Cardinal Joseph Zen speaks during a Mass at the Holy Cross Church on May 24, 2022, in Hong Kong, China. The cardinal was set to stand trial on Sept. 19, 2022, in connection to his role as a trustee of a pro-democracy legal fund, which he and oth… […]
Pope Francis aboard the papal flight to Kazakhstan, Sept. 13, 2022 / Rudolf Gehrig / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Sep 13, 2022 / 04:59 am (CNA).
Pope Francis told journalists on the papal plane Tuesday that he is ready for the first papal trip to China.I… […]
Flag of the People’s Republic of China / Yan Ke / Unsplash (CC0)
CNA Newsroom, Aug 24, 2022 / 02:21 am (CNA).
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.
FreshStock/Shutterstock
Rome Newsroom, Jul 6, 2022 / 10:10 am (CNA).
Human rights advocates have raised concerns about heightened restrictions on Christians in China after Pope Francis expressed hope that the Holy See’s agreement with Beijing w… […]
Pope Francis waves at pilgrims from China at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 7, 2016. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Vatican City, Jul 5, 2022 / 04:49 am (CNA).
Pope Francis said he hopes the Vatican’s provisional agreement with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops will be renewed for the second time in October.
In comments to Reuters published Tuesday, the pope said “the agreement is moving well and I hope that in October it can be renewed.”
The Vatican-China agreement was first signed in September 2018 and then renewed for another two years in October 2020. The terms of the agreement have not been made public.
Pope Francis spoke to Reuters about the China deal in a 90-minute interview which also covered his health, resignation rumors, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
In September 2021, the Vatican confirmed that the sixth Catholic bishop had been ordained under the agreement’s terms.
Seven bishops ordained before the 2018 agreement have also had their positions regularized by the Vatican.
Pope Francis said the appointment of bishops under the deal in China “is going slowly, but they are being appointed.”
The slow process, he said, is “‘the Chinese way,’ because the Chinese have that sense of time that nobody can rush them.”
Father Bernardo Cervellera, former editor-in-chief of AsiaNews, told CNA last year that the bishops who have been nominated and ordained are close to the Patriotic Catholic Association, “so this means that they are very near to the government.”
The Catholic Church is still in need of around 40 more bishops in China, according to Cervellera.
In the Reuters interview, Pope Francis said the Chinese “also have their own problems because it is not the same situation in every region of the country. [The treatment of Catholics] also depends on local leaders.”
He also defended the Vatican-China deal against its critics.
“Diplomacy is the art of the possible and of doing things to make the possible become a reality,” he said.
He compared today’s critics and those who spoke negatively of 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.
St. Francis Xavier statue in front St. Joseph Cathedral in Beijing, China, February 25, 2016. / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 23, 2022 / 17:03 pm (CNA).
In 2007 Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed May 24, the feast of Our Lady, Help of C… […]
Cardinal Joseph Zen. / Yung Chi Wai Derek/Shutterstock.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 22, 2022 / 11:08 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Sunday said he is praying for the Church in China and “attentively and actively following the often complex life a… […]
Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 27, 2017. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Vatican City, Apr 11, 2022 / 05:40 am (CNA).
With the Vatican-China deal on the appointment of bishops due to expire in October, Cardinal Pi… […]
St Paul’s Cathedral in Wenzhou. / 三猎 via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Manila, Philippines, Oct 27, 2021 / 11:05 am (CNA).
Chinese authorities have kidnapped Catholic Bishop Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou, according to a report by AsiaNews on Tuesday, Oct. 26.
The report said the 58-year-old prelate was taken by authorities “on vacation,” adding that it was not the first time the bishop was taken away. He has been arrested several times since he was appointed to the diocese in 2016.
“Pray that the Lord will give [Bishop Shao] confidence and courage, that he will not be disheartened by what has happened,” read a statement from Catholics in the diocese quoted by the AsiaNews report.
“Pray also that he remains healthy and refreshed, under the guidance of Christ, so that he will come back to us as soon as possible to pasture his flock,” it added.
The Vatican confirmed Bishop Shao to lead the diocese in September 2016, following the death of his predecessor, Bishop Vincent Zhu Weifang, who was imprisoned for 16 years. At the time of his predecessor’s death, Zhumin was arrested by police and taken “on a trip,” according to the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need. He was then detained by authorities several times after that.
In April and of May 2017, Bishop Shao was arrested; after the second arrest, he was detained for seven months. In 2018, he was reportedly arrested again and subjected to indoctrination.
Born in 1963, Bishop Shao Zhumin was ordained a priest in 1989. In 2011, he was appointed coadjutor bishop of Yongjia.
His appointment was, however, not accepted by the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
Detentions of underground clergy in China are common, as a means of pressuring them to join the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
The “abductions” of religious leaders usually take place on the eve of important Catholic events, such as Christmas, Easter, the Feast of the Assumption, and All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day, said AsiaNews. In recent years, authorities have blocked the entrance to the Wenzhou cemetery ahead of All Souls’ Day to prevent Catholics from gathering.
In Zhejiang, the percentage of Christians exceeds 10%, according to AsiaNews, and the faithful “are very zealous.”
Earlier in 2021, Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang disappeared for months after Chinese officials detained him along with other clergy and seminarians opposed to joining the state-run church.
null / Jonathan_Densford/Shutterstock
Washington D.C., Oct 18, 2021 / 15:01 pm (CNA).
The Chinese Communist Party is targeting organized religion as a threat – even seeking to “change” or “transform” it into a loyal party apparatus, a panel of f… […]
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