Xincheng and the Truku people. Make us able to look at history with truth, to listen to those who were wounded and to work for a peace that does not depend on oblivion. He welcomes this church as an ark of hope and leads everyone to Christ, King of righteousness and mercy. Amen.

Sources consulted

• Diocese of Hualien: title, dependent parishes and direction.
• Hualien Culture Office: official history of the place and temple.
• National Cultural Memory: Truku conflict and heritage preservation.
• National Cultural Memory: property registration and official coordinates.
• Government of Hualien: visiting information and address.
• GCatholic: Xincheng's Jubilee Designation.
• Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam: foundation and sense of Mary's royalty.

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