[Catholic Caucus] Shanghai’s Catholic Bishop Shen Bin Announces His Program: Study Xi Jinping, not the Pope

Skip to comments.

Posted on 11/20/2024 9:07:04 AM PST by ebb tide

After having been appointed by the CCP and grudgingly and belatedly approved by the Vatican, the new Prelate revealed his true colors.

The saga of Bishop Shen Bin’s appointment to the all-important Catholic Diocese of Shanghai officially ended on July 15, 2023.

On April 4, 2023, Bishop Shen Bin, until then Bishop of Haimen, was installed by the CCP as the new Bishop of Shanghai. The Vatican declared officially that “the Holy See learned from the media of the installation” only the morning it happened.

The text of the Vatican-China deal of 2018, renewed in 2020, 2022, and now in 2024 for four years, is secret. It regulates Catholic dioceses’ administration and bishop appointments. Bishops are selected by the CCP but should be officially appointed by the Vatican. However, Shen Bin was installed as Bishop of Shanghai without Vatican appointment. 

On July 15, the Holy See announced Pope Francis had appointed Shen Bin as Bishop of Shanghai, transferring him from Haimen. Notably, Shen Bin had already been installed by the CCP over three months earlier. The Vatican stated it had “rectified a canonical irregularity” for “the greater good of the diocese.”

There was great curiosity to see what kind of pastoral programs Bishop Shen Bin would implement in Shanghai after having received the Papal approval in such peculiar circumstances. And indeed the bishop kept a low profile at home for several months, while he went to Rome on May 22, 2024, to give a speech at a conference also attended by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin proclaiming that religious liberty reigns in China.

As for his Shanghai Diocese, expectations were focused on the seminar organized from November 4 to 6, 2024, about “Sinicization of Religion in Shanghai.” It was expected that Bishop Shen Bin would announce his pastoral plans for the diocese, particularly as the event came immediately after the Vatican Synod of October, a key Catholic event that was attended by two Chinese “official” Catholic bishops.

Catholics who attended the seminar told “Bitter Winter” that the Bishop did not discuss at all the Vatican Synod nor Pope Francis and his recent documents. On the contrary, he focused on “Sinicization,” which as it is now clear does not mean adapting religion to Chinese customs but to the CCP’s ideology. An optimist could object that Bishop Shen Bin did not explicitly tell Shanghai Catholics “not” to listen to the Pope’s teachings, which oppose the CCP’s ideas on key matters such as abortion and the role of religion in society. But for a bishop ignoring the Pope and his documents in such solemn events is tantamount to rejecting them.

To make this abundantly clear, the conference encouraged the clergy of Shanghai to study and spread through lay gatherings and sermons the documents of “the Third Plenary Session of the 20^th CCP Central Committee” and “General Secretary Xi Jinping’s thought on Sinicization of religion” (again, no mention of the Vatican’s documents or the Pope’s encyclicals).

The Bishop also emphasized the need of a stricter cooperation with the United Front Work Department, which is in charge of controlling and supervising “official” religion in China.

In fact, Yin Du, Director of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Department of the Municipal United Front Work Department, and Gu Weidong, Director of the Catholic Affairs Department of the Municipal Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, attended the whole event.

Bishop Shen Bin is promising to bring the good news of the Gospel to Catholics in Shanghai. But it is the Gospel of Xi Jinping.

Hey! FReepers!
Help Fill The Tank!
How About It? Huh?
It Ain't Askin' Too Much
Ya Know....

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Bishop Shen Bin is promising to bring the good news of the Gospel to Catholics in Shanghai. But it is the Gospel of Xi Jinping.

1 posted on 11/20/2024 9:07:04 AM PST by ebb tide

To: Al Hitan; Fedora; irishjuggler; Jaded; kalee; markomalley; miele man; Mrs. Don-o; ...

2 posted on 11/20/2024 9:07:46 AM PST by ebb tide ("The Spirit of Vatican II" is nothing more than a wicked "ideology" of the modernists.)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson