China is already breaking the deal. Just last week, dissident Catholic priests were placed under house arrest in Jiangxi province, in violation of an agreement to protect clergy from coercion. Priests in the diocese of Yujiang, which is under surveillance, were banned from “engaging in religious activities as clergy” after refusing to join the regime`s so-called “patriotic church,” and Bishop Lu Xinping was prevented from celebrating Mass. In September, Pompeo angered some senior Vatican officials, including those negotiating with the Chinese, by publicly calling on the Church to halt talks with China in order to preserve its moral status. The fact that he chose a conservative Christian magazine that criticized the pope to voice his grievances did not elicit much sympathy among Church leaders. He reminded his audience that after decades of negotiations, the agreement was not just “an end point”; it is above all “a starting point” for the Church in China and Sino-Vatican relations. Today, there are about 100 Catholic bishops in mainland China; many are very old, but all are now united because of the agreement with the Pope. About 30 of them belong to the underground church and refuse to join the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, so they are not recognized by the Beijing authorities. The situation of these bishops has become more difficult since the agreement, as the Chinese authorities have used it, contrary to Rome`s expectations, to pressure bishops and clandestine priests to submit to the religious policy of the state. On the 22nd. In October, the Holy See and China announced that they had agreed to extend the provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops by two years. At the end of this agreement “for experiments” – the term used by the Vatican – the agreement becomes final or a different decision must be made. Until then, however, the Vatican will want to see concrete results.
“You can be deceived in the dialogue, you can make mistakes, all that. but that`s the way. Narrow-mindedness is never the way to go,” the pope said of the deal with China, which was particularly opposed by conservative Catholic groups. “My main objection to the deal is that we don`t know what it is,” U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, the de facto leader of Pope Francis` critics in the Church, said in a brief interview before welcoming Pompeo to an event hosted by the U.S. Embassy in the Vatican last month. The “main objective” of the agreement on the appointment of bishops in China “is to support and promote the proclamation of the Gospel in this country and to restore the full and visible unity of the Church.” As the Catholic News Service reported, “Pope Francis told reporters in September 2018 that the agreement provides for a dialogue on potential candidates. The issue will be resolved through dialogue. But the appointment is made by Rome; the appointment is made by the Pope. Is that clear. The Vatican revealed that the Church`s fundamental teaching on “the special role of the Pope within the College of Bishops and in the appointment of the bishops themselves inspired the negotiations” and “was a point of reference in the drafting of the text of the agreement.” This contributes to the fact that all Catholic communities in China are united behind the Pope. In October, when the two-year extension of the agreement was announced, the Vatican reported that the “results” achieved so far under the agreement were the appointment of two new bishops who had papal approval.
In its press release, the appointments were hailed as a “good start”. “Thanks to the implementation of the agreement, there will be no illegitimate ordinations,” the statement said, before expressing joy that the Chinese Church is experiencing “unity” again. ==References==15 now raises serious doubts about these allegations. An article published in L`Osservatore Romano on the day of the announcement of the extension states that the “main objective” of the agreement on the appointment of bishops in China “is to support and promote the proclamation of the Gospel in this country and to restore the full and visible unity of the Church.” He added that “the main motivations” that guide the Holy See in its dialogue with the Chinese authorities “are fundamentally ecclesiological and pastoral in nature, because the question of the appointment of bishops “is of crucial importance for the life of the Church, both locally and universally.” Critics, including the administration of former US President Donald Trump, tried to persuade the Vatican to abandon the pact because it compromised the pope`s moral authority. I have had a place at the forefront of religious persecution in China over the past 7 years as the head of Open Doors USA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries. The Chinese government is one of the world`s most notorious violators of religious freedom, and the situation has deteriorated since the Vatican signed the agreement. The Church`s mission is to care for and protect its 1.2 billion members around the world, but in China it has betrayed the faithful. With more than 40 dioceses in China now in need of a new bishop, the Vatican will want to see the election and appointment of many of these bishops and their approval by the pope before October 2022, when the trial phase will end. This would be a first real confirmation of the provisional agreement and an important sign of Beijing`s goodwill. Pope Francis, who is committed to the culture of dialogue and encounter and is against confrontation, gave the green light to the extension despite pressure to cancel the agreement. External pressure has come from various political actors, including the United States, as expressed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while internal pressure has emerged from sectors of the Church, including cardinals such as Joseph Zen of Hong Kong and Gerhard Müller, former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Ideally, I would say that this agreement should be abandoned. And that`s what I do in principle, absolutely. But there are two reasons why I don`t do it yet in practice. First, I know it will fall on deaf ears. The diplomats in the Vatican are determined, and it will be renewed. Secondly, we still do not know in detail what is in the agreement. It is difficult to categorically reject a text that we have not yet fully seen. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen has warned that the 2018 deal will “kill” Catholic underground in mainland China, and his warning now appears to have been confirmed. The clandestineness is so weakened that Beijing, which calculates that the agreement has achieved its goal, rejects its only substantive point. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church, deprived of its papal role in episcopal appointments in China and facing a diminished and demoralized underground, is far worse placed to survive intact in the Xi era.
Pietro Parolin, vatican secretary of state and a second-rate official after the pope, said Wednesday that talks on diplomatic relations were premature. The deal provoked opposition from church conservatives, arguing that it sells off those who have suffered for decades in China`s underground Catholic Church because those faithful refused to recognize bishops appointed by the communist government rather than Rome. The agreement, they argue, effectively tolerates religious freedom and human rights violations in China. Two years ago, the Vatican signed a provisional agreement with Beijing that is valid for two years. .