By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-10-22 20:18:52 | Updated at 2024-10-23 22:38:17
1 day ago
CV NEWS FEED // The Vatican has announced the renewal of its “provisional agreement” with Chinese Communist authorities, allowing the appointment of bishops in China for a third consecutive four-year term. Despite ongoing criticism, the agreement, originally signed in 2018, has been extended after what the Vatican described as “appropriate consultation and assessment.”
“In light of the consensus reached for an effective application of the Provisional Agreement regarding the Appointment of Bishops, after appropriate consultation and assessment, the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China have agreed to extend further its validity for four years from the present date,” read the statement from the Vatican Press Office.
According to Vatican News, this agreement opened a “historic chapter” in relations between the Vatican and China, particularly by bringing all bishops in China into full communion with the Pope.
Vatican News highlighted the benefits of the agreement, explaining that it “ended decades of episcopal ordinations without papal consent, leading to a radically changed scenario in the past six years. Since then, about 10 bishops have been appointed and consecrated, and Beijing officially recognized the public role of several previously unrecognized bishops.”
However, critics continue to challenge the terms and consequences of the agreement. ChinaSource, an independent watchdog on Sino-Vatican relations, argues that the Chinese Communist Party retains significant control over the appointment of bishops, despite Vatican attempts to frame the agreement as a breakthrough for dialogue. In an analysis, ChinaSource points out that the power of appointment remains in the hands of a regime whose policy goal has been, historically, the suppression of religion.
China Source explains that in November 2023, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) and the Chinese Bishops Catholic Conference (CBCC) launched a detailed five-year plan (2023-2027) for implementing the Party-state policy of “Sinicization of Christianity.”
“Insofar as ‘Sinicization’ entails subordinating the Catholic Church to the communist concept of what religion in China should be, the CCPA and the CBCC have sold out and undermined the Agreement,” China Source added.
One of the agreement’s most outspoken opponents is Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 92-year-old former bishop of Hong Kong. Cardinal Zen has long condemned the Vatican’s engagement with the Chinese government. In a 2019 interview with New Bloom magazine, Cardinal Zen expressed his dismay at the secretive nature of the deal.
“There are three things: a secret agreement, being so secret you can’t say anything. We don’t know what is in it. Then the legitimization of the seven excommunicated bishops. That’s incredible, simply incredible. But even more incredible is the last act: the killing of the underground Church,” he said.
As the Vatican and Beijing move forward with their renewed agreement, it remains to be seen how the delicate balance between diplomacy, faith, and the political landscape in China will unfold over the next four years.
