Cardinal Zen says Beijing still
controlling the Church in China
HONG KONG. June 1 (AP) – China has held off on ordaining bishops without Vatican approval, but government interference in the state-backed Chinese church is still a concern, Hong Kong's cardinal — a key adviser to the Pope - said Monday.
Beijing and the Vatican don't have diplomatic relations, and the power to appoint bishops is a major sticking point between them.
China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power.
Worship is allowed only in state-backed churches, which recognize the Pope as a spiritual leader. They name their own priests and bishops, but the Vatican has made efforts in recent years to recognize them.
Cardinal Joseph Zen said in a speech to the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club that while China hasn't ordained a bishop without the Vatican's approval since 2006, it held a celebration in December marking the 50th anniversary of the state-backed Chinese church's first bishop appointment. Bishops made speeches in support of a Chinese church independent of the Vatican, he said.
"This surely is unacceptable," Zen said, noting that Pope Benedict XVI considered the celebration a "provocation."
Benedict has made improving relations with Beijing a priority, but there has been little evidence of progress in his four-year effort.
Millions of Chinese belong to unofficial congregations that are loyal to Rome. Underground priests and bishops have been harassed or arrested, and the Vatican recently denounced a new wave of arrests, accusing Beijing of creating obstacles to a dialogue.
The cardinal also expressed worries that Beijing would strong-arm or bribe bishops into attending a possible meeting later this year to choose the new chairmen of the state-backed Chinese church and the Chinese bishops' conference.
Zen said bishops had been paid as much as 700,000 Chinese yuan ($103,000) to attend ordinations of bishops not approved by Rome.
There was no immediate comment from China's Foreign Ministry or the official Chinese church, the Catholic Patriotic Association of China.
Zen said China's moves came despite the Vatican's efforts to recognize bishops named by the state-backed church. He said the Vatican has approved more than 50 of the more than 60 bishops appointed by the Chinese church.
The 77-year-old cardinal, an outspoken critic of Beijing, also renewed calls for the Chinese government to stop condemning the 1989 pro-democracy protests at Tiananmen Square as a "counterrevolutionary" riot.
"There is a need that justice be made, not only for the consolation of the living parents of those young men, but also to teach future generations what is right and what is wrong," he said, speaking just before the crackdown's 20th anniversary Thursday.