The zero balance of the secret agreement between the Vatican and the People's Republic of China.Pictured: Episcopal ordination of Monsignor Anthony Yao Shun, Bishop of Jining, in August 2019.
(Rome) The 2018 secret agreement between the Holy See and the Communist rulers of the People's Republic of China has "failed".The well-known Vaticanist Sandro Magister comes to this conclusion and explains why.
On June 7, Msgr. Celli said:The 22nd of September 2020 marks the second anniversary of the signing of the agreement between the Vatican and the Chinese state, the content of which is still being kept secret by both sides.However, some elements could be reconstructed: The focus of the agreement is the appointment of bishops.A new detail was revealed a few days ago.According to the Vatican diplomat Claudio Maria Celli, who was instrumental in creating the agreement, the agreement expires on September 22nd should it not be extended.In fact, the Vatican had always spoken of a “provisional” agreement.
In fact, on June 7th Msgr. Celli said:
"I think we should probably extend it for another year or two.The Holy See has not yet made a decision in this regard, which will then be communicated to the Chinese authorities. ”
The Vatican diplomat also spoke of a “not an easy path”.There were "knots left" that could not be loosened and "situations that are very considerable, I would say, make you worried".
[Breitbart] The Vatican’s secret deal with the Chinese government signed on September 22, 2018, has done nothing to improve the religious freedom climate of Chinese Catholics.
Based on the findings of the just-released 2020 Annual Report from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the situation in China continues to deteriorate for followers of the Roman Catholic faith.
USCIRF is making several “recommendations to enhance the U.S. government’s promotion of freedom of religion or belief abroad in 2020.” In its report, USCIRF recommends 14 countries to the State Department for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) because their governments engage in or tolerate “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations.”
NANYANG, China — Bishop Joseph Zhu Baoyu, Bishop Emeritus of Nanyang, has recovered from coronavirus. At age 98, he is among the oldest infected patients to have recovered.
Bishop Zhu was diagnosed with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus, Feb. 3. He was treated at a hospital in Nanyang, in China's Henan province, and was said to be no longer infected Feb. 14.
In mainland China the fatality rate from coronavirus is 2.3%, though that figure jumps to nearly 15% for those 80 years or older.
(Rome) While the Pope Francis' summit on sexual abuse of minors is taking place in the Vatican, new revelations about the ex-homosexual cardinal and ex-priest Theodore McCarrick have become known.
According to Vatican planning, the Abuse Summit wants to avoid the main motive of sexual abuse: homosexuality [Let's not try to be neutral about this scourge, call it aberrosexuality.] At least 80 percent of all abuse victims of clerics are male adolescents 11 and up.
Now, new revelations surrounding homosexual McCarrick, whose case set the abuse summit rolling, became known. Besidss this, there is a connection between homosexuality and the summit. This is especially true because of the great influence that McCarrick exercised by his offices, his rank, the Papal Foundation initiated by him and not least by the Sodo-Cliques.
Church Militant's American Michael Voris reported "explosive" news late yesterday evening:
"The Communists have been incredibly successful in infiltrating the church. McCarrick was one of her men. "
Voris is convinced that the Abuse Summit is a major diversionary tactic of homosexual clerics in the Church. For decades, the same cliques have covered McCarrick, who - following Frédéric Martel's statement in his new book "Sodoma" - was one of the heads of the homosexual network.
Michael Voris
Church Militant relies on information from former communists who "played a key role" after the Second World War in building a secret network of communist training and education centers in Europe. Their information "implies" a direct involvement by McCarrick, Voris said.
According to him McCarrick was in his early years, "secretly trained in Europe by Soviet Communists" with the aim to implant him as a communist "in the heart of the Church.”
When Stalin took control of the Soviet Union in the 1920s, it was one of his plans, so much is certain, to weaken the influence of the Catholic Church, if not entirely eliminating it. This was "part of the communist world domination plans that Our Lady warned in Fatima in 1917.”
A central point of the plan, according to Voris, was the "infiltration of seminaries with young men who were to work to undermine the Church's moral code".
This strategy was confirmed by Bella Dodd (1904-1969), a senior member of the US Communist Party (CPUSA). She herself, according to her own information, placed 1,100 men in US seminars. The teacher Dodd was a leading communist activist and trade unionist in the 1930s and 1940s. She began to withdraw herself internally from communism in the course of a purge of exclusion from the party in 1949. Under the leadership of Fulton Sheen, then Auxiliary Bishop of New York, she returned to the Catholic Church and became an opponent of dialectical materialism.
Dodd revealed that according to Stalin's order, "immoral men", especially homosexuals, were to be introduced to the Church.
"Dodd's testimony is important because it not only reveals the infiltration plan, but also the connection between communism and homosexuality in this plan," which was not limited to the US.
When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989 and the Soviet empire collapsed in 1991, information from the KGB became known that the Polish seminaries had been infiltrated with hundreds of Communist agents. "The reality that the Church was besieged from within for decades shook Polish Catholics to the core," Voris said. At the same time, Catholics in Lithuania had to realize that their "hierarchy was interspersed with Soviet agents."
"Liberation theology had been carried to Latin America by KGB agents to undermine the Catholic Church through the Jesuit Order."
To train young men who would not be noticed in their home countries, various training centers were set up. One, according to Church Militant, existed in St. Gallen, Switzerland, where McCarrick was around 1950. He came from a poor family. The father had died young and the mother struggled with simple work to make ends meet.
Bella Dodd
In 2001, McCarrick told the New York Times about his time in Europe right after graduating from college. He had "no plans for his life" back then. "A friend" invited him to Switzerland, where he stayed for a whole year, without saying where he had the money for such a trip and the long stay. Something that at that time only wealthy could afford.
That McCarrick was in St. Gallen is known by James Grein, one of his sexual abuse victims. Church Militant points out that one of the Communist training centers in the West was located in Sankt Gallen, where recruited young men were trained, among other things, to be introduced to the Church.
McCarrick told the New York Times he found his priestly calling during his time in Europe. Voris:
"McCarrick would have been the ideal candidate for Soviet recruitment: a fatherless young man with homosexual inclinations and no particular ambition in life. It was a perfect match for the pattern, especially the homosexual dynamic, which made it easy to control it by blackmail. "
The fact is that McCarrick entered the seminary of the Archdiocese of New York on his return to the United States and was consecrated there in 1958.
"If McCarrick was actually recruited as a Soviet agent to undermine the Church, he fulfilled his clients' wishes perfectly."
"He rose quickly and spread moral, doctrinal and spiritual confusion on every level, inflicting injuries - not just his victims among the seminarians and other young men."
Indeed, if McCarrick had been a communist agent steeped in Marxist thought and a socialist worldview at an early age, that would explain a great deal how his way in the Church in the United States was struck by his rise to power..
The so-called "Social Justice" wing in the Church of the United States became a leader under McCarrick who is one of its central figures. Under US President Bill Clinton, he was even able to extend his influence to the government by sitting for three years in the Foreign Affairs Committee on Religious Freedom from 1996 onwards. From 1999 to 2001 he was also a member of the US Commission for International Freedom. The membership in both committees enabled him numerous foreign trips. During a ceremony, Clinton joked that these constant trips abroad were more for diplomats than archbishops.
While Benedict XVI. Restricts McCarrick's room for maneuver and imposed sanctions on him for the strong suspicion of sexual misconduct, Pope Francis rehabilitated him and made him his special envoy to the Communist People's Republic of China. As such, McCarrick was involved in preparing the secret agreement between the Holy See and Beijing, signed in September 2018, and caused critic s to call him a "seller of the Chinese Church."
The proof of Michael Voris is thin, which he knows himself. But he is right in pointing out that the evidence is too numerous to dismiss the revelations. McCarrick had "routinely bribed" and paid Roman curial officials with "benefits and probably cover-ups".
"He has been instrumental in propagating social justice that has dominated the life of the Church in the United States for decades - a movement that hides behind a language of charity, but regularly reveals its left-wing policies and its links with socialist organizations of which many are offshoots of Saul Alinsky. "
Voris also links Saint Gallen with the secret circle of high and highest progressive Church representatives founded by Cardinal Martini in the 1990s, which played a central role in the election of Pope Francis. The association of Church progressive to political left is obvious. The decidedly political action of Pope Francis confirms this. In fact, his election not only brought with it the immediate lifting of the sanctions imposed on him, but also granted him unprecedented influence in the Vatican.
Voris concludes from his information and agrees that McCarrick's case is not only closer to sexual abuse, but much broader. His entire influence on the Church in the United States and on the Universal Church should be scrutinized - and his year in Switzerland.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi Bild: Vatican.va/Justice4Poland/Youtube/Church Militant (Screenshots)
(Beijing) The authorities of the People's Republic of China expect a record number of lunar new year human movements to be celebrated in China.Mass exodus is systematically monitored by the regime for the first time using facial recognition systems.The Catholic priests of the communist empire are also monitored.
About 1.5 billion Chinese will participate in the largest mass movement in the world.Whether by train, plane, car or even on foot, most Chinese are still on the move for the next 35 days to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which is all about the pig.This superlative human movement started on March 21st and will last until March 1st.The Chinese traditionally return to their family homes to celebrate New Year's celebrations with relatives and friends to celebrate the New Year.There are no lack of bottlenecks in the means of transport and on the transport routes to transport such crowds.
The official New Year's date in China is February 5, 2019. Authorities are officially expecting 2.99 billion people.Thousands of additional trains and aircraft are used to deal with this.According to the authorities estimate, air traffic alone is expected to increase by 12 percent over the previous year.
New high-speed lines are being put into operation for the New Year, including the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong line.
For the first time, the new social credit system will also be used.Human movements are monitored and controlled with the most systematic facial recognition possible.The system uses a gigantic database and new artificial intelligence technologies.
Underground priests feel "betrayed" by the Vatican
Catholic priests are also being monitored in the People's Republic of China.To officially serve as a priest, you must join the regime approved Patriotic Association.AsiaNews has released the news of such an "official" priest.He reports that underground priests with whom he is associated, feel betrayed by the Vatican, especially since the agreement between Beijing and the Holy See. Despite the agreement, the Patriotic Association continues to work for a Chinese national church independent of the Holy See and dependent on the communist regime.
Only the Patriotic Association is recognized by the state
The priest therefore calls on the Vatican to discuss the role of the Patriotic Association in future talks with Beijing.
The reason for this message is an alarming development for the priest.Several priests of the faithful underground church with whom he is friends are about to give up their priesthood.They feel betrayed by the Vatican.Pope Francis declared after the signing of the Episcopal Agreement "The last word is mine," but the role of the Patriotic Association has not been clarified.The Patriotic Association "is a controlling body of the Chinese Communist Party and wants to build a self-sufficient church independent of the Holy See."
Pope Benedict XVI, in his 2007 Letter to Chinese Catholics, declared the Patriotic Association "incompatible with Catholic doctrine," said the priest.Pope Francis repeatedly emphasized that the letter of his predecessor is "still valid".
But the reality gives a different impression, said the priest.Francis draws on bishops and priests of the Patriotic Association, as a kind of "lesser evil." Membership in the Patriotic Association is still a prerequisite for being recognized by the state as a priest.Benedict XVI.stated, however, that membership of organizations and bodies that deny the indispensable principles of the faith and the ecclesial community is not permitted.
The Patriotic Association is doing just that, as the 60th anniversary of its founding has once again proved.
The priest tells of various underground priests who are so disappointed by recent developments that they feel abandoned and betrayed by the Vatican.Several people know that they have returned to their hometowns or want to return.They are "victims of the Sino-Vatican Agreement," said the priest.
"I'm afraid there are many priests throughout China who are going through this now: they were faithful and defended the Catholic faith, but suddenly they were betrayed by Rome.They can not rape their consciences and even less can they act against their faith. "
The priest's concern is that his confreres may lose their "missionary vocation".If the secular power knows their priesthood and they do not even get hold of the Church, "are they really like the crucified Christ, and can only cry with all their might, 'Father, why have you forsaken us?'"
Text: Andreas Becker / Giuseppe Nardi Picture: AsiaNews
"Global Times on the Vatican delegation in the People's Republic of China. Cardinal Zen: "I have to decide".
(Rome / Beijing) Vatican spokesman Greg Burke indirectly confirmed the Vatican operation in the People's Republic of China to force legitimate, faithful bishops to resign, giving way to schismatic, bishops.
"Practical steps"
On Saturday, December 15, the Global Times, a regime friendly, English-language newspaper in the People's
Republic of China, reported the presence of a Vatican delegation in
China. This had taken place in the Communist empire because of "practical steps in the implementation of the agreement on the bishops".
Last September, for the first time since the Communist takeover in
1949, a bilateral agreement was signed between the Holy See and the
People's Republic of China, but its contents are kept secret by both
sides. As the Global Times confirmed, this is about episcopal appointments.
In 1958, the Communist regime established its own religiously dependent Catholic Church, independent from Rome, the so-called "Patriotic
Association," and has since appointed its own bishops without the
consent of Rome. These bishops were excommunicated from Rome.
Simultaneously with the signing of the secret agreement, Pope Francis
lifted the excommunication of these bishops and recognized them as
legitimate bishops. The agreement also appears to require that these bishops be appointed and recognized as diocesan bishops by Rome. Since autumn 2017, it is known that the Vatican is urging two faithful bishops to resign to make way for bishops excommunicated so far.
Last week, as the newspaper reported, a Vatican delegation was in the
"Middle Kingdom" to hold "talks on the implementation of an agreement on
the appointment of bishops."These," said a spokesman for the Holy See, "talks were conducted with both government and church representatives."
The spokesperson, according to the article, was Vatican spokesman Greg
Burke, who was contacted by the Chinese newspaper last Friday. The newspaper also quoted Wang Meixiu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as saying that the talks were about filling vacant episcopal chairs.
The "new model"
The Global Times also confirmed that a bishop appointed by the regime is being used by the Vatican as a legitimate diocesan bishop. Underground Bishop Guo Xijin of Mindong accepted the papal call to resign last Friday. He is replaced by the regime's Bishop Zhan Silu. Bishop Guo Xijin was a dialogue partner of the Vatican delegation. He will be, as the Vatican wishes, auxiliary bishop of Bishop Silu in his former diocese. He confirmed this to Global Times after the meeting with the delegation from the Vatican. Global Times
presented the unusual resignation and role reversal as a "normal
castling," which goes back to "practical", ecclesiastical "necessities."
There is talk of a "new model" that, if accepted by both sides "with
good will", could be established with regard to episcopal nominations. Should that translate to mean that the diocesan bishops in future come from the Patriotic Association and the auxiliary bishops from the Underground Church? Global Times concludes:
"The Press Office of the Holy See did not respond to questions as to
whether the delegation's mission also included discussions on the
establishment of diplomatic relations or a possible visit by Pope
Francis to China."
Cardinal Zen: "Unacceptable, so I'll be silent from now on"
Meanwhile, Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong and gray
eminence of the Chinese Underground Church, commented on recent events. He was disappointed with the monthly Tempi
that Rome forces legitimate and faithful bishops to resign to establish
bishops who have been unfaithful and have turned away from Rome.
"I have told these two bishops that they should not resign voluntarily so as not to cooperate with evil. But I have also advised them to obey if the Pope orders it, because a pope's command must always be obeyed."
At the beginning of the year, Cardinal Zen experienced the great defeat when it became clear that Pope Francis is against all warnings, for the agreement with Beijing (see also "The problem is who sits in the cage" ).
Because of this disappointment, the cardinal reasons, since it is impossible for him because of his office and as a Catholic,
to criticize the Pope, he will at last to retire to a monastery and to keep silent.
He said to Tempi :
"There is the problem of the seven bishops excommunicated and pardoned by Francis. So far none of them has been placed at the head of a diocese.
If this happens, I will be silent for ever, because that would be
unacceptable and would force me to decide to rebel against the Pope or
to remain silent. I will be silent."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi Image: Global Times / Wikicommons (Screenshots) Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMDG
Emeritus Archbishop of Hong Kong: "I can not fight the Pope. But if he legitimizes the six bishops [of the Catholic Patriotic Association], I will retire to praying in a monastery. “
Hong Kong (kath.net) "I can not fight the pope. But if he legitimizes the six bishops [of the Catholic Patriotic Association], I will retire to praying in a monastery. And I will not talk to journalists anymore. I will remain silent.” Cardinal Joseph Zen, Archbishop Emeritus of Hong Kong and longtime critic of Pope Francis' China policy, announced this again. The cardinal said in an interview with the Catholic French portal La Croix that he had recently handed the Pope a seven-page letter between the Vatican and the Communist government of China about the provisional agreement of secret content. Zen had traveled to Rome specifically because he had not trusted in the reliability of the followers of Francis. This is what Maike Hickson reported on "LifeSiteNews".
He explained to La Croix that he considered this provisional agreement to be destructive to the faithful Catholic underground Church of China.
After the secret agreement, Pope Francis recognized eight bishops loyal to the government, who had originally been ordained Catholic bishops without the consent of the Vatican.
The American-German ecclesiastical journalist Maike Hickson criticized that German-language media would "spread the wrong message" that Cardinal Zen withdrew into a monastery and pointed out that Zen has made only a conditional announcement.
- Prof. Thomas Schirrmacher: "The red in Cardinal Zen's clothing truly stands for martyr's blood"
Edit:
a few days ago there was an article in the Catholic Herald about the unofficial custodian of China relations with the Vatican and millions of Chinese Catholics, the disgraced and rotten Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. In the Italian Monthly, 30 Days, he was already on record.
Cardinal Zen sharply criticized the Vatican-China agreement and calls for the resignation of Cardinal Secretary Parolin "He should resign, I do not believe he has faith"
Hong Kong (kath.net) Joseph Cardinal Zen, the well-known Emeritus Archbishop of Hong Kong, sharply criticized the Vatican agreement with China. This is reported by Reuters. This agreement is an "incredible betrayal" of the Catholic faith. At the core of the agreement is that Chinese Catholics recognize the Pope, for which the Vatican will recognize the excommunicated bishops of the communist state church. In the end, two Catholic bishops would have to give up their diocesan seats.
Zen was especially critical of Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin. "He should resign, I do not think he has any faith, he's just a good diplomat in a very secular sense." The consequence of this agreement is serious for the whole world. It will be unbelievable for the Church. That's why, according to Zen, the Vatican agreement is kept as secret as possible. According to Zen, the agreement with the Vatican will be accepted by at most half of the Roman Catholic Church in China. "I'm afraid they'll do something irrational, they'll make a revolution."
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(Beijing) In the early morning hours of the day, the Catholic underground bishop Casimir Wang Milu of Tianshui in Gansu Province died in the People's Republic of China. Msgr. Wang was 74 years old. He was not recognized by the Communist government as a bishop. His burial will take place on 18 February. There is currently no corresponding acknowledgment from the regime.
Bishop's chair of Tianshui vacant since 1955
Officially, the bishop's chair in Central China's Tianshui has only been vacant since 1972, but in fact it has been unoccupied since 1955. Tianshui was a mission area of the German Capuchins. In 1946, Pope Pius XII. made the area into a diocese. The first diocesan bishop was the German Capuchin Peter Gratian Grimm. With the Communist takeover of power, the suffering period began for the Christians of the country. In 1955 all foreign bishops and priests of the country were expelled. Bishop Grimm also had to leave China and went to Indonesia in the mission area of the Capuchins. With his death in 1972, the last official bishop of the Chinese diocese died.
In 1981, Mr. Casimir Wang was consecrated to be the underground bishop of Tianshui. The secret bishop gave him Bishop Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan of Baoding in Hebei, one of the charismatic leading figures of the underground Church. Bishop Fan spent 17 years in prisons and labor camps as well as the last five years of his life under house arrest and constant interrogation. China's underground Catholics are convinced that he did not die of "lung failure" in 1992, as it was officially called, but the consequences of torture. His beatification proceedings were initiated.
Ten years for Christ in prison
In 1983, Bishop Wang was also tracked and arrested by the regime. In Beijing he was sentenced to ten years in prison. Having been released after serving the punishment in the 1990s, he made use of the special powers the Pope had given to the Chinese underground bishops to consecrate other bishops without the direct consent of the Holy See. He had made use of it " excessively," which for him, as Asianews says, he had been suspended by Rome, despite his ardent zeal for evangelization and his inviolable fidelity to the pope. He stayed in the province of Gansu and continued to work as a pastor.
In 2007 the special authority for the consecration of bishops was given by Pope Benedict XVI. in his letter to the Chinese Catholics in general.
Bishop Wang was born in 1942 as the son of a Catholic family. In 1979, he was ordained a priest. His younger brother, John Wang, also a priest, was consecrated to the underground bishop of Tianshui in 2011.
(Beijing) Ding Cumei is the wife of Protestant underground pastor Li Jiangog. The couple was desperate to prevent the destruction of their official Church in the People's Republic of China. One of the workers had been given instructions: "Bury them. I'll take responsibility." The pastor's wife died under the rubble of the church demolished by demolition excavators. Her husband was still able to get out of the rubble.
The gruesome murder took place last April 14 in Zhumadian, Henan Province.Local police arrested two construction workers.Details were not disclosed.The authorities seem to want to avoid any "damaged image" by a cover-up of the bloody incident.
Pastor Li Jiangong and his wife Ding saw the excavator roll in, which had been commissioned by the government to tear down their church. An investor had expressed an interest for the land on which the church stood.
The couple stood against the demolition excavators. A worker ordered his team "to bury" them. .According to eyewitnesses, the backhoe operator had pushed the couple into a pit which was then filled with demolition material and earth. Pastor Li was able to free himself, but could not come to the rescue of his wife.
Ever since the Communist authorities launched an anti-Christianity campaign in 2013 of "urban cleansing" and "economic improvement", 1,700 Christian symbols and dozens of churches have been destroyed just in Zhejiang Province. Church destruction also occurred in the provinces of Hebei, Hubei and Henan. In spring 2013 Xia Baolong, the Communist Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province, declared that there are "too many crosses."
Christians see a Kulturkampf of the communist regime against Christianity which has experienced significant growth by conversions in the region.
Text: Asianews / Giuseppe Nardi Image: Difesa del Popolo (screenshot)
(Beijing) In China, the state is moving with force against churches and especially against "too visible" crosses. Christians have defended the cross of their church. 500 police officers took violent action against them. The bloody police action occurred last Monday at 3 O'clock in the morning in the district of Pingyang (Prefecture Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province). The number of injuries, including serious injuries, is considerable. However, the police had to withdraw.
"We are ready to go to prison and die for our faith," say the Chinese Christians and these are not empty words, as evidenced by the images of the defense of Shui Tou Church of Pingyang. Christians have formed a living shield to protect their church from destruction by the state. Many of them were beaten by the police and went to hospital for treatment. Some lives are in danger.
Wave of destruction against churches and crosses
The Protestant Church in Shui Tou is one of the officially recognized churches. Nevertheless, it is to be demolished because the communist regime for several months has engaged in a major campaign against Christianity. In some provinces of the People's Republic of China, Christianity is spreading rapidly. "Too quickly," according to the opinion of the dictatorial ruling Communist Party. For this reason, churches, crosses and other symbols that are "too large" and "visible" and other are to be removed. The Church of Shui Tou has also gone straight to the attention of authorities because of the large cross, which dominates it.
Therefore, Christians have guarded their church for 33 days around the clock. In the early morning hours of July 21st, it was time. At 3 clock in the morning, a large contingent of 500 police with a demolition squad prior drew around the believers. With batons, truncheons, fists and kicks, the police tried to disperse the Christians and to clear a path to the church. The attack lasted an hour. In the end the police had to withdraw. But there remained numerous injured Christians, many of whom had to be rushed to hospitals.
"In anticipation of martyrdom"
The pastor of the church left in protest, from the Protestant organization, loyal to the regime and began a hunger strike "in anticipation of martyrdom." In an open letter he writes: "My heart bleeds at the sight of hundreds of crosses, which are removed one after another in Zhejiang Province. Given the fierce attacks [the police], we are not sure that we can protect the church from destruction. I pray to God that he gives me the strength to be a martyr. "
"The growth of Christianity in recent years is excessive and disorderly," according to the Communist Party. The party is threatened by the increase of the Christians and their influence. The Wenzhou prefecture was an important Christian center of China before the Communist takeover. Before 1949, there were 115,000 Christians, almost one in ten of all Chinese Christians. Today the number of baptized Christians is, despite government persecution and oppression, estimated at 15 percent of the more than nine million inhabitants. It's a fast growing trend.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: International Christian Concern
AMGD
Shanghai (AsiaNews) - Msgr. Aloyisius Jin Luxian, official bishop of Shanghai died today at 2.46 pm local time. The prelate, one of the most important personalities of the Chinese Church, was 97 years old and had been ill for a long time. In recent months he had been hospitalized and no one was allowed to visit him.
A highly controversial personality, often accused of being "too patriotic" and friendly with the regime, Msgr. Jin, who was a Jesuit, contributed to the development of the Church in a decisive way. Several years ago he was reconciled with the Pope and the Holy See considered him the "auxiliary" bishop of Shanghai. The ordinary bishop was Msgr. Joseph Fan Zhongliang, who is also very old and sick.
The diocese of Shanghai has not yet set a date for the funeral. According to AsiaNews sources the government has been long preparing for such a ceremony, especially from the point of view of who should preside. For the Holy See, in fact, the liturgy by right should be celebrated by Msgr. Thaddeus Ma Daqin, ordained on July 7. But after having decided to leave the Patriotic Association, Bishop Ma was put in solitary confinement in Sheshan seminary. According to unconfirmed reports in recent days Msgr. Ma has been removed from the diocese, perhaps to impede his participation in Msgr. Jin's funeral.
Pope Franics received John Cardinal Tong, the Bishop of Hong Kong, on Tuesday. The theme of the audience was the situation of persecuted Christians in the People’s Republic of China. The Pope has said that the Chinese Church is in my heart. “I pray daily for her”, says the Pope.
From katholisches… to be continued. From Vatican Insider:
Cardinal Tong, the only Chinese cardinal to have participated in the recent conclave, talked with the new pope on a number of occasions in the days following his election. He revealed what the Pope said to him in those encounters, when he spoke during a solemn mass in Hong Kong’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on April 8 to celebrate the inauguration of the Petrine ministry of Pope Francis. encounters.
The Chinese cardinal resided in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse where all the cardinals stayed during the conclave, from March 12, when the conclave began. He remained there until March 20, when he departed for Hong Kong, where he is bishop.
Pope Francis too resided in that same guesthouse and has actually decided to continue living there, instead of moving to the papal apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, because he wants to be near the people. As a result, he and the cardinal met several times in the days following his election.
In his homily in Hong Kong Cathedral, Cardinal Tong recalled how after his election as pope in the Sistine Chapel on March 13, at about 7 pm, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio took the name Francis. Then, after putting on his white cassock, “he first went to embrace Cardinal Ivan Dias who had difficulty in walking.” Tong noted how “the new Holy Father really cares for everybody, particularly the weak.”
Then, he said, Pope Francis “accepted the congratulations and loud applause of the cardinals” and then “one by one, we extended our personal greetings and embraces of love to him.”
When it came to his turn, Tong presented the new Pope with “a small bronze Chinese statue of Our Lady of Sheshan” and told him, “The Catholics in China love you and will pray for you. Also, we ask for your care for all Chinese Catholics, and please pray for us!”
Pope Francis smiled and responded, “Chinese Catholics have given many testimonies to the Universal Church”. Then to Tong’s surprise, “He kissed my right hand to show his love and devotion for the Church in China. This gesture moved me deeply.”
Next day, March 14, at 5 pm, he recalled that Pope Francis celebrated his first mass as Successor of Peter in the Sistine Chapel together with all the cardinal electors, and in his homily, “he shared with us his reflections about the Church. He highlighted three actions that the Church must take: Journeying with the Lord under the light, actively building up the Church, proclaiming the Gospel and professing our faith. All these focus on the Crucified Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Hong Kong born cardinal revealed that on March 15, early morning, when he was on his way to the chapel in the Domus Sanctae Marthae he happened to be on the same elevator as Pope Francis. The Argentinean-born Pope then told him that the statue of Our Lady of Sheshan, now standing in his own room, reminded him of the Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier who arrived in China more than 460 years ago, . “He told me he never forgets to pray for Chinese Catholics”, the cardinal said.
During Mass that morning, he said, “Pope Francis pointed out in his homily that St. Ignatius of Loyola taught us not to forget the Suffering Jesus whenever we encounter difficulties in life; in this way, God will help us to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ resurrection.” Then, towards the end of his homily, Tong said, “unexpectedly, Pope Francis openly thanked me for the statue of Mary.”
Later that same day, when Pope Francis greeted all the cardinals, one by one, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, Tong revealed, “I thanked him for remembering the Catholics in China.”
On March 20, the day after the papal installation, Cardinal Tong bade farewell to Pope Francis before departing for Hong Kong, and told him, “On behalf of the Church in China, may I congratulate you again and thank you for your care and prayers for the Church in China.” At that point, he said, the Pope “kissed my hand again to show his devotion to the Church in China, and told him, “The Church in China is in my heart”.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - At least four illegitimate bishops - and some officially excommunicated - have been appointed or re-appointed members of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the two most important political structures of the People's Republic. Both summits, with thousands of participants are underway in the capital: the NPC began this morning, the CPPCC began on March 3.
The bishop of Shantou, Huang Bingzhang, illegitimately ordained and officially excommunicated by the Holy See in 2011, was appointed as a new member of the NPA.
Three other illegitimate bishops were chosen for the CPPCC: Ma Yinglin of Kunmin, president of the so-called "Chinese Bishops 'Conference" [not recognized by the Holy See]; Zhan Silu of Mindong, Vice-President of the Conference itself; Lei Shiyin of Leshan, vice-president of' Patriotic Association. Lei was also officially excommunicated by the Holy See in 2011.
Mao Hengfeng, given hard labour again for challenging one child law
The dissident, one of the most famous in the country, was sentenced to 18 months of "re-education through labour". Her husband denounces: "she disappeared on 20 September and I just got news of her now". The sentence issued on the sidelines of the Communist Congress, ready to elect the new leadership.
Beijing (AsiaNews) -Beijing police have arrested and sentenced Mao Hengfeng to hard labour for the third time, one of the "champions" of the battle against the one child law and forced abortions in China. Her husband Wu Xuewei has denounced this latest arrest and reports that the woman was kidnapped by public security agents last Sept. 20 in the capital, where she had gone to seek justice for abuses suffered during her second imprisonment. The activist was reduced to a wheelchair as a result of police violence.
After this long period of detention, last week the authorities sentenced her to 18 months of "re-education through labour" for having "disturbed social order". The judgment was pronounced against the opening of the 18th Communist Party Congress, which opens tomorrow and is preparing to crown the "fifth generation" of Communist leaders.
Wu received notification but believes his wife innocence: "she is not guilty and has never violated any law. They fabricated allegations and evidence to imprison innocent people ". At the moment, her place of detention is unknown: she served her last sentence in the detention centre of Yangpu district, near Shanghai, where the couple lives. Link to original...
(Vatican) The Church int he Peoples' Republic of China is "living, true and devoted despite 50 years of persecution." The Bishops' Synod began with this witness by the Chinese Bishops on Monday. Msgr. Nikola Eterovic, the General Secretary of the Synod introduced the opening of the congress to the writings of Msgr. Lucas Li Jingeng, the Bishop of Fengxiang, who was refused participation in the Synod by the Communist Regime. The 90 year old Bishop has spent more than 20 years in the concentration camps of the CCP. After the Communist grab for power he was imprisoned, he was first released in the 70s with severe restrictions.
"I greet you who are able to participate in the Synod and venerate the tomb of St. Peter," wrote Bishop Li Jingfeng in his message. "It pains me very much that your voice could not be heard in the Chinese Church." The Peking regime is now allowing the participation of any Bishop in the Synod, neither those loyal to the regime, nor those who are true to Rome Bishops, of the underground Bishops are not to be discussed. "I will tell you that our Church in China, especially the laity, has shown the piety and uprightness of the early Christians since the beginning of 50 years of persecution." The Bishop of Fengxiang continued with a view to the situation in the Church in other parts of the world: "I pray fervently and constantly to the almighty God, that our piety, our faithfulness, our persistence may heal the tepidity, the infidelity and worldliness, which is the situation of dissipating openness and freedom abroad. In the year of faith you may be able to fathom why our faith in China has preserve red with such purity in your debates in the Synod. It is as the great Chinese philosopher Lao Tse said: "As disaster brings new flowering, thus disaster is hidden in tepidity.' The Church outside of China is infected with inertia, infidelity and the secularization of the Faith even of many clergy. In the Church in China, the laity are as pious as the clergy", said Bishop Li Jingfeng in his letter to the Synod.
Bishop Lucas Li Jinfeng has presided over the only Diocese in the Peoples' Republic of China for several years, which is the only Diocese associated to the underground Church loyal to Rome. In 2004 Msgr. Li Jingfeng was officially recognized by the regime in a moment of relaxation of relations between Rome and Peking without signing the infamous act of submission and joining the regime's Bishops. His Diocese has experienced several waves of persecution since then, in which priests were abducted, cloisters stormed and dissolved. The last incarceration Bishop Li Jingfeng has suffered was in Autumn 2001.
