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The last 10 years of the Church in China:
From the Letter of Benedict XVI to
the Vatican silence on the arrest of Mons. Zhumin
The silence on the persecution of Chinese Catholics and their bishops in Wenzhou and Shanghai.
The agencies Benedict XVI did not accept (Patriotic Association and Chinese Bishops' Conference)
because 'incompatible with Catholic doctrine' now govern the Church. Vatican-China dialog must address
the issue of underground bishops out in the open and not in secrecy.
An analysis from a northeast Chinese Catholic, as the Vatican celebrates a new round of China-Holy See talks.
by 'Joseph'
June 26, 2017
Editor's Note: Marking the 10th anniversary of the Letter from Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics, we received this analysis from a Catholic in northeastern China, named Joseph.
In it he traces these 10 years evidencing how - though Pope Francis has proclaimed it still relevant and valid - the facts show that it is being betrayed bit by bit. Citing facts and situations, the author also points out how the power of the Chinese government is increasingly determining the life of the Church while appointing bishops, choosing and ordaining candidates who live in "gray pragmatism" as described in 'Evangelii Gaudium', 83.
[That part of Par. 83 refers to “the gray pragmatism of the daily life of the Church, in which all appears to proceed normally, while in reality faith is wearing down and degenerating into small-mindedness”, which is a quotation taken from Cardinal Ratzinger's address, 'The Current Situation of Faith and Theology' at the 1996 Meeting of Presidents of Latin American Episcopal Commissions for the Doctrine of the Faith, in Guadalajara, Mexico, 1996.]
Joseph also complains that there is too much silence on persecution as bishops, priests and lay people endure in China and fear that the talks between China and the Vatican - a session of which took place June 20-21 in the Vatican - will lead to the elimination of the unofficial Church...
Recently, the fourth detention of Bishop Shao Zhumin, Bishop of Wenzhou, caught the attention of the German ambassador to China and many people in the country and abroad.
Additionally, this year marks the 10th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s Letter to Chinese Catholics and the 5th anniversary of the forced house arrest of Bishop Ma Daqin July 7, 2012. It is the perfect occasion to briefly review recent Church events in China.
The Letter of Benedict XVI
Ten years ago, Pope Benedict XVI published his famous Letter to Chinese Catholics, in which he indicated that some bodies, which were placed above the Church, namely the Chinese Patriotic Association and the Episcopal Conference [In Chinese, "Yi hui, yi tuan" - One Association, One Conference], are incompatible with the specific nature of the Catholic Church. The Pontifical Letter aroused a strong reaction. Later, the Holy See also published a Compendium of the same Letter.
Nine years after its publication, Pope Francis acknowledged that the Letter still guides the Church's affairs in China.
In addition, two initiatives were undertaken with the Letter:
- the first, the observance of May 24 as the Feast of Our Lady of Help of Christians and the Day of Prayer for the Church in China and Pope Benedict’s special prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan for this purpose. T
- the second initiative is a permanent study commission formed under Benedict XVI which convened at regular intervals to consider the problems of the Church in China and the relations between China and the Vatican.
Its official statements have expressed concerns and remonstrations against cases in which the Beijing authorities had obviously forced so-called 'democratic' episcopal ordinations.
Yet 10 years later, when Pope Francis recalled the Day of Prayer of the Universal Church for the Church in China, the offices of the Holy See no longer mention the Letter of the Emeritus Pope or that the Special Commission has been suspended without reason.
The bishop of Shanghai and "free" episcopal ordinations
With regards the Church in China, five years ago, at the episcopal ordination of the auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, Mons. Ma Daqin (appointed by Beijing’s One Association/One Conference as coadjutor bishop), he refused the imposition of hands by an illegitimate bishop and after the blessing, he announced that he was withdrawing from the Patriotic Association. This fact went down in history as 'the change of July 7'.
Bishop Ma's gesture was welcomed with a huge applause both in China and abroad. But at the same time, it led to the virtual paralysis of the Diocese of Shanghai,sheep without a shepherd, which is still the case even today. Bishop Ma has been under compulsory house arrest for five years, and has been unable to exercise his episcopal ministry. The Vatican does not recognize the only existing bishop in Shanghai [an 'official' one], so the situation is fraught with unpredictable variables.
Over the course of five years, Beijing has not directly ordered any democratic episcopal ordination, but the appointment and ordination of bishops reveal evident signs of being under the full control of local authorities.
Such cases include Monisgnors An Shuxin, Wu Qinjin, and other bishops who were officially installed on the initiative of local authorities, following the consent of the One Association/One Conference officials.
In recent years, bishops who have been officially ordained have all been chosen by the diocese and the Patriotic Association, with the permission of the One Association/One Conference and with registration by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, at the same time as the announcement of the appointment by the Holy See.
On the eve of ordination, the decree for the appointment of the Holy Father is read to the clergy, but during the ceremony of ordination or installation itself, what is read to the faithful is the document of permission from the Chinese Bishops' Conference.
The new bishop must then state that he supports the party and the government, that he loves the Church and the Homeland, whose Constitution and laws he will obey. Both legitimate and illegitimate bishops take part in the ordinations, while the ceremonies are previously prepared in detail by the official authorities to ensure perfect execution down to the last detail'.
Dialogue and persecution
In the context of the many and strong rumors of an agreement reached in the negotiations between China and the Vatican, the two Cardinals of Hong Kong, emeritus Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and the current bishop, Cardinal John Tong Hon, have published different comments: the first illustrating his pessimism and disappointment, the second some optimism.
China's semi-official cultural circles hastened to visit the Vatican to establish contacts and friendship. But the news that is spreading today is that the negotiations between China and the Vatican have faltered. They are reportedly preparing to resume then with a change of stakeholders. [What does that mean? Will there be a change in the negotiators, too?]
From another point of view, Msgr. Ma's gesture led to him be thought by many to be 'a good mascot for the Church in China', and he attracted interest in the underground Church. But last year the bishop published five articles on line, in which he reflected deeply on what he called his impetuous action five years ago and humbled himself with a public retraction.
During these five years, an underground priest Yu Heping died of suspected drowning, Msgr Shi Enxiang, an elderly bishop who had been under house arrest for a long time for a long time, died in detention. At least two bishops and a number of clandestine priests are frequently detained, taken away and pressured to enter the Patriotic Association of the official Church.
Yet all these facts seem to be ignored by many who had been led on by the news that the day of the possible diplomatic agreement between China and the Vatican is near.
Neither has the Holy See uttered a word or even an appeal on behalf of their situation: they seem to have become a group vulnerable to rejection.
Meanwhile, some dioceses in the nation are divided into factions, some of which are considered 'faithful' to the unofficial Church. This phenomenon can be seen in areas of Fujian and Hebei.
The case of suspended priest Rev. Paul Dong Guanhua of the Diocese of Zhengding, who proclaimed himself a bishop in secret, is a particular example of this: it prompted the Holy See to publicly express its disapproval (even as it seems that the Holy See is no longer worried about illegitimate bishops who are autonomously nominated and ordained).
At present, the official Chinese authorities, in addition to severely enforcing law and promoting the 'sinicization' of religions, are stepping up their efforts to put some of the unofficial Church's strongholds under control. In particular, bishops like Shao Zhumin, Guo Xijin and others who hold fast to the principles of the Church of Rome, who are being forced to bend and adhere to the official Church.
Most recently, both in China and abroad, many have been concerned and have protested against the detention and the danger that Bishop Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou finds himself in.
The AsiaNews Symposium and gray pragmatism
In the context of the decade of the Letter to Chinese Catholics of Pope Benedict XVI, two different conferences were held in Rome.
The first, organized by AsiaNews, was entitled 'China: The Cross is Red'. Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin had been invited and his participation eagerly awaited. But he failed to do because of 'other commitments'.
The General Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Archbishop Savio Han Tai-Fai, gave a lecture during the symposium, in which he emphasized that a "gray pragmatism" is spreading in the Church in China.
(An archbishop who is a supporter of gray pragmatism and who is close to Beijing but who has not yet been officially recognized, even thinks that the Church in China needed this in the past, but now the circumstances have changed, and to his mind, there is no longer any reason for the underground Church 'to exploit the flag of fidelity'. Because of this, the faithful of
Zhejiang and Hebei no longer go to his church to receive the sacraments, especially since he now belongs openly to the Patriotic Association.)
The other symposium was organized by the St. Egidio Community on the subject of trade between China and the Vatican, during which the representative of the Chinese delegation received strong applause for his speech on the 'Sinicization of religions from a historical point of view and the present situation' .
In general, any agreement reached in the negotiations between China and the Vatican would be good [as long as the Vatican does not agree implicitly and de facto to Chinese leadership of the Church in China], but the fate of the unofficial Church remains uncertain in all this.
What many Chinese Catholics worry about is that the spiritual foundation of faith no longer centers on the Lord, but unconsciously without realizing it, the concern has become "rendering to God what is God's due and to Caesar what is Caesar's".
As for the clergy and faithful of Shanghai, the current situation is still confusion and concern. It is hoped that the Holy See can clearly express appropriate concern for Msgr. Shao Zhumin and the future of the entire unofficial Church, and strive to resolve the problem that 30 or more bishops of the underground Church, not recognized by the government, be openly given the necessary recognition.
And of course, 'gray pragmatism' and secularization, which are corroding the Church in China, are problems that require greater consideration.
Joseph
Faithful of a gray Northwestern church in China
An interesting sidebar to all this is provided by Sandro Magister in a June 26 Post-Scriptum to his blogpost on June 22 [see my translation in the preceding page] commenting on the silence of the Bergoglio Vatican on recent developments having to do with official persecution of underground bishops and priests in China.
June 26, 2017
Today, four days after we published our comment on June 22, the Vatican Press Director Greg Burke distributed the following statement in Italian, English and Chinese:
In response to questions from journalists regarding the case of Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou (Continental China), I can state the following:
"The Holy See is observing with grave concern the personal situation of Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou, forcibly removed from his episcopal see some time ago. The diocesan Catholic community and his relatives have no news or reasons for his removal, nor do they know where he is being held.
In this respect, the Holy See, profoundly saddened for this and other similar episodes that unfortunately do not facilitate ways of understanding, expresses the hope that Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin may return as soon as possible to the diocese and that he can be assured the possibility of serenely exercising his episcopal ministry.
We are all invited to pray for Bishop Shao Zhumin and for the path of the Catholic Church in China.
Magister duly notes that AsiaNews had come out on the same day with the analysis of 'Joseph' who had lamented the Vatican's silence about Mons. Zhumin's fate - a silence duly broken by Mr. Burke's note. At least, they reacted.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/06/2017 21:42] |