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In China, government-appointed bishops support Xi, Vatican-China deal

March 13, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Beijing, China, Mar 13, 2018 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Government-backed bishops have spoken out publicly in support of the Vatican-China deal in a Chinese media interview at the Chinese Communist Party’s annual meetings this week.

Bishop Peter Fang Jianping of Tangshan is a member of the National People’s Congress, the Chinese government’s legislative body which voted to eliminate presidential term limits March 11.

Bishop Fang said Catholics should support President Xi Jinping “because we, as citizens of the country, should first be a citizen and then have religion and beliefs,” in a Chinese media interview at the congressional meeting.

Fang, who was ordained a bishop in Beijing in 2000 without Vatican approval and then legitimized by the Holy See two years later, is also reported to have expressed confidence that the Vatican and the Chinese government could reach an agreement on the appointment of bishops to promote the development of the Church in China, according to the The Union of Catholic Asian News.

Two currently excommunicated bishops also spoke favorably of a deal between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops to the Chinese press.

Bishop Paul Lei Shiyin of Leshan, who was excommunicated by the Holy See due to his unapproved episcopal appointment, spoke to the press as an official delegate at the government’s Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference saying that diplomatic ties between China and the Vatican would have a good impact on China’s international influence and and would allow the Church to conduct its work more normally on the mainland, reported UCA News.

“There are no obstacles [to a China-Vatican deal] if everyone just thinks of the benefit of the church for the sake of peace,” said Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu of Mindong, another excommunicated bishop, in an interview with China’s Sing Tao Daily on March 10.

It would be rare for anyone giving a press interview at the Chinese government’s annual two weeks of meetings to say anything critical of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Out of the 2,964 delegates in the National People’s Congress, only two people voted against giving Xi lifelong rule.

The vote confirming Xi’s consolidation of power has been highlighly censored across China. After the removal of term limits was proposed, the words “I disagree,” “emperor,” and even “Winnie the Pooh” were censored on China’s social media networks. (A meme comparing Xi to a drawing of Winnie the Pooh dressed as a king had gained popularity online in China.)

Beijing broke off diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1951 and later established the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association in 1957 to  regulate Catholics living in China.

It is estimated that there are about 12 million Catholics currently living in China, half within official state churches in the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and the rest in the “underground Church.” Tensions between these two groups controversial episcopal appointments as the Chinese government appointed bishops without approval from the Holy See and vice versa.

“There are many communities here, in face, that don’t distinguish between above or under the ground with regard to where you most often associate yourself,” a source working with Catholics in China told CNA.

“Persecution can hit regardless of what side you belong to and all are united in the same general desire to draw closer to God … This was evident when the entire church came together a couple years ago in and around the Wenzhou region when crosses were being torn down, statues bricked up and churches bulldozed,” continued the source who expressed that there is a growing sense of unity between the two groups of Catholics in China on the ground due to persecution.

Since Xi took power in 2013, crosses have been removed from an estimated 1,500 churches, both Catholic and Protestant, as a part of an effort to “Sinicize” Christianity. New restrictions were put in place by the Chinese government Feb. 1 making it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to enter a church building.

A potential deal between the Vatican and Xi’s regime might result in Pope Francis recognizing seven bishops in China currently ordained without Holy See approval, while providing the Holy Father with a means to provide input on future appointments.

Last month, the New York Times reported that Vatican-appointed Bishop Joseph Guo Xijin of Mindong was asked by the Vatican delegation negotiating with China to step down so that Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu, quoted earlier in this article, could take his place. Guo, who has been previously detained by Chinese authorities, said that he would be loyal to Rome’s final decision.

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Pope Francis sends condolences for death of controversial German cardinal

March 12, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Mar 12, 2018 / 12:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Monday Pope Francis sent condolences for the death of Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the retired archbishop of Mainz, Germany, who died March 11.  

Expressing his condolences for the death of the prominent cardinal in a letter to Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz March 12, Francis said he learned of Cardinal Lehmann’s death “with pain,” and is praying for him “who the Lord has called to himself after a serious illness and suffering.”

Cardinal Lehmann, who served as the bishop of Mainz for nearly 33 years, died in his home on the morning of March 11 at the age of 81. He retired in 2016, and in September 2017 suffered a stroke which left his health in serious decline.

His funeral Mass will take place March 21 at the Mainz Cathedral.

Cardinal Lehmann served as president of the German bishops’ conference for 20 years. Pope Francis said that in this long period of activity he “helped shape the life of the Church and of society.”

“He always had a heart open to the questions and challenges of the times, and to offering answers and orientations starting from the message of Christ, to accompany people along their path, seeking what unites…” he continued.

Lehmann was born on May 16, 1936 and ordained a priest for the diocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany in 1963. He was appointed bishop of Mainz in 1983 and served until his retirement in 2016. He was made a cardinal by St. Pope John Paul II in 2001.

While bishop of Mainz, he became a member of the circle for dialogue between representatives of the German bishops’ conference and the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

From March 1986-1988 he also became a member, and later president, of the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue between the World Lutheran Federation and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

Lehmann was at the center of numerous controversies involving the Vatican.

During his tenure as president of the German bishops’ conference he clashed with Pope John Paul II over abortion. After years of political conflict, first-trimester abortion became permissible in Germany in 1995, as long as a women received counseling first from a state-approved counselor.

Lehmann supported the Church’s participation in the compulsory counseling through church counseling centers, despite objections from Pope John Paul II. In 1998, the pope banned the Church’s participation in the state’s counseling system.

In 1993, Lehmann was also one of three German bishops, alongside Walter Kasper and Oskar Saier, who issued a pastoral letter arguing that there should be room to allow divorced-and-civilly-remarried Catholics to receive communion “in particular situations.”

The bishops also proposed that the decision to receive the Eucharist should be left to the individual’s judgment, in discussion with a priest.

Following the promulgation of the letter, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called the bishops to attend a series of meetings at the Vatican.

The CDF also issued a corrective letter in October 1994, reaffirming Church teaching that the divorced-and-civilly-remarried may not receive Holy Communion “as long as this situation persists,” unless the couple decides to live in continence.

In  2015 Lehmann was identified as having belonged to a group of progressive reformer cardinals, who are said to promoted alternative candidates at the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, and are rumored to have promoted the election of Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis.   
It was dubbed the “St. Gallen Group,” after the host of their discussions, the Bishop of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Ivo Furer.

The group is said to have also included Cardinals Godfried Danneels, Walter Kasper, Ad van Luyn, and Achille Silvestrini, as well as the now-deceased Cardinals Basil Hume, Jose da Cruz Policarpo, Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Carlo Martini, and Lubomyr Husar.  

It met primarily between 1995 and 2006, discussing various topics, including papal primacy.

The group’s meetings were first revealed in an authorized biography of Cardinal Danneels. At the book’s launch in Brussels in Sept. 2015, Danneels said the group called themselves “the mafia.”

In 2005 Lehmann participated in the papal conclave that elected Benedict XVI, and in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.

 

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Cardinal Karl Lehmann, influential German prelate, dies at 81

March 11, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Mar 11, 2018 / 07:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Archbishop Emeritus of Mainz and one of the most prominent leaders in the German Church known for his ecumenical work, died at his home Sunday morning at the age of 81.

In a statement following the prelate’s March 11 death, president of the German Bishops Conference Cardinal Reinhard Marx said in wake of Lehmann’s passing, “the church of Germany is bowing humbly in front of a personality who influenced the Catholic church worldwide.”

Marx praised the many accomplishments and longstanding contributions of his predecessor, who he said “tirelessly” to build bridges of understanding, reconciliation and dialogue.

After retiring from his role as head of the Mainz diocese in 2016, Lehmann last year suffered a stroke last year and his health has been in decline ever since.

In a March 11 CDU party press release on the cardinal’s death, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was sad to hear of the prelate’s passing, and voiced gratitude “for our good conversations and meetings over the years.”

She called the late prelate “an exceptionally gifted mediator, between the German Catholics and Rome, in the spirit of the economical movement between the Christian churches, but also between Christians and believers of other religions.”

Born in Sigmaringen, Germany, May 16, 1936, Lehmann played a leading role in advancing the Catholic Church’s dialogue with Lutherans and Evangelicals, in particular. And with 20 years as head of the German Bishops conference, he is widely considered to be one of the most influential leaders in the German Church.

After completing seminary, Lehmann was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Freiburg Oct. 10, 1963, and held doctorates in both philosophy and theology from Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

For three years, from 1964-1967, he was an assistant to Jesuit Fr. Karl Rahner at the University of  Münster helping with the latter’s seminar on the Christian vision of the world and the philosophy of religion.

He graduated from the Gregorian University in 1967, and the same year continued to assist Fr. Rahner with his role in the Chair of Dogmatic and the History of Dogmatic at the Westfälischen Wilhelms University of Münster.

After completing his doctoral studies, writing his thesis on themes associated with Christ’s resurrection and Christian Revelation, Lehmann then taught dogmatic theology at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz.

In 1969 became a member of the Central Committee of German Catholics and the Jaeger-Stählin working committee of Evangelical and Catholic Theologians. In 1975 he was named a scientific consultant for the Catholic part of the working committee, and in 1989 became its president.

Lehman later taught at the Albert Ludwig University, Freiburg im Breisgau, and for 10 years, from 1974-1984, was a member of the International Theological Commission.

At the time, the future cardinal also edited the official publication of the documents from the Joint Synod of the Dioceses in the Federal Republic of Germany for the 1971-1975 Synod of Würzburg.

In June 1983, he was appointed Bishop of Mainz and received episcopal ordination that October. A year later, he became a member of the circle for dialogue between representatives of the German Bishops Conference and those from the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

From March 1986-1988 he also became a member and later president of the Lutheran-Catholic dialogue between the World Lutheran Federation and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

The two entities in 2017 signed their latest joint-statement to mark their shared commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. In a major ecumenical move, Pope Francis traveled to Lund, Sweden from Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2017, for a joint-commemoration of the landmark anniversary.

In addition to his role in helping advance ecumenism, Cardinal Lehmann was elected president of the German Bishops Conference in 1987 – a position he held for 20 years, being reconfirmed in the role in 1993, 1999 and again in 2005.

In 1995 he was named Special Secretary of the First Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, and from 1988-1998 was a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The prelate received awards from universities and institutions all over the world, and was the author of several publications.

He participated in the conclave of 2005 that elected Benedict XVI as Pope, as well as the conclave of 2013 that elected Pope Francis, and is rumored to have been one of the cardinals pushing for Bergoglio’s election.

Lehmann was given a red hat by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He retired from his role as head of the Mainz diocese in 2016, and died the morning of March 11, 2018.

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