Vatican City, Feb 3, 2018 / 01:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Several sources familiar with a proposed deal between the Chinese government and the Holy See have said the landmark agreement is not only a possibility, but an “imminent” certainty that could come to fruition as early as this spring.
While no specific timeline has been given for the agreement, “I’ve heard that it is imminent. And in China, in many areas and environments, it is already taken as a done deal,” Henry Cappello told CNA Feb. 2.
President of the “Caritas in Veritate International” organization, Cappello travels to China on a regular basis to offer training to the country’s bishops, and has strong ties with both those approved by the Holy See and those backed by the communist government’s Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.
Cappello was in China two weeks ago, where Joseph Ma Yinglin, the government-backed bishop of Kunming, explained the proposed deal to him.
Without the Vatican’s consent, Ma was tapped by the patriotic association to head the diocese in 2006. After his episcopal ordination, Ma’s excommunication was declared by the Vatican, because he was ordained a bishop without approval from Rome. In 2010 he was appointed president of the Chinese patriotic association’s bishops’ conference.
As part of the agreement, which has been widely reported in recent days, the Vatican is expected to officially recognize seven bishops who are out of communion with Rome, including 2-3 bishops, one of which is Ma, whose excommunications have been explicitly declared by the Vatican.
Cappello said the proposal has already been discussed in China, and he believes “this is the direction that things are going.”
In 1951 Beijing broke official diplomatic ties with the Vatican. Since the 1980s they have loosely cooperated in episcopal appointments, however, the government has also named bishops without Vatican approval.
The result has led to a complicated and tense relationship between the patriotic association and the “underground Church,” which includes priests and bishops who are not recognized by the government.
Many Catholics parishioners and priests who have rejected government control have been imprisoned, harassed and otherwise persecuted.
Currently every bishop recognized by Beijing must be a member of the patriotic association, and many bishops appointed by the Vatican who are not recognized or approved by the Chinese government have faced government persecution.
Many of the Vatican-approved bishops in China are drawing near to the age of 75, when they are required to submit their request for retirement, and many others have died, yet few successors have been named, raising questions as to whether or not a deal might be drawing near.
Regarding the seven bishops who will be recognized should a new agreement come to pass, Msgr. Anthony Figueiredo, who has worked with the seven bishops in question through the Caritas in Veritate for the past several years and was in China in July 2017, confirmed the news on the bishops’ proposed approval, saying “if the Vatican is going to accept them and an accord be reached, it’s going to be for all of them. ”
In addition to recognizing the seven bishops, the new deal would reportedly outline government and Vatican roles in future episcopal selection, with the Vatican proposing names and the Chinese government reportedly having the final say over Vatican-vetted candidates.
Figueiredo, who lives in Rome, travels to China several times a year with Caritas in Veritate, said he has worked closely with the seven bishops in question, and “they have desired this communion for years.”
He personally delivered a letter from the bishops to the Pope in 2016, which he says told the Pope they wanted communion with Rome.
“They didn’t propose the deal, certainly not in the letter they gave me, because that’s what’s come afterwards,” he said, noting that the Vatican has on several occasions sent a delegation to Beijing to discuss the details of a possible agreement.
Figueiredo said the deal could come within the next few months, saying “I think it could well come this spring, absolutely.”
For his part, Cappello said he could neither confirm nor deny any specific details of the agreement, but that as of two weeks ago during his visit to China, “we are talking in the right direction” in terms of what’s already been reported.
He said that in his view, to say China would have the final say in bishop appointments oversimplifies the matter, because the Church in China is complicated and nuanced due to its relations with a communist state.
“The Chinese bishops in China would have a big say, but knowing that the Church in China is in a communist nation, then the Church and the State, the line between them is very narrow,” he said.
“There’s really no black and white, there’s overlap there, so of course there would be an input from the government…it will be a collaboration,” Cappello said.
And as someone that has traveled back and forth to various provinces in China for the past 25 years, he said he has seen progress he calls remarkable, in terms of relations in the past decade, and during the past five years in particular.
With this deal, Pope Francis “is building bridges,” he said, adding that he believes the stronger and more vocal opponents of the accord “are on the wrong side of history.”
One of the most outspoken critics of a deal with the Chinese government has been Cardinal Joseph Zen, Archbishop Emeritus of Hong Kong.
Zen was ordained a priest in 1961 and became a bishop in 1996. He has spent a long missionary career in China, and has long been a vocal protester against human-rights abuses in China.
His concerns have grown so great that he recently traveled to Rome to meet with Pope Francis about the proposed deal, after the Vatican asked Bishop Peter Zhuang Jianjian of Shantou in southern Guangdong province and Bishop Joseph Guo Xijin from the Mindong Diocese of China’s eastern Fujian province to retire so that bishops from the patriotic association could take their place.
In a letter posted to his blog Jan. 29, Cardinal Zen said that while his meeting with the Pope last week was consoling, he believes “the Vatican is selling out the Catholic Church in China…if they go in the direction which is obvious from all what they are doing in recent years and months.”
He implied that Francis was unfamiliar with the situation, and questioned whether there could be any mutual ground with “a totalitarian regime,” comparing this to a hypothetical agreement between St. Joseph and King Herod. He said that if the agreement that comes out is a poor one, “I would be more than happy to be the obstacle.”
The Vatican immediately responded, and in a Jan. 30 statement said Francis is well-informed of the dialogue with China, so “it is therefore surprising and regrettable that the contrary is affirmed by people in the Church, thus fostering confusion and controversy.”
In a Jan. 31 interview with Italian paper La Stampa , Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin spoke of the proposed deal, and, though he didn’t mention Zen’s comments specifically, said “no one should cling to the spirit of opposition to condemn his brother or use the past as an excuse to stir up new resentments and closures.”
On the deal, he said that “if someone is asked to make a sacrifice, small or great, it must be clear to everyone that this is not the price of a political exchange, but falls within the evangelical perspective of a greater good, the good of the Church of Christ”
Figueriedo told CNA he believes the Vatican was quick to counter Zen in order to protect the deal, because “it really takes just one person on the Chinese side to say ‘you shouldn’t go ahead,’” which he says has happened in the past.
Should a deal come to fruition, Cappello said he hoped it would help normalize life for Catholic faithful and allow priests, bishops and seminarians to receive much needed formation.
China is extremely complex, he said, explaining that the Vatican has reached a point of understanding the nation which is both “encouraging and remarkable.”
However, he said there are real reasons for concern based on past events, and that any agreement is something that those on both sides will need to grow into.
CNA reached out to the Vatican for confirmation, however, they declined to comment on the situation.
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Yah, soon we will have Cardinal Fernandez. Perhaps the next Pope Francis II? Then Tucho can heal us all with his poetry! This will develop our understanding of the kiss of peace. What an Amoris it is to synodal.
I’m sad and angry my favorites among the “anti-Pope Francis Catholics” are not included here: San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, and “America’s Bishop” Joseph Strickland.
The spasmodic appointments of the last week are like watching the death throes of some baby boomer ideology. It is as if we are witnessing Arius burst a gut in the streets of Constantinople. It is asi if an old man is screaming at the end: I’ll make this permanent!”. “All will know that 2+2=5!” “I am the god of gravity; it’s laws are suspended; we are all now free to jump off buildings.” Yada yada yada. What a bother. It puts me in such a theological bad mood.
Speaking of permanency. Francis’ attempt to make a church in his image and likeness reminds me of Peter wanting to erect tents at the Transfiguration. Remember what happened after Peter impetuously spoke such ridiculous words? God spoke from the cloud: “Listen to Him!” (Jesus).
God the Father, the Son and their Spirit will have the final word…as to what becomes Francis’ legacy. In that we may rest assured.
Here’s what I think is a relevant standard by which to judge any cleric – but especially bishops and that includes the one in charge of the Rome diocese. The mission of the Church is the salvation of souls carried out by the evangelization of peoples. A rating of A+ should be assigned to a cleric who is so effective in proclaiming the Gospel that the culture is converted – including its values, morals and lifestyle such that they reflect those of Christ. An “F” is assigned to those clerics who, rather than converting the culture by their teaching, preaching and orthopraxis are instead converted by the culture. Clerics who deserve an “F” reflect in their preaching, teaching and witness the values and morals of a secular, atheistic culture.
Now, I invite Catholics to rate those prelates who have been invited to participate in this Sinod on Synodidolotry – especially the recently-named cardinals.
The new and unscheduled cardinal appointments might be more about stacking a future conclave than about the two synods (2023, 2024). It might be that there’s more anxiety than we know—and that the momentum behind the dark side in the two synods is vulnerable to the real Holy Spirit.
After all, it was probably momentum more than sober consensus that led to the so-called “Trinity” nuclear bomb test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, and that cratered two cities within three days (!) in 1945 Japan.
Is the perennial Catholic Church to be cratered by the momentum of two synods? In 1945, the long-term and warned result was a half century nuclear arms race with all the chips on the table. Likewise, with the momentum of “walking together,” as if the momentum of ersatz and backside religion can really dispose of the perennial Catholic Church and the natural law. And, as if we can simply edit away the fact that “philosophy always buries its undertakers” (Etienne Gilson, a lay theologian!).
About which, the Second Vatican Council: “The Christian dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away, and we now await no further new public revelation [!] before the glorious manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf 1 Tim 6:14, Tit. 2:13)” (Dei Verbum, n. 4).
And, about the welcomed (!) wedding guest who then showed up without a wedding gown, see Matt 22:13.
Just in case the Holy Spirit can’t hear the “listening” church well enough, it’s best to make sure that the next enclave is in the bag for the “progressives”, eh? There’s a 67% chance that the next pope will carry on the current pope’s “legacy”. But wait. There’s more! You, too, can show your support for the current pontiff! Get thee to a Latin Mass Community or Chapel. Stay there. Enjoy Catholicism while you still can. O, and don’t bother calling this “pope” the Vicar of Christ, and don’t dare kiss his ring, unless you wish to unleash his wrath. Come, Lord Jesus!
I also have named a number of Bergoglio’s new appointees. And the names I have given them are both amusing and descriptive, especially the one for Archbishop Fernandez.
(Yes, it absolutely does reference his best known work on theology, ‘Heal Me With Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing’.)
Unfortunately, in light of the standards enunciated by CWR governing comments by readers — specifically, “comments containing obscene language or personal attacks, or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory, will not be published” — I will not be able to share those amusing names here.
Sorry.
This papacy reminds me of the Trump administration, perhaps with a pinch of Kim Jung Un.
Actually the Trump administration appointed PRO LIFE JUDGES to the Supreme Court. BTW, those judges overturned R V W
Doesn’t prove anything. Over turn and eventually turn back again.
and he actually talked to some nuns on the White House lawn
Wokester:)
Funny. This papacy reminds me more of the Biden administration.
Except for the fact that Trump was NEVER invited to meet with the Pope; meanwhile, Obama/Clinton/Pelosi/Biden/Kerry all have. Let’s keep the LEFTIST pro-paganda OUT of the religion section in the news, shall we?
It’s possible that he is throwing boomerangs.. The Holy Spirit has a sense of humor! 😂
Mongolia has a cardinal with less than 5 thousand Catholics, Australia has over 5 million Catholics and no cardinal. I guess Archbishop Fisher of Sydney is too orthodox for the Vatican.
Wishing Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández and his brand new fellow colleagues – wisdom, inspiration, strength, stamina, and divine blessings in the challenges ahead.
It’s amazing that, even with the death of Cdl. Pell, Australia is not worthy of a cardinal. If pope Francis should pass away before any further consistory, them Australia will have no vote for a new pope. but smaller places like Tonga an Papua New Guinea will.
Who stood for what in the COVID-vaccination impostures.