THE CHURCH MILITANT - BELEAGUERED BY BERGOGLIANISM

Just a bit of chronological context: 'INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIANITY', which became an almost-instant theological classic, was published one year before Jorge Bergoglio was ordained a priest.

ALWAYS AND EVER OUR MOST BELOVED BENEDICTUS XVI




Since this is to be the next great Bergoglio scandal, allow me to re-post this entry from the previous page.



THE NEXT GREAT BERGOGLIO SCANDAL:
Vatican to allow Beijing to name bishops
by Steven W. Mosher

September 15, 2018

It is never a good idea to sign a deal just for the sake of signing a deal

The Vatican is set to sign an agreement with China by the end of the month, one that cedes control over the appointment of bishops to Beijing. In return, we are told, Beijing has agreed to recognize the pope as the head of China’s Catholics.

From my position as a long-time observer of the machinations of the Chinese Party-State, this seems like a bad deal. The pope is ceding his very real authority to name bishops to China’s Communist authorities in return for the promise of symbolic recognition as the titular head of all Catholics in China. Might he not be giving up something for nothing?

The Vatican originally proposed that China follow the terms of an agreement it had reached with the Vietnamese government over the appointment of bishops. Under its terms, the Vatican and the Vietnamese authorities, working together, draw up a list of potential candidates. The Vatican then chooses someone from the list who, once Hanoi ratifies the choice, is consecrated as a bishop by the pope. Such a model clearly preserves papal authority.

This “Vietnam model” was rejected by China, however. As the official Global Times later reported, “Such a model was not accepted by China when it was tested in the country in 2005, as the Chinese authorities want total control over choosing candidates.”

Beijing went on to insist upon a “Chinese model”, under the terms of which the Communist authorities alone will nominate a potential candidate for bishop. The pope must then approve or reject that candidate. If he vetoes the first candidate, Beijing will nominate another.

The pope’s “veto power,” however, is not unlimited.

As a Chinese official familiar with the negotiations was quoted as saying, “We cannot submit endless candidate lists to the Vatican if the pontiff keeps saying no. We may have to appoint bishops unapproved by the pontiff after a set number of rounds of negotiations. Such bishops may not be legitimate under the Church doctrine, but they can still give Church services to Chinese Catholics.”

In other words, the pope may veto an obviously unsuitable candidate or two, but Beijing has made it clear that there is a limit to the number of times a papal veto can be used. It has also limited the amount of time that the Vatican has to respond once a candidate’s name is submitted.

This means that at the end of the day it is the Communist authorities, and not Pope Francis, who will have the final say over who becomes a bishop in the Chinese Catholic Church.

The Vatican is reportedly prepared to make other concessions as well.

Perhaps the most important is that Pope Francis will formally consecrate as bishops seven men who were made “bishops” by the Communist authorities over the past decade. All of these men have been previously rejected by the Vatican as bishop candidates for various reasons having to do with personal morality, public actions, or both.

In a further concession, the Vatican has promised that the Pope will lift the excommunication of the seven illicit “bishops” of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association even before the new agreement is signed.

Second, the Pope will order two bishops of the underground Church, who have faithfully served for decades under intense persecution, to hand over their dioceses to bishops appointed by the Communist authorities. Shantou Bishop Zhuang Jianjian has been ordered to retire, a decision that has caused enormous pain to the local Church, while Mindong Bishop Guo Xijin has been told that he will be made an “auxiliary” of the Shantou diocese he has long headed.

The fate of the forty or so other underground bishops is unknown, although the Times reports that the Communist authorities are expected to recognize the “underground” bishop of Qiqihar, in Heilongjiang province, Bishop Wei Jingyi.

Not long ago, I was told by a senor Vatican official that the signing of a formal agreement with the Chinese Party-State would give Rome the leverage it needs to improve conditions for Catholics in China. His view of the trustworthiness of Chinese officials struck me as naïve, especially in view of the many agreements that Beijing has signed–only to violate–over the years.

It seems to me even more unwise to move forward with an agreement at the present time, when the Communist authorities are engaged in a widespread crackdown on all forms of religious expression in China.

Will the same people who are tearing down churches and burning bibles suddenly cease and desist simply because they have signed an agreement with the Vatican? It seems unlikely, especially given that new regulations restricting religious activities were just announced on February 1st of this year and are being carried out with ever-increasing fervor.

To make matters worse, the purported Vatican-China agreement almost seems deliberately designed to be nonbinding, since its terms are to be kept secret from the world in general, and from Chinese Catholics in particular. How can it be used as “leverage” if its terms are known only to a handful of people in Rome?

The same senior Vatican official insisted that, since “we will be signing an agreement with Xi Jinping himself. . . will they not abide by it?”

I quickly recited to him a litany of agreements that the Chinese government has signed, only to violate. These included the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Sino-British Agreement over Hong Kong, and the World Trade Organization covenants.

It is also clear that Xi Jinping simply will not tolerate “foreign interference in internal Chinese matters.” As I write in Bully of Asia, Xi is channeling the late Chairman Mao, and like him is carrying out a Cultural Revolution in China to eliminate all religions. If the Vatican thinks the proposed agreement will put it in a position to aid the Chinese Catholic Church, much less direct its activities, it is in for a disappointment.

The Chinese Party-State, on the other hand, will undoubtedly use the pretext of a Vatican-China agreement to increase its persecution of the Underground Church in China. It will insist that each and every one of China’s 12 million Catholics worship only in churches approved by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. It will use the borrowed authority of the Vatican to further clamp down on unregistered churches in so-called underground communities led by bishops loyal only to Rome.

Those in the Underground Church, who have suffered so much over the decades, may be in for yet another season of suffering.

Expert explains Vatican compromise
with Communist China
by Anita Carey

September 12, 2018

FRONT ROYAL, Va. (ChurchMilitant.com) - An exclusive interview with a Chinese cultural expert sheds some light on why Vatican prelates are compromising with China's Communist government at the expense of the Church.

Steven Mosher is the president of Population Research Institute and a Catholic who has been studying and working in China since 1976. In 1979, he was the first American in China after the U.S. normalized diplomatic relations with the Chinese government and has spent decades in the country living and working with the Chinese people.

"I've basically spent my life studying China," he said.

Mosher traveled to Rome earlier this summer to talk directly with Vatican prelates "to find out what these officials thought the Church would gain from inking an agreement with the Chinese Communist Party."

He said he's been trying to get them "to understand the nature of the regime they're dealing with" and that their purpose is contrary to everything the Catholic Church stands for.

The Vatican has been communicating with the Chinese government since 2005 when the disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick traveled to China to meet with Communist Party officials for the first time.

Mosher explained McCarrick mentioned commonalities between Pope Francis and the president of China, Xi Jinping, and their concern for social issues.

"I don't see any commonalities at all between the Catholic Church and the Chinese Communist Party," Mosher noted.

He said some Church officials who are reluctant to talk about personal morality are swept away by the claims of the Communist Party that they have made great strides in social policies.

"It makes them uncomfortable to talk about personal morality if they're not living the commandments," he said. "It's much, much easier to talk about the social teaching of the Church because that's not an individual obligation, it's a communal obligation, a social obligation that doesn't create a kind of cognitive dissonance in their minds and the kind of conflicts in their mind that talking about, for example, avoiding homosexual behavior requires."

Mosher explained that if a bishop or priest is "not living the Faith with regards to personal morality, he will want to duck that question and segue off into unchallenging talk ... which puts no demands on his conscience or own personal behavior."

He said Cdl. Blase Cupich's recent statement about "not going to go down a rabbit hole," is an example of a desperate attempt to change the subject away from personal morality because of internal conflicts.

Mosher said Xi Jinping is the new "Red Emperor" who has "more power than Mao Zedong." Jinping has control of both the government and the military, something that Mao Zedong didn't. Using the guise of an "anti-corruption campaign," Jinping is purging his enemies from the Communist Party. Over 1.5 million government officials in the past five years have been brought up on corruption charges — but not one of Jinping's supporters, Mosher explained.

In January, after the Vatican asked two legitimate bishops to resign so Patriotic Church bishops could be installed, China's highest-ranking prelate, Cdl. Joseph Zen, blasted the Vatican for "selling out" and caving to the demands of the Communist leaders.

Cardinal Zen wrote an open letter to the media, saying Pope Francis "doesn't know the Chinese communists" and "the people around him are not good at all." He blasted the Vatican, saying, "They have very wrong ideas."

Mosher agreed with Cdl. Zen's assessment that the Vatican does not understand the Communist Party. He explained the China that is presented to casual visitors and diplomats is not the same China that those fluent in the language see. These people are met by a delegation of officials that wine and dine them at five-star hotels and leave them "feeling pretty good about China."

He said because they are either followed or escorted everywhere, these visitors never meet ordinary people or those in the underground Church.

"Cardinal Zen is exactly the kind of person that the Vatican should be relying upon for information and for the formulation of strategy about how to deal with the Communist Party," Mosher said.

Additionally, because of the language barrier, most visitors have no idea what is really going on and only know what the government "minders" are telling them.

"They haven't seen the real China," he said. "They've lived in kind of an alternate reality" during their trip, noting that this is a common phenomenon with many visitors who then come back "singing the praises of the regime."

An example of this was in February 2018, when Abp. Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, praised the Communist Party for not having slums, its low drug use and a "positive national conscience." Archbishop Sorondo said, "Right now, those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese."

Mosher said he spent four hours with Abp. Sorondo during his visit discussing the "fundamental disagreements" the Communist Party and the Catholic Church have on human rights issues such as abortion, forced sterilizations and poverty.

Mosher said he had to explain to Abp. Sorondo the reason there are no slums outside of Bejing is that people aren't allowed to live in those slums. Internal passport controls instituted from the Communist Party force around one million of Bejing's poorest to live in crowded basements with five to 10 other people or in older housing that the Communist Party is quickly tearing down.

Last fall, Mosher said, the Bejing city government deemed there were too many people living in the city and summarily evicted three million people who had emigrated there for work but lacked the proper documentation.

"They were basically thrown out into the snow in the middle of winter," Mosher said.

The arrangement the Communist Party wants with the Catholic Church is a "rubber stamping" of who the Party picks to be the bishop, Mosher explained. The Party has said openly in the media that they do not want the "Viet Nam model," where the final choice for bishop is left to the Vatican and respects the authority of the Magisterium. The proposed "China model" leaves the final choice to the Communist Party, and if the Vatican doesn't approve, they can veto the candidate.

Mosher noted Cdl. Zen wondered how many times the Vatican can veto a candidate before the Party eventually ordains their candidate, overriding the authority of the Magisterium.

"At the end of the day, the Party will decide who's going to be the bishop," he said.

"The Communist Party is officially atheistic," Mosher explained. "Their policy is now to gradually eliminate the Catholic Church over time."

In February, Jinping instituted a new policy making it illegal to take children to Mass. It forces all Catholics, even those going to the underground Church, to register with the government and makes parish life activities like prayer meetings and catechism classes illegal. He said, "They want to limit the Catholic Church to celebrating Mass on Sunday."

"The Chinese Communist Party wants to be all things to all people," Mosher said. They are "almost insulted" that the Catholic Church would be filling the unmet needs of the Chinese people because the Party is supposed to be meeting all the needs of the people "on the journey to the socialist paradise."

"That's the recipe for the elimination of the Catholic Church, not tolerance of it," Mosher explained.

Mosher said there is much more on the topic in his book, The Bully of Asia.

A new post:

Religious freedom for Chinese Catholics
imperilled if Vatican deal is inked
by Olivia Enos

September 14, 2018

New reports indicate that a deal between the People’s Republic of China and the Vatican is imminent. If inked, the pact may have serious implications for the religious freedom of Catholics in China, as well as for diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which the Vatican currently recognizes as the official representative of faithful Catholics in China.

The deal purportedly grants the Chinese government power to nominate future bishops. It would also require the Vatican to recognize seven excommunicated Chinese bishops currently operating in China without recognition from Rome.

When the notion of a deal was first raised, Catholics around the world voiced concerns over the role the Chinese government would play in the appointment of Catholic bishops. Under the proposed deal, the pope has veto power over bishops nominated by Chinese authorities. In all other countries, the pope possesses sole authority to appoint bishops.

News of an impending deal comes amidst a crackdown on people of faith throughout China. A Human Rights Watch report estimates that over a million Muslim Uighurs are currently detained in re-education camps in the western province of Xinjiang. Rising persecution of Protestants in China grabbed the attention of lawmakers in Congress who condemned reports that Chinese authorities are burning Bibles, imprisoning pastors, and tearing down crosses from churches.

Religious persecution has long been a feature of Chinese Communist Party rule. Since the 19th Party Congress last October, however, religious persecution has risen substantially.

New Regulations on Religious Affairs, instituted this February, represented an extension of the party’s attempts to Sinicize religious practice—essentially an effort to secularize religion so that it serves the party’s ends.

Finalizing a deal now would send the message that the Vatican is willing to turn a blind eye to Chinese threats to religious freedom—including the persecution of Catholics.

The State Department’s latest International Religious Freedom report estimates that China is home to 12 million Catholics. Some are congregants in China’s officially recognized churches, while others worship in underground churches.

The 2017 report recounts the bulldozing of Catholic churches, the forcible disappearance of Father Lu Danhua (now believed to be held in a religious “re-education” facility), and the detention and imprisonment of numerous Catholic parishioners.

A report on China from Freedom House suggests that persecution of Catholics is on a downward trend, but that religious persecution overall is still rising.

It is against this backdrop that the Vatican intends to normalize relations with China.

Any Vatican deal with Beijing will also affect religious freedom in Taiwan. Taiwan is known for respecting religious freedom. But under the One China policy, the Vatican would likely be required to switch official recognition from Taiwan to China.

Such a transition would sever ties with Taiwan’s last remaining European ally and send a negative message to Taiwanese Catholics who have faithfully operated in accordance with Rome since the Holy See granted diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in 1942.

Before signing a deal with Beijing, the Vatican should think seriously about the message that act would send regarding its concern for religious freedom in China. Any decision should be made with the primary goal of advancing religious freedom for all. Granting the Chinese government authority over the appointment of bishops is unlikely to achieve those ends.

Enos is a researcher in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation where she writes about international human rights issues including human trafficking, transnational crime, religious freedom, and democratic freedoms, among other social issues in Asia.

There's a significant caveat from longtime China observer and AsiaNews editor Fr. Bernardo Cervellera. It's a significant point he raises, because what does Beijing stand to gain from the agreeement as it stands? It can always go on doing what it wishes to do about religions in the country and about the Catholic Church in particular. The rumored agreement does not inhibit Beijing in anyway from whatever it wishes to do.

It's the Bergoglio Vatican that has been obsessed with having a 'deal' with China at any cost, it seems,for the dubious motive of enabling Bergoglio to become the first pope ever to visit China. No one buys their argument that the Vatican is doing this for the good of the Catholics of China, because it will essentially have no say at all about their fate.

Who knows if China really wants
an agreement with the Holy See?
by Fr Bernardo Cervellera
Editor


According to the Wall Street Journal the "historic agreement" will be signed by the end of September. But announcements of this type have been happening for years. The Pope and the Vatican are ready, but China is divided: it favors the foreign ministry; against the United Front and the Patriotic Association which continue unperturbed to persecute the Church and religions. The silence of Beijing and Xi Jinping.


Rome, Sept. 15, 2018 (AsiaNews) - The authoritative Wall Street Journal (WSJ) yesterday released the news that China and the Vatican "are ready to sign a historic agreement" by the end of the month.

The agreement concerns the procedure for the appointment of bishops, in which China has the power of appointment and the Pope would have the power of temporary veto or confirmation.

On the other hand - according to the WSJ – he would be recognized as "head of the Catholic Church in China" in exchange for which, he "should recognize seven excommunicated bishops" who had been appointed by Beijing and ordained without papal mandate.

In reality, the lifting of the excommunication from seven bishops is the result of a personal journey undertaken by these pastors with the Pope and was no 'leverage' at all in negotiations between the Holy See and the Beijing government.

But beyond these canonical clarifications, it is worth pointing out what the WSJ says in the article: that "the agreement could still fail or be postponed, due to unforeseen events".

And here is the point. For at least three years now, Italian and Vatican journalists have been announcing that an agreement between China and the Vatican is about to be signed - always quoting anonymous people, but "with inside knowledge of the Vatican-Chinese dossier": In November 2016, at the end of the Year of Mercy; then at the end of 2016; then in June 2017; then last March ,and now the end of September. And so far nothing has happened. Jokingly, one of my brothers says that these predictions are like those of Jehovah's Witnesses for the end of the world!

Quoting the Gospel, we can honestly say that nobody knows "neither the day nor the hour" (Matthew 25,13). This "not knowing" does not depend on the Pope and the Vatican.

In the past five years Pope Francis has professed 'great love and respect' towards the Chinese people and their history, and has openly expressed his desire to go to China. For which the Vatican delegation 'negotiating' such an agreement seems willing to grant any concession in order to have even a small, even temporary, agreement with the Chinese giant.

The fundamental question - which few journalists and observers ever pose themselves - is whether China is really interested in this agreement.

In the past, authoritative commentators have attributed the reasons for the delay to the divisions among Catholics in China and in the world. In reality, the significant divisions are within the Chinese Politburo.

On the one hand, there is the foreign ministry, open to international politics, which would be favorable to the signing of the agreement: there would be a massive gain for China in terms of its global image and international reputation, which right now is suffering because of the tug of war with the United States; it would shake Taiwan – left only with the Vatican among EU nations that recognizes it from a diplomatic point of view.

But there is also the United Front, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the Patriotic Association, which govern the daily life of Christian communities, enriching themselves with their controls and expropriations of Church property.

For them, any space given to relations with the Vatican represents a threat to their absolute power. For this reason they continue to persist in showing their hegemony: churches and crosses destroyed; seizure of land; bans on young people attending churches; sinicization, that is the assimilation and submission of every activity and of all theological and liturgical thought.

After the Chinese Communist Party Congress last October, the United Front was placed directly under the Party. This means that Xi Jinping, president and general secretary of the Party, is its maximum authority. And so, the waiting could be ended with a single decision by Xi Jinping in wanting to sign the agreement with the Vatican.

But at present, Xi's authority is rather weakened: the frontal confrontation with the US could have disastrous economic consequences for China, for which he is bring criticized from within the Party itself.

In addition, his anti-corruption campaign against "tigers" and "flies" has created a great many enemies. In deciding to sign the agreement with the Vatican, he would have to stand against the United Front, which would add to of those who would like to see him fall from power.

This goes some way to explaining the silent reaction to the WSJ scoop in Beijing newspapers, and the foreign ministry reaffirmation of its "sincerity" in wanting dialogue with the Vatican but without commenting at all upon any agreement.

The Beijing Academy of Social Sciences claims to know "no details of the agreement, or when it may be signed"; while many in the Chinese Church want an agreeement [Which one - the Beijing-led one, or the underground Church? I can't imaging either of the two wanting n agreement of the sort that has been discussed all along!], but nobody knows when this will happen.