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Vatican renews China deal for second time

Hannah Brockhaus   By Hannah Brockhaus for CNA

Pilgrims wave a Chinese flag at the general audience with Pope Francis, Oct. 12, 2022. / Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Oct 22, 2022 / 04:05 am (CNA).

The Vatican announced Saturday it has renewed its 2018 deal with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops for an additional two years.

“After appropriate consultation and assessment, the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China have agreed to extend for another two years the Provisional Agreement regarding the appointment of Bishops,” the Vatican said in an Oct. 22 press release.

“The Vatican Party,” it continued, “is committed to continuing a respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese Party for a productive implementation of the Accord and further development of bilateral relations, with a view to fostering the mission of the Catholic Church and the good of the Chinese people.”

The provisional agreement between the Vatican and China was first signed in September 2018 and renewed for another two years in October 2020. The terms of the deal have not been made public.

Pope Francis said in July that he hoped the agreement would be renewed for a second time.

In an interview with Reuters published July 5, the pope defended the Vatican-China deal against its critics, saying, “Diplomacy is the art of the possible and of doing things to make the possible become a reality.”

He compared today’s critics and those who spoke negatively about the Vatican’s diplomatic decisions during the Cold War, when the popes struck deals with Eastern European communist governments in an attempt to protect the interests of the Catholic Church.

“Diplomacy is like that. When you face a blocked situation, you have to find the possible way, not the ideal way, out of it,” the pope said.

Speaking to Vatican News Oct. 22, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the Vatican-China deal is “still in the experimentation phase.”

“As is always the case, such difficult and delicate situations require adequate time for implementation in order to then be able to verify the effectiveness of the result and identify possible improvements,” he said in the new interview.

After the China deal was signed in 2018, state officials in different regions of China removed crosses and demolished church buildings, and underground Catholics and clergy have reported harassment and detention.

A 2020 report from the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China found that Chinese Catholics suffered “increasing persecution” after the agreement came into effect.

While introducing more restrictive rules on religious practice, China’s President Xi Jinping has been outspoken about his goal of the “sinicization” of religions.

Chinese authorities have sought to diffuse “religious theories with Chinese character” into the five official religions supervised by the government, including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. This has included instructing Christian churches to remove images of the Ten Commandments and replace them with the sayings of Chairman Mao and Xi.

Parolin said “Pope Francis — with determination and patient foresight — has decided to continue along this path not under the illusion of finding perfection in human rules, but in the concrete hope of being able to assure Chinese Catholic communities, even in such a complex context, of the guidance of pastors who are worthy and suitable for the task entrusted to them.”

The provisional agreement with China on the appointment of bishops is “a limited but significant part,” Parolin said.

“Of course,” he continued, “we do not hide the numerous difficulties that affect the concrete life of the Catholic communities, which enjoy our utmost attention, and for the good solution of which new steps forward are necessary in a collaborative relationship that has multiple protagonists: the Holy See, the central authorities, the bishops with their communities, and the local authorities.”

“The ultimate goal of this journey is for the ‘little flock’ of Chinese Catholics to advance in the possibility of living serenely and freely their Christian life,” he said.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, has been an outspoken critic of the Vatican’s China deal.

The cardinal, 90, was arrested in May along with other democracy activists under Hong Kong’s strict national security law.

He is standing trial for failing to properly register a fund to provide legal aid to pro-democracy protesters. The trial is scheduled to resume Oct. 26.

The story was updated at 4:37 a.m. MDT with the comments from Cardinal Parolin.


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11 Comments

  1. The quotation is from the first MSN link, (from AP) which also has interesting photos, eg. where Hu Jintao departing early pats Li Keqiang.

    The second MSN link has a video (MSN/WSJ) clip with remarks by Xi Xinping. The whole presentation coming out of these links can be seen to have put a stress on “Xi Xinping thought” and “securing looking after the people”. (Somewhat as had been mentioned in CWR in recent times!)

    The last two MSN links (WSJ, Canadian Press) give more extensive background and historical insights.

    ‘ “The congress calls on all party members to acquire a deep understanding of the decisive significance of establishing comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the party Central Committee and in the party as a whole and establishing the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought,” said a resolution on the constitution approved at Saturday’s closing session.

    “Xi Jinping Thought” refers to his ideology, which was enshrined in the party charter at the previous congress in 2017.

    In brief closing remarks, Xi said the revision to the constitution “sets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the party’s overall leadership.” ‘

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/us/chinas-communist-party-amends-charter-as-its-congress-ends/ar-AA13fyTn

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/chinas-communist-party-congress-kicks-off-with-xi-set-to-extend-rule/vi-AA131nDo?ocid=mailsignout%2Cmailsignout&category=foryou

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-s-xi-jinping-moves-to-extend-rule-as-top-communist-party-rivals-retire/ar-AA13fq4l?cvid=79e295c10577454eb2d460ed87b28cec

    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/china-reaffirms-xis-dominance-removes-no-2-li-keqiang/ar-AA13fE34

  2. I have nothing but contempt for the agreement and those who negotiated this great betrayal. In the interest of being mischievous, however, I will say that the CCP is less likely than the Francis Vatican to appoint homosexuals as bishops. Even as skillful a Jesuit as Hollerich would find his case for unnatural sex to be a tough sell with the no-nonsense Red China, which has little patience for such absurdities.

    • Well they now have “pastors who are worthy and suitable,” just like Parolin and Francis knew they would when they betrayed faithful followers of Christ to subjugate the Catholic Church to the most evil oppressive regime in the history of the world.

  3. This pope is a travesty. After all those many years that Chinese Catholics suffered for keeping the faith, this pope just shows utter contempt for them while being complicit with the repressive, atheist, communist regime.

    He and those who support him should hang their heads in shame for the havoc they are wreaking on the Church.

  4. Does this ultimately reflect the meaning of Vatican II? I remember in Catholic history a controversy over “lay investiture,” where politicians appointed bishops. Thomas a Becket lost his life in this conflict between Altar and Throne. Are we now supposed to bow before the Throne?

  5. Quote “Can evangelization succeed if efforts to “dialogue” with persecutors muzzle the Church’s prophetic voice in speaking truth to worldly power?

    The answer is No

    I have read that Pope Francis has placed the Chinese Catholics under the protection (Tent) of of His esteemed mother St Mary Rather we look to the light of Christ while being guided by the Holy Spirit who teaches us not to collude with evil within ourselves and others and in doing so, we bear witness to the Truth, and this forms the basis of how we evangelize.

    “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live”

    In trust, we look to God Alone for our protection. As His true peace is given to us in our faithfulness to Him (Alone) via the light of the Holy Spirit which cannot be taken from us.

    Note. I appear to have been locked into the same opening page since the 17th of September 2022 making it difficult to function (Follow posts etc) with ease on the Catholic World Site (Only). I have tried using another computer to no effect, is this happening to anyone else?

    kevin your brother
    In Christ

  6. An inviolable issue is the integrity of divine revelation and the right of the Catholic Church to express it in her doctrines, liturgy, and messaging. If Sinicization per this latest Vatican China renewal omits, subverts this revelation, the agreement is an immoral capitulation.

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