VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Saying it’s committed to “respectful dialogue” with China’s communist government and to “fostering the mission of the Catholic Church and the great of the Chinese people,” the Vatican announced it has renewed its agreement with China on the appointment of bishops.
The “provisional agreement,” forged in 2018 and renewed in 2020, has been prolonged for an additional two years, the Vatican announced Oct. 22.
The text of the agreement has never been made public, but Vatican officials said it outlines procedures for ensuring Catholic bishops are elected by the Catholic community in China and approved by the pope before their ordinations and installations.
Up to now 4 years only six bishops have been named and installed under the terms of the agreement.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, interviewed by Vatican News Oct. 22, noted that the achievements of the agreement also included the lifting of the excommunications or irregular status of seven bishops who had been ordained with government approval, but not the Vatican’s consent and, he said, “the primary six ‘clandestine’ bishops have also succeeded in being registered and thus have had their position made official, being recognized as bishops by public institutions.”
Many dioceses are still without bishops or have very elderly bishops, he said, but the method is constant.
Nonetheless, Cardinal Parolin also acknowledged “there are dioceses through which, despite all efforts and good will, no fruitful dialogue exists with local authorities.”
Many dioceses are still without bishops or have very elderly bishops, he said, but the method is constant.
The agreement remains to be “provisional” because “we’re still within the experimentation phase,” the cardinal said. “As is all the time the case, such difficult and delicate situations require adequate time for implementation with a view to then give you the option to confirm the effectiveness of the result and discover possible improvements.”
“Pope Francis—with determination and patient foresight—has decided to proceed along this path, not under the illusion of finding perfection in human rules, but within the concrete hope of with the ability to assure Chinese Catholic communities, even in such a posh context, of the guidance of pastors who’re worthy and suitable for the duty entrusted to them,” Cardinal Parolin said.
The cardinal reaffirmed what Pope Francis and Vatican officials have said all along: giving up full control over the alternative of bishops is just not what the Vatican would have hoped for, however it gave the impression to be an excellent first step toward ensuring greater freedom and security for the Catholic community in China.
The deal, nonetheless, has been criticized by several outstanding figures, including by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired archbishop of Hong Kong, who said the agreement would “kill” the unofficial or underground church in China, whose leaders refuse to register with the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
The deal has been criticized by several outstanding figures, including by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired archbishop of Hong Kong, who said the agreement would “kill” the unofficial or underground church in China.
Cardinal Parolin told Vatican News that the agreement is just not primarily about diplomatic relations with China. Fairly, he said, “it mainly concerns features which are essential to the each day lifetime of the church in China. I’m considering, for instance, of the validity of the sacraments celebrated and the knowledge for thousands and thousands of Chinese faithful that they’ll give you the option to live out their faith in full Catholic communion, without thereby being suspected of not being loyal residents to their country.”
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, whose maternal grandfather was Chinese, told Fides, the news agency of the Dicastery for Evangelization, that in China “historical events had led to painful wounds inside the church, to the purpose of casting a shadow of suspicion on the sacramental life itself. So, there have been things at stake that touch the intimate nature of the church and her mission of salvation.”
The agreement attempts “to safeguard the valid apostolic succession and the sacramental nature of the Catholic Church in China,” Cardinal Tagle said. “This may reassure, comfort and enliven baptized Catholics in China.”
The agreement attempts “to safeguard the valid apostolic succession and the sacramental nature of the Catholic Church in China,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said.
As a byproduct of its dialogue with the Chinese government, he said, “one in all the desires of the Holy See has all the time been to foster reconciliation, and to see the lacerations and contrasts opened inside the church by the tribulations it has passed through, healed. Certain wounds need time and God’s consolation with a view to be healed.”
The Vatican is just not naive, he said. “The Holy See has never spoken of the agreement as the answer of all problems. It has all the time been perceived and affirmed that the trail is long, it will possibly be tiring and that the agreement itself could cause misunderstandings and disorientation.”
As well as, the Vatican wouldn’t and doesn’t ignore or minimize the suffering and the various reactions of Chinese Catholics to the agreement, he said. The enjoyment of some and the perplexity of others “is an element of the method. But one all the time has to dirty one’s hands with the truth of things as they’re.”
“Many signs attest that many Chinese Catholics have grasped the inspiration followed by the Holy See in the continued process,” he said. “They’re grateful and comforted for a process that confirms before all their full communion with the pope and the universal church.”
