As Reuters news agency revealed, the meeting with Xi was requested by the Vatican a few days in advance, but the Chinese side replied that they did not have time to hold it. On the flight from Rome to Kazakhstan, Pope Francis said he had no further news.
But then, during a press conference on the flight from Kazakhstan to Rome, Pope Francis answered a question from Elise Anna Allen, a journalist for the "Crux" site, who said that the trial against Cardinal Zen Zekiun was opening in Rome. Hong Kong, whether Pope Francis considers the trial a "violation of religious freedom".
The official recording is worth revisiting in its entirety, with its stammering, cautious, and eerie because it perfectly distills his approach to China:
“It takes a century to understand China, and we don't live a century. The Chinese mentality is a rich one, and when it gets sick, it loses some of its richness and is capable of making mistakes. To fully understand, we choose dialogue, open dialogue. There is a bilateral commission between the Vatican and China that is going well, slowly because China's pace is slow, they have a long time to come: they are a people of infinite patience. But the experiences I had before - let's think of the Italian missionaries who went there, who were respected as scientists, and still today so many priests and lay people are Chinese universities invite, this highlights a culture – it is not easy. To understand the Chinese mentality, to respect them, I always respect them.
And here, in the Vatican, there is a well-functioning dialogue committee. Cardinal Parolin is the presiding officer, he is someone who understands and dialogues with China. It's something slow, but we're taking small steps forward. I wouldn't call China undemocratic, because it's a complicated country, with their rhythms… Yes, there are things that seem undemocratic to us, that's true. I think the elderly Zen cardinal will be on trial in the next few days. He said what he heard, and we can clearly see that there are limitations there.
More than giving assessments, since it's difficult, and I don't feel able to give assessments, those are impressions; Instead of making assessments, I seek dialogue. In dialogue, many things can be clarified and not only related to the Church, but also to other areas. For example on the Chinese scale: the governors of the states are all different, there are different cultures within China. It's a giant country, understand China is something huge. We should not lose patience, we need patience, it takes a lot, but we must not jeopardize dialogue. I try to avoid giving assessments, because yes, maybe, but we keep going.”
In Francis' "summary" of thoughts on China, we can't help but be struck by his cold attitude toward Cardinal Zen, whom he tacitly accused of being careless in overcoming the " limits” to which he should have been advised to keep silent.
It is also impossible not to be struck by the utter silence with which many bishops are arrested, about the persecutions that attack Catholics and about the control of a state that suffocates the entire life of the Church in China.
One can only be struck by his refusal to label China as “undemocratic”, especially a few days after the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights released a report on the systematic repression of China. Chinese tradition of Uighurs in the Xinjiang region, which borders Kazakhstan.
All this was enough to highlight the deep gap between his noble speeches defending religious freedom September 14 at Nur-Sultan during the VII Congress of Traditional Religious Leaders. system and the world", and the absolution of the Chinese regime, furthermore he stated "there are things that seem undemocratic to us", though he generally did not accuse.
But in what name does Francis feel obliged to treat China with such disproportionate conciliation? He spoke in the name of "dialogue". Specifically, there is a "temporary and confidential" agreement approved between the Vatican and Beijing in October 2018, extending for two years until 2020 and is about to be renewed for a second time today.
As we can guess, this compromise gives the Chinese authorities the power to elect all new bishops through ecclesiastical bodies under their full control, with the power to allow the pope to approve. accept or reject nominated candidates whose results have so far been disappointing.
In four years, the appointments under this agreement have only been four bishops, the last being Bishop Cui Qingqi (François Cui Qingqi) of Wuhan a year ago. This means that out of a total of 98 dioceses across China, 36 are now without bishops, the number of dioceses has been reduced, diocesan boundaries have been redrawn by the Beijing government without consent. of the Holy See.
Negotiations to renew the compromise took place in Tianjin from late August to early September, a Vatican delegation led by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli. On this occasion, the Chinese authorities agreed to allow delegation members to visit emeritus bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen (Shi Hongzhen), who is said to be an "underground" bishop because he is not recognized by the government. , because he did not join the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Church, the party's instrument of control over the Church, he was arrested and put under house arrest several times for this reason.
But this touching meeting with the elderly bishop showed that the appointment of new bishops did not have clear results, on this occasion Bishop Thach Hong Trinh sent Francis his episcopal cross. This year 93-year-old Bishop Shi Hongzhen is the last living "underground" bishop in Tianjin after the death of Bishop Stéphane Li Side in 2019. All because of the younger Father Yang Wangwan, who was ordained by Rome. served as the head bishop of the diocese of Tianjin prior to the 2018 compromise, which was not accepted by the Chinese authorities. And so far it hasn't. Not only was the priest not ordained a bishop, but the diocese of Tianjin did not include him in its delegation to the National Meeting of Catholics held in August in Wuhan.
The arrest of Cardinal Zen weakens the Beijing regime
This congress, the tenth in a series of congresses that began in 1957 at the height of Mao, is the congress of the official bodies of the Communist Party-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association of China. The role of the congress is to dictate and assign positions of responsibility. 345 delegates from 28 administrative units of the country attended.
As a result, the official speeches as well as the names of the new leaders reveal the absolute domination of the Chinese regime in the machinery of the Church, through those most influenced by them.
The head of the Patriotic Church is the archbishop of Beijing, Joseph Li Shan. The new president of the China Bishops' Conference - a puppet bishopric that was never recognized by Rome because it does not include "underground" bishops - is Bishop Joseph Shen Bin, the Haimen Department, 52 years old, was appointed as the main rapporteur in the meetings. In addition to the already established "Oversight Committee of the Two Supreme Authorities", Bishop Vincent Shan Silu serves as chairman, one of seven bishops who were unilaterally appointed by the regime a few years ago, resulting in the bishop being censured. excommunicated, then pardoned by Pope Francis in 2018 when the deal was signed, against Beijing's wishes.
Presiding over the inaugural session of the Assembly on August 18 was Bishop Joseph Guo Jincai, of Chengde, one of seven other bishops to be excommunicated and subsequently pardoned. But the most embarrassing presence of the three-day meeting was that of Mr. Cui Maohu, a party member very close to Xi Jinping, and since earlier this year he has served as head of the State Bureau of State Affairs. religion.
All on the sidelines of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China scheduled to meet on October 16, supposedly to consolidate the immutable power of Mr. Xi, who will now only be equal to the leader. Chairman Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping on the cusp of a communist China.
Xi Jinping wants to rewrite the Bible to fit the Communist Party's line.
In this extreme period of authoritarianism and international hegemony, it is not surprising then that negotiations with the Holy See are insignificant to Beijing. So insignificant that during the three-day meeting in Wuhan, both Xi Jinping's man Cui Maohu, as well as the new bishop Shen Bin, included in a detailed report on the life of the Association during the three-day meeting in Wuhan. Catholic patriotic China - fully posted on the official website chinacatholic.cn - did not say a word about the 2018 agreement with the Vatican.
Not even once named Pope Francis in the endless pages and pages honoring the ancient only materialist and spiritualist leader of the country and the Chinese Catholic Church, Mr. Xi.
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