Father Rutler: The Betrayal of China's Catholics

Father George W. Rutler

The opening line of a children’s poem by Mary Howitt in 1828 is a caution for growing up in a duplicitous world: “‘Will you walk into my parlour?’ said the Spider to the Fly.” Christians must be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16) because we are sent as sheep into a world of wolves. So there we have a whole menagerie of metaphors, all making the same point about naiveté. 

The best diplomacy secures amity, but at its worst it lets loose ministers who are innocent as serpents and wise as doves. Charles de Gaulle, who was not subtle, said, “Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains, they drown in every drop.” Without succumbing to cynicism, it is possible to see a mixture of calculation and callowness in the provisional agreement between the Holy See and Communist China, recognizing the primacy of the Pope, but at the price of an unclear arrangement giving the government a role in the appointment of bishops. 

Ever since Constantine, and certainly since Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne in 800, ecclesiastical and civil threads have been intertwined. The mediaeval Investiture Controversies were background for the sixteenth-century appointment privileges granted to the French crown and the Concordat between Pius VII with Napoleon. In the year that Mary Howitt wrote about the Spider, nearly five of every six bishops in Europe were appointed by the heads of state. Right into modern times, Spain and Portugal invoked the PatronatoReal and the Padroado, but these involved governments that were at least nominally Catholic. The 1933 Reichskonkordat with the Nazi government was not the proudest achievement of the Church. The Vatican’s accommodationist “Ostpolitik” in the 1960s, made Cardinal Mindszenty a living martyr.  The Second Vatican Council sought, largely successfully, to reserve the appointment of bishops to the Sovereign Pontiff (Christus Dominus, n. 20).

It was my privilege to know Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei of Shanghai, who endured thirty years in prison, and Archbishop Dominic Tang Yee-Ming of Canton who was imprisoned for twenty-two years, seven of them in solitary confinement. The eighty-seven-year-old Cardinal Archbishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, sees a betrayal of those who have suffered so much for Christ. Time will tell if the present diplomacy is wise. An architect of this agreement, Cardinal Parolin, said: “The Church in China does not want to replace the state, but wants to make a positive and serene contribution for the good of all.” His words are drowned out by the sound of bulldozers knocking down churches while countless Christians languish in “re-education camps.”

A fourteenth-century maxim warned: “He who sups with the devil should have a long spoon.” For spoon we might now say chopsticks. When it comes to cutting deals with governments, it is sobering to recall that of the Twelve Apostles only one was a diplomat, and he hanged himself.

An Open Letter to Conferences of Catholic Bishops across the World

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An Open Letter to Conferences of Catholic Bishops Across the World Regarding the Possible Agreement Between the Holy See and the Government of the People’s Republic of China

 

Your Eminence and Most Reverend,

We are a group of Catholics. Recently there has been news reports indicating that the Holy See and the government of the People’s Republic of China will soon reach an agreement over the issue of bishop appointment, as well as recognition of seven illicit “bishops”. We are deeply shocked and disappointed. With our love and allegiance to the Holy Mother Church, we hope you and the bishops conferences would pay attention to such development.

According to the teachings of the Holy Mother Church, bishops are the successors of the Apostles, bearing the duties of leading and tending the flock: “The Church is apostolic. She is built on a lasting foundation: “the twelve apostles of the Lamb” ( Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (Mt 16:18). She is upheld infallibly in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops.”(Catechism, 869) All bishops must therefore be appointed by the Successor of Peter — the Holy Father, the Pope. And they must be men of moral principles and wisdom. The government must play no role in the selection process:

“[T]he right of nominating and appointing bishops belongs properly, peculiarly, and per se exclusively to the competent ecclesiastical authority. Therefore, for the purpose of duly protecting the freedom of the church and of promoting more conveniently and efficiently the welfare of the faithful, this holy council desires that in future no more rights or privileges of election, nomination, presentation, or designation for the office of bishop be granted to civil authorities.” (Christus Dominus, para. 20)

Yet, the seven illicitly ordained “bishops” were not appointed by the Pope, and their moral integrity is questionable. They do not have the trust of the faithful, and have never repented publicly. If they were to be recognized as legitimate, the faithful in Greater China would be plunged into confusion and pain, and schism would be created in the Church in China.

We fully understand that the Holy See is eager to be able to evangelize in China more effectively. However, we are deeply worried that the deal would create damages that cannot be remedied. The Communist Party in China, under the leadership of Xi Jinping, has repeatedly destroyed crosses and churches, and the Patriotic Association maintains its heavy-handed control over the Church. Religious persecution has never stopped. Xi has also made it clear that the Party will strengthen its control over religions. So there is no possibility that the Church can enjoy more freedom. In addition, the Communist Party has a long history of breaking promises. We are worried that the agreement would not only fail to guarantee the limited freedom desired by the Church, but also damage the Church’s holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity, and deal a blow to the Church’s moral power. The Church would no longer be able to have the trust of people, and “serves as a leaven and as a kind of soul for human society as it is to be renewed in Christ and transformed into God’s family.” (Gaudium et Spes, 40)

In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, our beloved Pope Francis writes: “Sometimes I wonder if there are people in today’s world who are really concerned about generating processes of people-building, as opposed to obtaining immediate results which yield easy, quick short-term political gains, but do not enhance human fullness… The Lord himself, during his earthly life, often warned his disciples that there were things they could not yet understand and that they would have to await the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:12-13). The parable of the weeds among the wheat (Mt 13:24-30) graphically illustrates an important aspect of evangelization: the enemy can intrude upon the kingdom and sow harm, but ultimately he is defeated by the goodness of the wheat.” (224-225) The Spirit of God sometimes does not allow us to proceed. (ref. Act 16:6) Though the force of evil is growing, time belongs to God. By putting our trust in the Lord, the dark night will eventually pass. Rushing for a quick achievement, taking a wrong step, can  result in total failure.

His Holiness has always been attentive to the sufferings of persecuted Christians. He once said: “Legal systems, therefore, whether state or international, are called upon to recognize, guarantee and protect religious freedom, which is an intrinsic right inherent to human nature, to the dignity of being free, and is also a sign of a healthy democracy and one of the principal sources of the legitimacy of the State.” “It causes me great pain to know that Christians in the world submit to the greatest amount of such discrimination. Persecution against Christians today is actually worse than in the first centuries of the Church, and there are more Christian martyrs today than in that era.” We believe that persecution of Christians in China also pains His Holiness. Therefore, we urge that any agreement must be grounded in the protection of religious freedom, and an end to religious persecution. Unfortunately, as a newly-revised Regulation on Religious Affairs, which allows for stricter scrutiny over religions, has just been put into effect in early February, we cannot see any possibility that the coming agreement can result in the Chinese government stopping its persecution of the Church, and ceasing its violations of religious freedom.

Your Eminence and Most Reverend, we earnestly hope that, you, your brothers and your flock continue to pray for the communion of the Church in China, as well as her pastoral ministry. We earnestly ask you, with the love on the people of God, appeal to the Holy See: Please rethink the current agreement, and stop making an irreversible and regrettable mistake.

May the Almighty God bless the Church in China!

Martyr Saints of China, pray for us!

(Click to join the petition)

The initiators are university professors, lecturers, researchers, human rights activists and lawyers:

Dr. Kenneth Ka-lok Chan (Hong Kong)
Prof. Joseph Yu-shek Cheng (Hong Kong)
Mr. Yiu-leung Cheung (Hong Kong)
Dr Rodney Wai-chi Chu (Hong Kong)
Dr. Martin C. K. Chung (Hong Kong)
Mr. Yan-ho Lai (London, UK)
Dr. Wing-kwan Lam (Hong Kong)
Dr. Lisa Yuk-ming Leung (Hong Kong)
Mr. Kwok-ming Ma (Hong Kong)
Mr. Chit-wai John Mok (Irvine, US)
Mr. Benedict Rogers (London, UK)
Dr. Yik-fai Tam (San Francisco, US)
Prof. Wai Ting (Hong Kong)
Mr. Yiu-ming To (Hong Kong)
Mr. Patrick Yu (Northern Ireland, UK)

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An Estimated 20,000 Chinese Catholics have taken part in a Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Sheshan

Chinese Catholics carry a statue of Our Lady of Sheshan in procession in May 2009 (CNS/UCAN)

Shanghai (AsiaNews) –  Thousands of Catholics have come on pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan, on the feast day of Mary Help of Christians. But according to the Diocese of Shanghai, the lists of pilgrims include at least 20,000 people who made the journey during the month of May. Others are praying throughout China in their own communities.

Since Benedict XVI launched the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China in his Letter to Chinese Catholics (2007), 24 May has been an important date.

In his letter, the Pope emeritus called on Chinese Catholics to join him in prayer to boost their unity, love and pray for their persecutors, receive from the Churches of the whole world "fraternal solidarity and solicitude" as well as persevere in bearing witness.

Beijing is Persecuting the Church Because It Fears China Will One Day be Christian

One day the superpower will be Christian, and Communism just a distant memory

Worshippers at a Catholic church in Taiyuan, China (CNS)

We are very lucky, here in the United Kingdom: it’s been years since any cleric has been sent to jail for the crime of being a cleric. The Anglicans had some ritual martyrs in the nineteenth century who fell foul of the Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874, but these must have been the last men to have been imprisoned for a specifically religious offence in British history. The last Catholic martyr to be executed in England was St Oliver Plunket who suffered in 1681, during the Titus Oates disturbances, though anti-Catholic legislation remained on the statute books until the twentieth century, and only really disappeared with the Catholic Relief Act of 1926.

Read more at Catholic Herald >>

In the Footsteps of Saints

A visit to two Chinese Catholic villages

From The Catholic World Report

By Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.

Anthony Clark walks with villagers to the new church at Zhujiahe Village.

“The more we share the sufferings of Christ, the more we share in his consolation.”

(2 Corinthians, 1:5) 

Hebei, China, June 19, 1900. Surrounded by fields of corn, sorghum, apple trees, and cotton, two French Jesuits waited for the arrival of their executioners. Father Remi Isoré and Father Modeste Andlauer had heard that Boxers had already arrived in their small village of Wuyi, where the growing Catholic community had attracted the attention of the Fists of Righteous Harmony. The two priests decided to offer Mass rather than flee; they locked the chapel doors and began the Holy Sacrifice. As the Boxer crowd crashed through the door with their swords, the two holy priests knelt at the altar. They prayed as they were hacked to death. Their heads were displayed the next day at the village gate to warn other Christians what awaited them if they refused to denounce God, which was customarily done by performing some act of disrespect to a holy image of Christ or his Mother. 

Hebei, China, July 20, 1900. More than 3,000 Chinese faithful had crowded into Zhujiahe, a tiny Catholic village on the vast flatlands of China’s Zhili province, today known as Hebei. Normally the village held only 300 poor peasants, but Boxers were sweeping through northern China destroying churches and killing Catholics who refused to apostatize, and Catholic villagers from other areas had accumulated there to marshal their forces and defend themselves. By mid-morning the two Jesuit priests in the village, Father Paul Denn and Father Léon Mangin, could see the signs; it appeared that in God’s providence they would all wear martyrs’ crowns by the end of the day. The two exhausted priests donned their sacred vestments—stoles and chasubles—and gathered with 1,000 others into the small village church, where they prayed aloud beside the holy altar. Having killed nearly everyone outside of the church building, the Boxers and Qing troops at last pried open the chapel doors and directed a barrage of bullets into the crowd. Fearful that bullets would kill her pastor, Mary Zhu leapt in front of Father Mangin and extended her arms to form a cross. She received his bullets and fell to the floor. Exhausted from shooting, the attackers at last barricaded the church doors with mattresses soaked in kerosene and ignited the building with sorghum reed torches. The sorghum palms the villagers had planted became the martyrdom palms that ushered them into heaven—all but a handful of 3,000 Catholics were massacred that summer day at Zhujiahe village.

Hebei, China, December 9, 2011. Passing by fields of crops, village walls with nationalist slogans, and factories billowing dark smoke into the skyline, I imagined what Hebei looked like in 1900. One can now reach Dezhou from Beijing in an hour and a half by speed train; 111 years ago it took several days by horse or wagon on rut-filled mud roads. I had visited villages before where simple men and women—farmers who worked the land in bitter conditions—had earned the crowns of martyrdom, but I knew that I would soon stand where the largest anti-Christian massacre in China’s long history had occurred. I would soon stand on earth that had absorbed the blood of the 3,000 Catholics who were killed during the fevered violence of the 1900 Boxer Uprising. I was taken first to Wuyi, where two Jesuits died alone at the altar, and then to Zhujiahe, where two other Jesuits died along with 3,000 poor Catholic villagers.

Cardinal Zen Skewers Atheist China's Attempt to Run the Catholic Church

It is absurd to hear the statements of politically correct state puppets defending Beijing's policies 

Statement of Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun

Hong Kong

July 26, 2011

These last few days, Catholic faithful inside and outside China have noted with sadness and indignation words pronounced by Anthony Liu Bainian and Reverends Joseph Guo Jincai, Johan Fang Xingyao and Joseph Yang Yu, which are hardly distinguishable from being schismatic. But yesterday’s statement by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) has reached the extreme of absurdity.

We may understand if the government comes out to defend their puppets by saying that they are politically correct, or to praise their courage in resisting foreign pressure; but now they come out to praise their “ardent Catholic faith” and to say that the ordinations without papal mandate are necessary for “the normal running of the Church and for the needs of pastoral and evangelizing activity.”  This is absolutely preposterous and ridiculous, given that as some scholars have recently pointed out, the government is now “running” the Catholic Church.

2nd Chinese Bishop Excommunicated, Vatican Announces. 'This is War.'

 From Catholic World News

The Vatican has officially announced the excommunication of the Chinese bishop ordained on July 14 in defiance of the Holy See.

This was the 2nd public announcement of excommunication of a Chinese bishop within the past month, as the escalating conflict between Rome and Beijing prompted one prominent prelate to say: “This is war.”

Pope Benedict XVI’s Sorrow over Illicit Episcopal Ordinations in China

From Vatican Radio

An event that is being followed “with sorrow and concern” because it is contrary to “the unity of the Universal Church”: this is how the Director of the Vatican Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, commented on the news that Father Joseph Huang Bingzhang had been illicitly ordained bishop in Shantou, China. A number of bishops, who are in communion with the Pope, were obliged to participate in the ceremony.

Vatican: Chinese Catholics Should Not Receive Sacraments from Bishops Involved in Consecration

From Catholic World News

Fr. Joseph Huang Bingzhang illicitly ordained by the Communist government of China for the Shantou diocese.

The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples is urging Catholics in China not to receive sacraments administered by Father Paul Lei Shiyin, who was illicitly consecrated Bishop of Leshan without a pontifical mandate, and by the seven bishops who consecrated him. 

China 'Kidnaps' Bishops to Stage Catholic Ordination

China has ordained another bishop without the Pope's approval and allegedly kidnapped four bishops to witness the ceremony, in its fiercest act of defiance against the Vatican yet.

There are thought to be millions of "underground" Catholics in China who remain loyal to Rome Photo: REUTERS

From The Telegraph
By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai

In a three hour-long morning ceremony, China's government-run Catholic church ordained the Reverend Joseph Huang Bingzhang as the new bishop of the southern city of Shantou.

It is the third time in eight months that the Communist party - which insists that it, rather than the Pope, controls China's church - has appointed a bishop without a Papal mandate.

Thursday's ceremony was particularly controversial after four bishops loyal to the Vatican were taken away by Chinese police and allegedly forced to participate.

Chinese Police Seize Catholic Bishops as Illicit Ordination Approaches

From Catholic World News

Four Chinese Catholic bishops have been seized by police and are being held incommunicado, apparently so that they can be forced to participate in the ordination of a new bishop arranged by the Catholic Patriotic Association.

Bishops Liang Jiansen of Jiangmen, Liao Hongqing of Meizhou, and Joseph Gan Junqiu of Guangzhou—all of them recognized by the Vatican—are being held by authorities. Chinese Catholics loyal to the Holy See expect that the bishops will be brought by police to the scheduled ordination of a new bishop in Shantou on July 14.

Officials of the Patriotic Association have announced that they will proceed with episcopal ordinations, such as the one in Shantou, without Vatican approval. The Vatican has countered with a reminder that anyone who participates in an episcopal ordination without approval from the Holy See is subject to the penalty of excommunication. While noting that his penalty would not apply to those who participate under compulsion, the Vatican has urged Chinese Catholics to resist pressure, emphasizing the the illicit ordinations harm the unity of the Church.

In the Liaoning diocese, priests have surrounded Bishop Paul Pei Junmin to protect him from being seized by authorities. With police ringing the cathedral, the priests have announced that they will remain there to protect the bishop.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Officials kidnap bishops of Guangdong to force them to take part in illicit Shantou ordination (AsiaNews)

China: Episcopal Ordination Postponed, Bishop-Elect Arrested

From Catholic World News

Father Joseph Sun Jigen

For the 2nd time this month, Chinese officials have abruptly abandoned plans for the ordination of a bishop—after the priest who was to have been consecrated as a bishop obtained the approval of the Holy See.

Father Joseph Sun Jigen, who was to have been ordained on June 29 as Bishop of Handan, was taken into custody by police on June 27 after he finished a spiritual retreat. 

Chinese officials have insisted that they will precede with episcopal ordinations without seeking Vatican approval. But Father Sun apparently sought and received the Vatican’s approval on his own. 

Earlier this month, plans for the unauthorized ordination of another bishop in Hankou were shelved, reportedly because of resistance from the Catholic faithful—including the priest who was to have been ordained.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Hebei: ordination of Handan bishop cancelled, it had Holy See approval (AsiaNews)
• China postpones illicit ordination of new bishop (CWN, 6/7)

Chinese Police Isolate Hebei Village after Death of an Underground Bishop

The village of Gonghui (Hebei) has been cut off by the police to prevent large groups of Catholics who want to pay their last respects to the remains of an underground bishop.

Bishop Andrea Hao Jinli of Xiwanzi died March 9 at the age of 95. The diocese of Xiwanzi (Hebei) is a diocese of the underground Church, with 15 thousand faithful, about 260 km north of Beijing, near the border with Inner Mongolia.

Cuba Answers Church Request, Begins Releasing political prisoners

From Catholic World News

The Cuban government has decided to release dozens of political prisoners, responding to requests from the Catholic Church, the Cuban bishops’ conference has announced.

After a meeting with Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino of Havana, Cuban President Raul Castro announced that the government would begin releasing political prisoners immediately. The move is another indication of the growing influence exercised by the Catholic hierarchy in Cuba.

The exact number of prisoners to be released is unclear. Different news reports used different figures, ranging from 47 to more than 70. In any case the announcement points toward the most important release of political prisoners since the consolidation of the Castro regime in the 1960s.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Church: Cuba offers to free 47 political prisoners (AP)
  

• Cuba to release 52 political prisoners, Catholic Church says (CNN)

• 52 Cuban political prisoners are free to go (Miami Herald)
  

• Cardinal says Cuba will release more than 70 political prisoners (CNS)

China: Restrictions Placed On 'Underground' Priests As Olympics Loom

BEIJING (UCAN) -- "Underground" Church clergy who work near Beijing have faced restrictions on their work in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Near the capital, quite a number of bishops and priests not affiliated with the government-sanctioned "open" Church have been forbidden to administer sacraments or do pastoral work since late July, Church sources say.

The Summer Olympics and the Paralympic Games will take place Aug. 8-24 and Sept. 6-17, respectively.

In Beijing, an underground layperson told UCA News in early August that most underground priests who had been working in the capital have returned to their hometowns until the Olympics end.

He observed that as the date of the event neared, the Beijing government started imposing strict controls on people from other provinces entering the municipality. Officials tightened security checks in residential areas as well as at subway stations and other means public transportation centers.

While underground priests are out of town, he said, they agreed to have their parishioners attend Masses led by open-Church priests in Beijing, since Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing has papal approval.

In Tianjin municipality and Hebei province, which surround Beijing, Church sources told UCA News underground bishops have been put under house arrest and strict surveillance, and are forbidden to contact their priests.

They also said government officials told underground priests in these areas that clergy without permits from the Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) are forbidden to celebrate Mass or administer any sacraments, including anointing the sick.

Some priests said they were warned not to leave their hometowns, while Catholic villagers said they were warned not to receive underground priests who usually stay at the laypeople's homes. Anyone violating the orders would be fined heavily, they added.

In Wuqiu village of Jinxian county, Hebei, where underground Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding resides, a small house was built in April in front of the cathedral for public security officers to guard the bishop around-the-clock, Church sources told UCA News in early August. Previously, these officers had rented a residential house nearby to monitor the prelate.

Sources reported four officers now take eight-hour shifts and enter the bishop's residence in the cathedral compound every two hours to check on 73-year-old Bishop Jia, who is on medication. Despite laypeople living outside Wuqiu being warned not to visit the cathedral, the prelate still insists on celebrating Mass there every day, the sources said.

They noted that with the Aug. 15 feast of the Assumption, a key Church festival on the mainland, falling during the Olympic Games, Catholic communities are monitoring the security situation and will decide whether or not to gather to celebrate the feast.

In eastern China, underground priests in Anhui and Shandong provinces face similar restrictions, UCA News learned.

In northeastern China, Bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi of Qiqihar told UCA News on Aug. 5 that government officials recently phoned him and asked if he will be traveling or hold any religious gatherings during the coming days.

"I know they don't want us to organize any activities during the Olympics," the 50-year-old prelate said. He revealed that he told the officials he "won't go anywhere, but will support the Olympics at home, in front of the television." His diocese in Heilongjiang province has not held any special Mass for the Olympics, but Catholics will pray for the success of the event at Sunday Masses, he said.

He added that he learned some underground priests who serve Catholics in Beijing and its surrounding areas have returned home or decided to vacation in northeastern China, where the weather is cooler, to avoid problems and inconveniences. Laypeople will be safe as long as they pray at home and do not join religious gatherings, he added.

In Inner Mongolia, an underground priest told UCA News on Aug. 2 that local priests have canceled catechism classes for young people and pilgrimages this summer to avoid trouble. Priests now spend their time visiting laypeople living in remote villages and playing sports to keep fit and deepen their fraternity, he revealed.

In southeastern China, Church sources told UCA News that local officials have not imposed restrictions or given warnings to the underground communities in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, but priests there are conscious of not organizing large-scale activities during this sensitive time.