Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle speaking at the Vatican on Oct. 21, 2021. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Rome Newsroom, Oct 25, 2022 / 07:50 am (CNA).
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has defended the Vatican’s decision to renew its provisional agreement with China on the appointment of bishops.
The Filipino cardinal, considered a contender to become the Catholic Church’s first Asian pope, said that the Holy See signed the agreement “to safeguard the valid apostolic succession and the sacramental nature of the Catholic Church in China.”
“And this can reassure, comfort, and enliven baptized Catholics in China,” Tagle said in an interview published on Oct. 22 on the Vatican’s official media channels.
When asked in the interview for his response to critics of the agreement who say that the Holy See’s dealings with Beijing have led to the Vatican’s silence on the sufferings and problems of Chinese Catholics, Tagle said:
“In dialogue, the Holy See has its own respectful style of communicating with representatives of the Chinese government, but which never ignores and indeed always makes present the situations of suffering of Catholic communities, which sometimes arise from inappropriate pressures and interference.”
The Vatican announced that it had renewed its agreement with China for an additional two years on the same weekend that Chinese President Xi Jinping secured a third term as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
China’s National People’s Congress confirmed a constitutional change eliminating term limits granting Xi the possibility of lifelong rule in 2018, six months before the Holy See first signed its deal with Beijing.
Under Xi’s leadership, respect for human rights and religious freedom has deteriorated. Xi has come under mounting international condemnation for China’s brutal persecution of Uyghur Muslims in the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang, and state officials in different regions of China have removed crosses and demolished church buildings.
Tagle, who was called to Rome in 2019 to head the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, said that the open channel for dialogue with Chinese government authorities has been good in itself.
“Listening to the arguments and objections of the government also leads us to take into account the contexts and the ‘mindset’ of our interlocutors. We discover that things that are absolutely clear and almost obvious to us can be new and unknown to them,” he said.
The cardinal cited his own Chinese heritage, saying that the memory of his maternal grandfather, whom he described as a “pragmatic Chinese Catholic,” has helped him to “consider what can be more useful in the dialogue with the Chinese government.”
“Now, when I consider the dialogue with the Chinese government on ecclesial issues, I think that sometimes it is better to look for simple and direct arguments, to meet the concrete and pragmatic approach of our interlocutors,” Tagle said.
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.
The Vatican publicized the renewal of its agreement with China five days before Cardinal Joseph Zen, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, is scheduled to appear again in court. Zen was arrested in May along with other democracy activists under Hong Kong’s strict national security law and has been one of the most outspoken critics of the Vatican’s agreement with China.
Tagle said in the interview that the Vatican is aware of negative reactions to the agreement among some Chinese Catholics and considers it “part of the process.”
“The Holy See does not ignore and does not even minimize the differences of reactions among Chinese Catholics in the face of the agreement, where the joy of many is intertwined with the perplexities of others. It is part of the process,” he said.
“But one always has to dirty ones hands with the reality of things as they are. Many signs attest that many Chinese Catholics have grasped the inspiration followed by the Holy See in the ongoing process. They are grateful and comforted for a process that confirms before all their full communion with the Pope and the universal Church.”
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Pope Francis with Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, at the consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2022 / 08:31 am (CNA).
Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals for the Catholic Church during a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday.
“Jesus calls us by name; he looks us in the eye and he asks: Can I count on you?” Pope Francis said in a homily addressed to the College of Cardinals and its new members on Aug. 27.
“The Lord,” he said, “wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
The pope’s reflection followed a reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 49-50: “In that time, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!’”
“The words of Jesus, in the very middle of the Gospel of Luke, pierce us like an arrow,” Francis said.
“The Lord calls us once more to follow him along the path of his mission,” he said. “A fiery mission – like that of Elijah – not only for what he came to accomplish but also for how he accomplished it. And to us who in the Church have been chosen from among the people for a ministry of particular service, it is as if Jesus is handing us a lighted torch and telling us: ‘Take this; as the Father has sent me so I now send you.’”
The pope ended his homily mentioning that one cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was not present. Francis asked for prayers for the African prelate, explaining Baawobr had been taken ill.
At the beginning of the consistory, Pope Francis pronounced the opening prayer of the ceremony in Latin.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Creed. They then pronounced an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors.
Each cardinal then approached Pope Francis, kneeling before him to receive the red birretta, the cardinal’s ring, and a document naming the titular church he has been assigned.
Pope Francis embraced each new cardinal, saying to him: “Pax Domini sit semper tecum,” which is Latin for “the peace of the Lord be with you always.” Each cardinal responded: “Amen.”
The new cardinals also exchanged a sign of peace with a number of the members of the College of Cardinals, representative of the whole college.
While placing the red biretta on the head of each cardinal, the pope recited these words: “To the glory of almighty God and the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church.”
As he gave each new cardinal the ring, Francis said: “Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened.”
In his homily, the pope said: “The Lord wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
He also recalled another kind of fire, that of charcoal. “This fire,” he said, “burns in a particular way in the prayer of adoration, when we silently stand before the Eucharist and bask in the humble, discreet and hidden presence of the Lord. Like that charcoal fire, his presence becomes warmth and nourishment for our daily life.”
“A Cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether dealing with great questions or handling everyday problems, with the powerful of this world or those ordinary people who are great in God’s eyes,” he said.
The pope named three men as examples for the cardinals to follow: Saint Charles de Foucauld, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, and Cardinal Van Thuân.
The consistory to create cardinals also included a greeting and thank you to Pope Francis, expressed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the liturgy dicastery, on behalf of all the new cardinals.
Cardinal Arthur Roche speaking on behalf of the new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27. 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
“All of us, coming from different parts of the world, with our personal stories and different life situations, carry out our ministry in the vineyard of the Lord. As diocesan and religious priests, we are at the service of preaching the Gospel in many different ways and in different cultures, but always united in the one faith and the one Church,” Roche said.
“Now, in manifesting your trust in us, you call us to this new service, in an even closer collaboration with your ministry, within the broad horizon of the universal Church,” he continued. “God knows the dust of which we are all made, and we know well that without Him we are capable of falling short.”
Roche quoted Saint Gregory the Great, who once wrote to a bishop: “We are all weak, but he is weakest of all who ignores his own weakness.”
“However, we draw strength from you, Holy Father,” he said, “from your witness, your spirit of service and your call to the entire Church to follow the Lord with greater fidelity; living the joy of the Gospel with discernment, courage and, above all, with an openness of heart that manifests itself in welcoming everyone, especially those who suffer the injustice of poverty that marginalizes, the suffering of pain that seeks a response of meaning, the violence of wars that turn brothers into enemies. We share with you the desire and commitment for communion in the Church.”
At the end of the consistory to create cardinals, Pope Francis convened a consistory for the cardinals to give their approval to the canonizations of Blessed Artemide Zatti and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini.
The new cardinals are:
— Cardinal Arthur Roche, 72, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and former Bishop of Leeds (England);
— Lazarus You Heung-sik, 70, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy and former Bishop of Daejeon (South Korea);
— Jean-Marc Noël Aveline, 63, Archbishop of Marseille, the first French diocesan bishop to get the honor during Pope Francis’ pontificate;
— Peter Ebere Okpaleke, 59, Bishop of Ekwulobia in the central region of Nigeria, who was created bishop in 2012 by Benedict XVI;
— Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, 77, Archbishop of Manaus, in Brazil’s Amazon region, a Franciscan who played a leading role during the Amazon Synod and as Vice President of the recently created Amazonian Bishops’ Conference;
— Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão, 69, Archbishop of Goa (India), appointed bishop by St. John Paul II in 1993;
— Robert McElroy, 68, Bishop of San Diego (United States), whose diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by the President of the USCCB, Archbishop José Gomez;
— Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, 68, a Salesian, since 2019 the Archbishop of Dili (East Timor);
— Oscar Cantoni, 71, Bishop of Como (Italy), appointed in January 2005 by St. John Paul II, who is suffragan to Milan;
— Archbishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., 77, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State; the Spaniard is the first Legionary of Christ to become a cardinal;
— Anthony Poola, 60, Archbishop of Hyderabad (India), a bishop since 2008 and the first dalit to become a cardinal;
–Paulo Cezar Costa, 54, Archbishop of Brasilia (Brazil), the fourth archbishop of the Brazilian capital to become a cardinal;
— Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 62, Bishop of Wa (Ghana), former Superior General of the White Fathers, and bishop since 2016;
— William Goh Seng Chye, 65, Archbishop of Singapore since 2013;
— Adalberto Martinez Flores, 71, Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay) and the first Paraguayan cardinal;
— Giorgio Marengo, 47, Italian Missionary of the Consolata and Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, the youngest cardinal in recent history, along with Karol Wojtyla, who also was created a cardinal at 47, during the consistory of June 26, 1967.
Furthermore, Pope Francis appointed the following prelates over the age of 80, who are therefore excluded from attending a future conclave.
Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena (Colombia); Arrigo Miglio, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari (Italy); Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit and former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, who extensively collaborated in the drafting of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium; and Fortunato Frezza, 80, (Italy) currently a Canon at the Basilica of St. Peter, who collaborated for several years at the Secretariat General for the Synod of the Bishops.
Pope Francis had originally also nominated Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy, 80, who later declined to accept the post because of criticism of his response to clergy abuse cases.
In 1984, Pope John Paul II met in Rome with 300,000 young people from all over the world in a meeting that laid the foundations for today’s World Youth Day. / Credit: Gregorini Demetrio, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“China’s National People’s Congress confirmed a constitutional change eliminating term limits granting Xi the possibility of lifelong rule in 2018, six months before the Holy See first signed its deal with Beijing.”
So I am wondering what Itally would be like today, had Pope Pious XII signed all Catholic Spiritual power and authority, in Italy and Germany, over to Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party, under this ‘lifelong rule’?
Jesus never even talked to Caesar, much less did Jesus order St. Peter to hand over all Catholic Spiritual power and authority over to Caesar, in the hopes of ‘dialog’ with the Monster.
As one totally unqualified to toss out a comment on the Provisional Agreement—whether the Church is hanging by such a thread in China that preservation of the Apostolic Succession is the absolute last straw, this reader does wonder about the relevance of Cardinal Tagle’s “Chinese heritage,” and about his future message as head of the dicastery (no longer Congregation) for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Of the perennial Catholic Church, is Tagle signaling a pragmatic and even nationalist/synodalist tilt for the polyhedral Church?
The Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, was very open to the religions of Asia (not including the “mindset” of the Westernized/atheist party mandarins of today), and in his biography offers this different view about polyhedrons…”When a ray of light strikes a crystal [polyhedron], it gives a new quality to the crystal. And when God’s infinitely disinterested love plays upon the human soul, the same kind of thing takes place. And that is the life called sanctifying grace.”
The visible/papabile Cardinal Tagle also speaks of “the [still] sacramental nature of the Catholic Church in China.” Well, under the equally hostile “mindset” of the Roman Empire, suddenly we did witness the pivotal role of the secular Constantine in advancing the life of the Church (legalization, then convening of the Council of Nicaea).
Still, we probably should not attribute everything good that pops up in our chaotic world as the “inspiration” of the Holy Spirit. Is the provisional agreement the best of a really bad situation in a sea (See?) of chaotic syncretism (the sociologist Pitirim Sorokin’s expression for periods of cultural freefall)? Or not?
“China’s National People’s Congress confirmed a constitutional change eliminating term limits granting Xi the possibility of lifelong rule in 2018, six months before the Holy See first signed its deal with Beijing.”
So I am wondering what Itally would be like today, had Pope Pious XII signed all Catholic Spiritual power and authority, in Italy and Germany, over to Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party, under this ‘lifelong rule’?
Jesus never even talked to Caesar, much less did Jesus order St. Peter to hand over all Catholic Spiritual power and authority over to Caesar, in the hopes of ‘dialog’ with the Monster.
As a mediocratic kiss-up would.
As one totally unqualified to toss out a comment on the Provisional Agreement—whether the Church is hanging by such a thread in China that preservation of the Apostolic Succession is the absolute last straw, this reader does wonder about the relevance of Cardinal Tagle’s “Chinese heritage,” and about his future message as head of the dicastery (no longer Congregation) for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Of the perennial Catholic Church, is Tagle signaling a pragmatic and even nationalist/synodalist tilt for the polyhedral Church?
The Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, was very open to the religions of Asia (not including the “mindset” of the Westernized/atheist party mandarins of today), and in his biography offers this different view about polyhedrons…”When a ray of light strikes a crystal [polyhedron], it gives a new quality to the crystal. And when God’s infinitely disinterested love plays upon the human soul, the same kind of thing takes place. And that is the life called sanctifying grace.”
The visible/papabile Cardinal Tagle also speaks of “the [still] sacramental nature of the Catholic Church in China.” Well, under the equally hostile “mindset” of the Roman Empire, suddenly we did witness the pivotal role of the secular Constantine in advancing the life of the Church (legalization, then convening of the Council of Nicaea).
Still, we probably should not attribute everything good that pops up in our chaotic world as the “inspiration” of the Holy Spirit. Is the provisional agreement the best of a really bad situation in a sea (See?) of chaotic syncretism (the sociologist Pitirim Sorokin’s expression for periods of cultural freefall)? Or not?
Bridge-building is vital for world-rebuilding.