Chinese bishops allied with the government have promised to proceed with the “sinicization” of Catholicism in China.
During a national conference in Wuhan, two organizations elected leaders who vowed to bring the Church in China in line with the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.
The 10th National Congress of Catholicism in China was attended by 345 Catholic bishops, priests, and religious of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, reported UCA News.
At the end of the three-day gathering, new leaders of the association and of the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC) were elected. Both of these organizations are sponsored by the Chinese state.
The Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China has been split between the government-sanctioned Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and the underground Church, which is persecuted and whose episcopal appointments are frequently not acknowledged by Chinese authorities.
The Vatican does not officially recognize the CCPA. The state-sponsored congress is held every five years.
Archbishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing was appointed chairman of the CCPA, while Bishop Joseph Shen Bin of Haimen was elected as the new BCCCC chairman.
The new leaders agreed to continue efforts towards the sinicization of the Church as laid out previously by President Xi Jinping.
In 2018, the Vatican reached an agreement with the Chinese government on the appointment of bishops in the country; the terms of the deal, which was renewed in October 2020 for two more years, have never been fully revealed. The Sino-Vatican agreement is due to expire on Oct. 22.
Human rights advocates have voiced concerns after Pope Francis said the agreement was “moving well” and should be renewed.
Vatican officials have repeatedly said that the accord between China and the Holy See is focused solely on the appointment of bishops. According to reports, the agreement allows China’s state-sanctioned church (CCPA) to select episcopal candidates, who would then be approved or vetoed by the Holy See.
In last year’s National Conference on Religious Affairs, the president said that religious practice in China would be brought into line with Marxist views and ideologies.
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CNA Staff, Mar 3, 2021 / 03:19 pm (CNA).- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday reiterated the Vatican’s teaching on COVID-19 vaccines produced with the help of abortion-derived cell lines, after a […]
Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 5, 2016. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
March 13 marks the anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the 266th successor of St. Peter. Here is a timeline of key events during his papacy:
2013
March 13 — About two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope. He takes the papal name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and proclaims from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Let us begin this journey, the bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another.”
March 14 — The day after he begins his pontificate, Pope Francis returns to his hotel to personally pay his hotel bill and collect his luggage.
July 8 — Pope Francis visits Italy’s island of Lampedusa and meets with a group of 50 migrants, most of whom are young men from Somalia and Eritrea. The island, which is about 200 miles off the coast of Tunisia, is a common entry point for migrants who flee parts of Africa and the Middle East to enter Europe. This is the pope’s first pastoral visit outside of Rome and sets the stage for making reaching out to the peripheries a significant focus.
Pope Francis gives the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2013. Elise Harris/CNA.
July 23-28 — Pope Francis visits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in World Youth Day 2013. More than 3 million people from around the world attend the event.
July 29 — On the return flight from Brazil, Pope Francis gives his first papal news conference and sparks controversy by saying “if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” The phrase is prompted by a reporter asking the pope a question about priests who have homosexual attraction.
Nov. 24 — Pope Francis publishes his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The document illustrates the pope’s vision for how to approach evangelization in the modern world.
2014
Feb. 22 — Pope Francis holds his first papal consistory to appoint 19 new cardinals, including ones from countries in the developing world that have never previously been represented in the College of Cardinals, such as Haiti.
March 22 — Pope Francis creates the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission works to protect the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, such as the victims of sexual abuse.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his general audience on Nov. 29, 2014. Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Oct. 5 — The Synod on the Family begins. The bishops discuss a variety of concerns, including single-parent homes, cohabitation, homosexual adoption of children, and interreligious marriages.
Dec. 6 — After facing some pushback for his efforts to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis discusses his opinion in an interview with La Nacion, an Argentine news outlet: “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It’s healthy to get things out into the open, it’s very healthy.”
2015
Jan. 18 — To conclude a trip to Asia, Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Manila, Philippines. Approximately 6 million to 7 million people attend the record-setting Mass, despite heavy rain.
March 23 — Pope Francis visits Naples, Italy, to show the Church’s commitment to helping the fight against corruption and organized crime in the city.
May 24 — To emphasize the Church’s mission to combat global warming and care for the environment, Pope Francis publishes the encyclical Laudato Si’, which urges people to take care of the environment and encourages political action to address climate problems.
Pope Francis at a Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 17, 2015. Bohumil Petrik.
Sept. 19-22 — Pope Francis visits Cuba and meets with Fidel Castro in the first papal visit to the country since Pope John Paul II in 1998. During his homily, Francis discusses the dignity of the human person: “Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”
Sept. 22-27 — After departing from Cuba, Pope Francis makes his first papal visit to the United States. In Washington, D.C., he speaks to a joint session of Congress, in which he urges lawmakers to work toward promoting the common good, and canonizes the Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra. He also attends the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which focuses on celebrating the gift of the family.
Pope Francis speaks to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24, 2015. . L’Osservatore Romano.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis begins the second Synod on the Family to address issues within the modern family, such as single-parent homes, cohabitation, poverty, and abuse.
Oct. 18 — The pope canonizes St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azélie “Zelie” Guérin. The married couple were parents to five nuns, including St. Therese of Lisieux. They are the first married couple to be canonized together.
Dec. 8 — Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy begins. The year focuses on God’s mercy and forgiveness and people’s redemption from sin. The pope delegates certain priests in each diocese to be Missionaries of Mercy who have the authority to forgive sins that are usually reserved for the Holy See.
2016
March 19 — Pope Francis publishes the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which discusses a wide variety of issues facing the modern family based on discussions from the two synods on the family. The pope garners significant controversy from within the Church for comments he makes in Chapter 8 about Communion for the divorced and remarried.
April 16 — After visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis allows three Muslim refugee families to join him on his flight back to Rome. He says the move was not a political statement.
Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Feb. 24, 2016. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
July 26-31 — Pope Francis visits Krakow, Poland, as part of the World Youth Day festivities. About 3 million young Catholic pilgrims from around the world attend.
Sept. 4 — The pope canonizes St. Teresa of Calcutta, who is also known as Mother Teresa. The saint, a nun from Albania, dedicated her life to missionary and charity work, primarily in India.
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 — Pope Francis visits Georgia and Azerbaijan on his 16th trip outside of Rome since the start of his papacy. His trip focuses on Catholic relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Amatrice, Italy, to pray for the victims of an earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people.
2017
May 12-13 — In another papal trip, Francis travels to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition to three children in the city.
July 11 — Pope Francis adds another category of Christian life suitable for the consideration of sainthood: “offering of life.” The category is distinct from martyrdom, which only applies to someone who is killed for his or her faith. The new category applies to those who died prematurely through an offering of their life to God and neighbor.
Pope Francis greets a participant in the World Day of the Poor in Rome, Nov. 16, 2017. L’Osservatore Romano.
Nov. 19 — On the first-ever World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis eats lunch with 4,000 poor and people in need in Rome.
Nov. 27-Dec. 2 — In another trip to Asia, Pope Francis travels to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He visits landmarks and meets with government officials, Catholic clergy, and Buddhist monks. He also preaches the Gospel and promotes peace in the region.
2018
Jan. 15-21 — The pope takes another trip to Latin America, this time visiting Chile and Peru. The pontiff meets with government officials and members of the clergy while urging the faithful to remain close to the clergy and reject secularism. The Chilean visit leads to controversy over Chilean clergy sex abuse scandals.
Aug. 2 — The Vatican formally revises No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which concerns the death penalty. The previous text suggested the death penalty could be permissible in certain circumstances, but the revision states that the death penalty is “inadmissible.”
Aug. 25 — Archbishop Carlo Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States, publishes an 11-page letter calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and accusing him and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse including allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope initially does not directly respond to the letter, but nine months after its publication he denies having prior knowledge about McCarrick’s conduct.
Aug. 25-26 — Pope Francis visits Dublin, Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families. The theme is “the Gospel of family, joy for the world.”
Pope Francis at the 2018 World Meeting of Families in Ireland. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Oct. 3-28 — The Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment takes place. The synod focuses on best practices to teach the faith to young people and to help them discern God’s will.
2019
Jan. 22-27 — The third World Youth Day during Pope Francis’ pontificate takes place during these six days in Panama City, Panama. Young Catholics from around the world gather for the event, with approximately 3 million people in attendance.
Feb. 4 — Pope Francis signs a joint document in with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, titled the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The document focuses on people of different faiths uniting together to live peacefully and advance a culture of mutual respect.
Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, signed a joint declaration on human fraternity during an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb. 4, 2019. Vatican Media.
Feb. 21-24 — The Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, which is labeled the Vatican Sexual Abuse Summit, takes place. The meeting focuses on sexual abuse scandals in the Church and emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
Oct. 6-27 — The Church holds the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which is also known as the Amazon Synod. The synod is meant to present ways in which the Church can better evangelize the Amazon region but leads to controversy when carved images of a pregnant Amazonian woman, referred to by the pope as Pachamama, are used in several events and displayed in a basilica near the Vatican.
Oct. 13 — St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and a cardinal, is canonized by Pope Francis. Newman’s writings inspired Catholic student associations at nonreligious colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.
2020
March 15 — Pope Francis takes a walking pilgrimage in Rome to the chapel of the crucifix and prays for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crucifix was carried through Rome during the plague of 1522.
March 27 — Pope Francis gives an extraordinary “urbi et orbi” blessing in an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis venerates the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello al Corso in St. Peter’s Square during his Urbi et Orbi blessing, March 27, 2020. Vatican Media.
2021
March 5-8 — In his first papal trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis becomes the first pope to visit Iraq. On his trip, he signs a joint statement with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemning extremism and promoting peace.
July 3 — Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, is indicted in a Vatican court for embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes. The pope gives approval for the indictment.
July 4 — Pope Francis undergoes colon surgery for diverticulitis, a common condition in older people. The Vatican releases a statement that assures the pope “reacted well” to the surgery. Francis is released from the hospital after 10 days.
July 16 — Pope Francis issues a motu proprio titled Traditionis Custodes. The document imposes heavy restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
Dec. 2-6 — The pope travels to Cyprus and Greece. The trip includes another visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to meet with migrants.
Pope Francis greets His Beatitude Ieronymos II in Athens, Greece on Dec. 5, 2021. Vatican Media
2022
Jan. 11 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a record store in Rome called StereoSound. The pope, who has an affinity for classical music, blesses the newly renovated store.
March 19 — The pope promulgates Praedicate Evangelium, which reforms the Roman Curia. The reforms emphasize evangelization and establish more opportunities for the laity to be in leadership positions.
May 5 — Pope Francis is seen in a wheelchair for the first time in public and begins to use one more frequently. The pope has been suffering from knee problems for months.
Pope Francis greeted the crowd in a wheelchair at the end of his general audience on Aug. 3, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
July 24-30 — In his first papal visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologizes for the harsh treatment of the indigenous Canadians, saying many Christians and members of the Catholic Church were complicit.
2023
Jan. 31-Feb. 5 — Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. During his visit, the pope condemns political violence in the countries and promotes peace. He also participates in an ecumenical prayer service with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.
Pope Francis greets a young boy a Mass in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. Vatican Media
March 29-April 1 — Pope Francis is hospitalized for a respiratory infection. During his stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he visits the pediatric cancer ward and baptizes a newborn baby.
April 5 — The pope appears in the Disney documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which is in Spanish, answering six “hot-button” issues from members of Gen Z from various backgrounds. The group discusses immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.
April 28-30 — Pope Francis visits Hungary to meet with government officials, civil society members, bishops, priests, seminarians, Jesuits, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers. He celebrates Mass on the final day of the trip in Kossuth Lajos Square.
Pope Francis stands on an altar erected outside the Parliament Building in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos’ Square during a public outdoor Mass on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media
June 7 — The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery that afternoon under general anesthesia due to a hernia that is causing painful, recurring, and worsening symptoms. In his general audience that morning before the surgery, Francis says he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
June 15 — After successful surgery and a week of recovery, Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital.
Aug. 2-6 — Pope Francis travels to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023, taking place from Aug. 1-6. He meets with Church and civil leaders ahead of presiding at the welcoming Mass and Stations of the Cross. He also hears the confessions of several pilgrims. On Aug. 5, he visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, where he prays the rosary with young people with disabilities. That evening he presides over the vigil and on Sunday, Aug. 6, he celebrates the closing Mass, where he urges the 1.5 million young people present to “be not afraid,” echoing the words of the founder of World Youth Days, St. John Paul II.
Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. Vatican Media.
Aug. 31-Sept. 4 — Pope Francis travels to Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country. The trip makes Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner. Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.
Pope Francis meets with local priests and religious of Mongolia, which includes only 25 priests (19 religious and six diocesan), 33 women religious, and one bishop — Cardinal Giorgio Marengo — in Ulaanbaatar’s Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Sept. 22-23 — On a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Pope Francis meets with local civil and religious leaders and participates in the Mediterranean Encounter, a gathering of some 120 young people of various creeds with bishops from 30 countries.
Pope Francis asks for a moment of silence at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea on the first of a two-day visit to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. A Camargue cross, which comes from the Camargue area of France, represents the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The three tridents represent faith, the anchor represents hope, and the heart represents charity. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Oct. 4-29 — The Vatican hosts the first of two monthlong global assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church. Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the synod at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29. The second and final global assembly will take place at the Vatican in October 2024.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
Nov. 25 — Pope Francis visits the hospital briefly for precautionary testing after coming down with the flu earlier in the day. Although he still participates in scheduled activities, other officials read his prepared remarks. The Vatican on Nov. 28 cancels the pope’s planned Dec. 1–3 trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, due to his illness.
Dec. 18 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorizes nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in “irregular situations.” Various bishops from around the world voice both support for and criticism of the document.
2024
Jan. 4 — Amid widespread backlash to Fiducia Supplicans, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, publishes a five-page press release that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”
Jan. 14 — Pope Francis for the first time responds publicly to questions about Fiducia Supplicans in an interview on an Italian television show. The pope underlines that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”
Feb. 11 — In a ceremony attended by Argentine president Javier Milei, Pope Francis canonizes María Antonia of St. Joseph — known affectionately in the pope’s home country as “Mama Antula” — in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The president and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires embrace after the ceremony. Pope Francis, who has not returned to his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he wants to visit Argentina in the second half of this year.
Pope Francis meets with Argentina President Javier Milei in a private audience on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Feb. 28 — After canceling audiences the previous Saturday and having an aide read his prepared remarks at his Wednesday audience due to a “mild flu,” Pope Francis visits the hospital for diagnostic tests but returns to the Vatican afterward.
March 2 — Despite having an aide read his speech “because of bronchitis,” the pope presides over the inauguration of the 95th Judicial Year of the Vatican City State and maintains a full schedule.
March 13 — Pope Francis celebrates 11 years as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Oh we have already had that. In their version, after rescuing the adulteress from stoning, Christ personally beat her to death. Soon that will be the nihil obstat version.
It’s quite dangerous because it prepares and conveys an accommodating, heretical Marxist Catholicism to a world becoming more egalitarian and socialist. And who might we fault with this if not the Vatican [Isn’t the Church itself moving in similar direction?].
“Catholic” Chinese “patriotic” bishops take the oath to support the State in everything.
This is wrong in itself and never was a part of the Church or her witness; nor was it ever a part of her juridical accommodations with States. In addition her children accepted martyrdom in order NOT to fall in with such schemes.
The problem can exist in other countries but informally; where it can transpire that it is not addressed but effectively lived. Meanwhile the current Pontificate decries formalism, intellectualism, legalism, etc., that deflect from problem-areas such as this one and can never address them squarely.
Whether formal or informal, it’s not her mission and can not be accommodated to the mission on account of the things just identified.
In the case of China, what they are swearing to support is already wholly contrary to faith.
But in the lesser “notarized” circumstances, where things are “at large” and not acknowledged explicitly, yet on-going, what is contrary to faith seeps in and then is accepted and upheld “informally”. Then there is a lot of hush over and hush-hush as well as some easy-going jokes and counsels about how to get along smartly.
In the Pope’s actual message he wants to lend an authority to these by referencing “Time is greater than space”. But the wandering preacher is not a rolling stone and not all situations are about wandering.
On the one hand these are not supported in the passages from Acts and St. Paul -whether the ones that are cited or other ones; nor, for that matter in the Gospels.
On the other hand there are already some very clear instances where they would not add up, in the first place, to “the working of the Spirit”; so that adding the “craft of community” to it or upon it, can not do anything for it and make it what it is not.
‘ The same Peter who confessed Jesus Christ, says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let us not speak of the Cross. This has nothing to do with it.” He says, “I’ll follow you on other ways, that do not include the Cross.” When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, but not disciples of the Lord. ‘
The Catholic Church in China aligned with the Patriotic Association embracing sinicization of the Chinese Communist Party is comparable to half of the white Catholics of the Catholic Church in the U.S. embracing Trumpism of the GOP.
James D, this comment is ignorant and offensive. There is no apt comparison between the atheist CCP and the GOP. It is sad that “trolls” infect even CWR.
Not sure what it all means but that the church will be brought in line with Marxism in China are only parallel to its having been brought in line with (full list of western social and economic nonsense) in UK USA etc…
China ain’t no worse than the rest of them
John Doe, I have to disagree. We’ve all seen how the CCP treats Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, in part due to the CCP’s view that acts of political dissent, protest and cultural expression are forms of terrorism. Half a world away, we see another dictator, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, referring to the country’s Catholic bishops as “terrorists”, and subsequently arresting Bishop Alvarez and imprisoning priests and seminarians.
Is there “western social nonsense” to which bishops in the US and other Western countries have subscribed? Yes. But falling in line with a government that will treat you as a terrorist for daring to dissent from party orthodoxy is a clear difference…one of kind, not of degree.
Francis is thrilled. And ecstatic that he has enough votes in the conclave now to be confident that after he is gone, the next people will continue the ministry of sinicizing the entire Catholic Church.
Why is the Provisional Agreement called that and is it also some kind of suzerainty pact?
If it is that the Provisional Agreement is a shared acknowledgement between China and Rome, that the oath is made “provisionally” on certain conditions, then, the conditions are laid out in some fashion. The argument would be that for either side and for the sake of the arrangement, the conditions legitimize swearing such an oath. The conclusions that would ensue are:
1. If the patriotic bishops swear this oath to the State it involves a suzerainty pact and is apostate.
2. If the patriotic bishops swear the oath to God it is sacrilegious and abominable.
3. No matter what the conditions are or could be, either way it is NOT saved by having it in one’s heart or the Pope’s heart that it is “sworn provisionally”; nor is it excused or excusable.
4. For those bishops who have been legitimated by the Rome, they, by this China oath, become schismatic in the same instant, with the Pope.
5. All who knowingly support it, even those not party to it, are schismatic.
6 This visitation would reveal that it is also a Papal secret; and as such is the active secret propagation and secret nuancing of heresy by the very author of the heresy and his counselors, of heretical words, deeds, attitudes and formulations.
7. The alleged justification of being well-attuned in some “facts” and “norms” and “sensibilities” of “unity, reality, wholeness and time”, is simultaneously falsehood and heresy -in the case. In this instance it serves apostasy and schism and secreted heretical formulations in variety.
‘ The new leaders’ statement also highlighted the need for the Catholic Church to implement the spirit of the National Conference on Religious Affairs held last December and fulfill the requirement of the Communist Party’s Central Committee for the Catholic Church in China. During that conference Dec. 3-4, Xi stressed the strict implementation of Marxist policies, increased online surveillance and tightening control of religion to ensure national security.
The bishops said it was “necessary to unite and lead the priests, elders and faithful to follow Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a ‘new era’; continue to hold high patriotism and love for religion; (and) adhere to the principles of independent and self-run churches,” the bishops’ statement said. ‘
Charlotte Evans, pay attention, in your reporting above, an important element that would be in the source material, got omitted, which is, the reference to the Chinese word for “thought”. This word is one and the same with Xi Jinping’s “sinicization” of China and it is important to grasp its position.
See my comment above, August 29, 2022 at 4:58 am.
China is already Chinese, it does not need to be “sino-ized”; so that in fact what they are doing is trying to mutate the natural culture of thousands of years into a collectivism in communism.
See my discussion in the comments in the first link “Pope Francis hopes the China deal will be renewed”; where I point out the difference, in Chinese communism, between “thought” and “theory”- CWR.
I find the statement from the Chinese Bishops at this time particularly striking as they coincide with the publicized reflections given in the consistory, among them:
– Pope Francis stressed “discernment qualities” as well as the meaning of “root” for liturgy
– cardinals are reminded they share “joint responsibilities” for the Church
– the Order of Malta got the assurance it will be conformed to its “original inspiration” and “foundational context”.
These Chinese Bishops have declared for the “thought” line from Mao Zedong and are stating openly how it is engaged with them.
In a related affair, my bishop is promoting the modernist Jean Gebser and the idea of collective consciousness while proclaiming that China is already way ahead in achieving what the Church should become eventually. The world supposedly has “gone past post-modernism” and the Church supposedly is lagging.
With China, the line from “thought” comes down from Mao Zedong. The term “theory” is ascribed to Deng Xiaoping. What has happened to Deng Xiaoping is quite strange.
Back in contemporary times Deng Xiaoping was regarded differently and has the nickname Xixian, meaning, “admired for virtue”, “precious character” and even “boundary”. This has the sense of a true popularity.
With Xi Jinping the situation is really that “admiring” him is a requirement imposed from on high and entails certain strains of a demand for adulation.
The Chinese communists are very skilled in the language business. You can get another angle on it through the discussion of the 1992 Consensus issue.
What is indisputable is that Sinicization, which to begin with disrespects true Chinese culture, is, also -: “Xi Jinping thought”.
The quotation is from the last link, THE BOSTON PILOT, “New Chinese Catholic leaders say they’ll follow Communist principles”.
‘ The new leaders issued a statement to commit themselves to engaging priests, religious, and laypeople across the country for pastoral evangelization and further promotion of sinicization for “truth, pragmatism and inspiration” to move ahead toward a “bright future.”
The new leaders’ statement also highlighted the need for the Catholic Church to implement the spirit of the National Conference on Religious Affairs held last December and fulfill the requirement of the Communist Party’s Central Committee for the Catholic Church in China. During that conference Dec. 3-4, Xi stressed the strict implementation of Marxist policies, increased online surveillance and tightening control of religion to ensure national security.
The bishops said it was “necessary to unite and lead the priests, elders and faithful to follow Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a ‘new era’; continue to hold high patriotism and love for religion; (and) adhere to the principles of independent and self-run churches,” the bishops’ statement said.
The church leaders said they find it is important to adhere to the direction of sinicization of Catholicism in China to “vigorously strengthen the building of patriotic forces” to realize “the dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” ‘
Looking forward to the reporting of the sinicization of Scripture & Catechism….only then will Rome truely know the fruits of their agreement.
Oh we have already had that. In their version, after rescuing the adulteress from stoning, Christ personally beat her to death. Soon that will be the nihil obstat version.
It’s quite dangerous because it prepares and conveys an accommodating, heretical Marxist Catholicism to a world becoming more egalitarian and socialist. And who might we fault with this if not the Vatican [Isn’t the Church itself moving in similar direction?].
“Catholic” Chinese “patriotic” bishops take the oath to support the State in everything.
This is wrong in itself and never was a part of the Church or her witness; nor was it ever a part of her juridical accommodations with States. In addition her children accepted martyrdom in order NOT to fall in with such schemes.
The problem can exist in other countries but informally; where it can transpire that it is not addressed but effectively lived. Meanwhile the current Pontificate decries formalism, intellectualism, legalism, etc., that deflect from problem-areas such as this one and can never address them squarely.
Whether formal or informal, it’s not her mission and can not be accommodated to the mission on account of the things just identified.
In the case of China, what they are swearing to support is already wholly contrary to faith.
But in the lesser “notarized” circumstances, where things are “at large” and not acknowledged explicitly, yet on-going, what is contrary to faith seeps in and then is accepted and upheld “informally”. Then there is a lot of hush over and hush-hush as well as some easy-going jokes and counsels about how to get along smartly.
In the Pope’s actual message he wants to lend an authority to these by referencing “Time is greater than space”. But the wandering preacher is not a rolling stone and not all situations are about wandering.
On the one hand these are not supported in the passages from Acts and St. Paul -whether the ones that are cited or other ones; nor, for that matter in the Gospels.
On the other hand there are already some very clear instances where they would not add up, in the first place, to “the working of the Spirit”; so that adding the “craft of community” to it or upon it, can not do anything for it and make it what it is not.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252106/pope-francis-warns-about-arbitrary-and-ideological-adaptations-to-church-ministries
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/messages/pont-messages/2022/documents/20220815-messaggio-ministeria-quaedam.html
‘ The same Peter who confessed Jesus Christ, says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let us not speak of the Cross. This has nothing to do with it.” He says, “I’ll follow you on other ways, that do not include the Cross.” When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, but not disciples of the Lord. ‘
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2013/03/14/full-text-pope-francis-first-homily-as-pontiff/
The Catholic Church in China aligned with the Patriotic Association embracing sinicization of the Chinese Communist Party is comparable to half of the white Catholics of the Catholic Church in the U.S. embracing Trumpism of the GOP.
James D, this comment is ignorant and offensive. There is no apt comparison between the atheist CCP and the GOP. It is sad that “trolls” infect even CWR.
Not sure what it all means but that the church will be brought in line with Marxism in China are only parallel to its having been brought in line with (full list of western social and economic nonsense) in UK USA etc…
China ain’t no worse than the rest of them
John Doe, I have to disagree. We’ve all seen how the CCP treats Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, in part due to the CCP’s view that acts of political dissent, protest and cultural expression are forms of terrorism. Half a world away, we see another dictator, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, referring to the country’s Catholic bishops as “terrorists”, and subsequently arresting Bishop Alvarez and imprisoning priests and seminarians.
Is there “western social nonsense” to which bishops in the US and other Western countries have subscribed? Yes. But falling in line with a government that will treat you as a terrorist for daring to dissent from party orthodoxy is a clear difference…one of kind, not of degree.
Francis is thrilled. And ecstatic that he has enough votes in the conclave now to be confident that after he is gone, the next people will continue the ministry of sinicizing the entire Catholic Church.
Praise You Jesus Christ.
Why is the Provisional Agreement called that and is it also some kind of suzerainty pact?
If it is that the Provisional Agreement is a shared acknowledgement between China and Rome, that the oath is made “provisionally” on certain conditions, then, the conditions are laid out in some fashion. The argument would be that for either side and for the sake of the arrangement, the conditions legitimize swearing such an oath. The conclusions that would ensue are:
1. If the patriotic bishops swear this oath to the State it involves a suzerainty pact and is apostate.
2. If the patriotic bishops swear the oath to God it is sacrilegious and abominable.
3. No matter what the conditions are or could be, either way it is NOT saved by having it in one’s heart or the Pope’s heart that it is “sworn provisionally”; nor is it excused or excusable.
4. For those bishops who have been legitimated by the Rome, they, by this China oath, become schismatic in the same instant, with the Pope.
5. All who knowingly support it, even those not party to it, are schismatic.
6 This visitation would reveal that it is also a Papal secret; and as such is the active secret propagation and secret nuancing of heresy by the very author of the heresy and his counselors, of heretical words, deeds, attitudes and formulations.
7. The alleged justification of being well-attuned in some “facts” and “norms” and “sensibilities” of “unity, reality, wholeness and time”, is simultaneously falsehood and heresy -in the case. In this instance it serves apostasy and schism and secreted heretical formulations in variety.
‘ The new leaders’ statement also highlighted the need for the Catholic Church to implement the spirit of the National Conference on Religious Affairs held last December and fulfill the requirement of the Communist Party’s Central Committee for the Catholic Church in China. During that conference Dec. 3-4, Xi stressed the strict implementation of Marxist policies, increased online surveillance and tightening control of religion to ensure national security.
The bishops said it was “necessary to unite and lead the priests, elders and faithful to follow Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a ‘new era’; continue to hold high patriotism and love for religion; (and) adhere to the principles of independent and self-run churches,” the bishops’ statement said. ‘
https://cruxnow.com/cns/2022/08/new-chinese-catholic-leaders-say-theyll-follow-communist-party-principles
The congregation of chalk agrees to proceed with the cheesification of the white cliffs of Dover.
Charlotte Evans, pay attention, in your reporting above, an important element that would be in the source material, got omitted, which is, the reference to the Chinese word for “thought”. This word is one and the same with Xi Jinping’s “sinicization” of China and it is important to grasp its position.
See my comment above, August 29, 2022 at 4:58 am.
China is already Chinese, it does not need to be “sino-ized”; so that in fact what they are doing is trying to mutate the natural culture of thousands of years into a collectivism in communism.
See my discussion in the comments in the first link “Pope Francis hopes the China deal will be renewed”; where I point out the difference, in Chinese communism, between “thought” and “theory”- CWR.
I find the statement from the Chinese Bishops at this time particularly striking as they coincide with the publicized reflections given in the consistory, among them:
– Pope Francis stressed “discernment qualities” as well as the meaning of “root” for liturgy
– cardinals are reminded they share “joint responsibilities” for the Church
– the Order of Malta got the assurance it will be conformed to its “original inspiration” and “foundational context”.
These Chinese Bishops have declared for the “thought” line from Mao Zedong and are stating openly how it is engaged with them.
In a related affair, my bishop is promoting the modernist Jean Gebser and the idea of collective consciousness while proclaiming that China is already way ahead in achieving what the Church should become eventually. The world supposedly has “gone past post-modernism” and the Church supposedly is lagging.
With China, the line from “thought” comes down from Mao Zedong. The term “theory” is ascribed to Deng Xiaoping. What has happened to Deng Xiaoping is quite strange.
Back in contemporary times Deng Xiaoping was regarded differently and has the nickname Xixian, meaning, “admired for virtue”, “precious character” and even “boundary”. This has the sense of a true popularity.
With Xi Jinping the situation is really that “admiring” him is a requirement imposed from on high and entails certain strains of a demand for adulation.
The Chinese communists are very skilled in the language business. You can get another angle on it through the discussion of the 1992 Consensus issue.
What is indisputable is that Sinicization, which to begin with disrespects true Chinese culture, is, also -: “Xi Jinping thought”.
The quotation is from the last link, THE BOSTON PILOT, “New Chinese Catholic leaders say they’ll follow Communist principles”.
‘ The new leaders issued a statement to commit themselves to engaging priests, religious, and laypeople across the country for pastoral evangelization and further promotion of sinicization for “truth, pragmatism and inspiration” to move ahead toward a “bright future.”
The new leaders’ statement also highlighted the need for the Catholic Church to implement the spirit of the National Conference on Religious Affairs held last December and fulfill the requirement of the Communist Party’s Central Committee for the Catholic Church in China. During that conference Dec. 3-4, Xi stressed the strict implementation of Marxist policies, increased online surveillance and tightening control of religion to ensure national security.
The bishops said it was “necessary to unite and lead the priests, elders and faithful to follow Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a ‘new era’; continue to hold high patriotism and love for religion; (and) adhere to the principles of independent and self-run churches,” the bishops’ statement said.
The church leaders said they find it is important to adhere to the direction of sinicization of Catholicism in China to “vigorously strengthen the building of patriotic forces” to realize “the dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” ‘
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/07/05/pope-francis-says-he-hopes-vatican-china-deal-will-be-renewed/
“thought”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maoism
“thought”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xi_Jinping_Thought
“theory”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Xiaoping_Theory
“Xixian”
https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=%E5%B8%8C%E8%B4%A4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Consensus
https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=193035