Four years ago, on September 22, 2018, representatives of the Holy See and the government of the People's Republic of China signed the Provisional Agreement on the appointment of Chinese Catholic bishops in Beijing. The agreement for the trial period is two years. In October 2020, this agreement was extended for another two years.
Today, statements by Pope Francis and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin hint at the intention to continue the negotiation process with the aim of entrusting pastoral responsibility to worthy and suitable bishops.
Gianni Valente noted that since the agreement was signed, not many illegal bishops' ordinations in China have been carried out without the consent of the pope. Since the late 1950s, illegal leprosy has inflicted painful wounds on Chinese Catholics. Since 2018, six episcopal ordinations have been ordained in China, the procedures including the appointment of the pope. At the same time, six so-called "underground" bishops, previously ordained but not subject to the norms imposed by the Chinese apparatus, requested and were recognized by the Beijing government.
Today, all Chinese bishops are in communion with Rome
Gianni Valente acknowledged that this number is still low, considering the total number of Catholic dioceses in China that either have no bishops or are run by very elderly bishops. But today all Chinese Catholic bishops are in full and public communion with the bishop of Rome.
The agreement on the appointment of Chinese bishops touches on the deepest apostolic nature and dynamism of the Church's sacramental life, the director of Fides news agency noted. The issue covered in the agreement concerns the faith of Chinese Catholics, and the suffering caused by ecclesiastical divisions that over the past few decades have divided clergy and laity, communities. community and family. The agreement also covers the remembrance of martyrs and the validity of the sacraments celebrated in China.
Gianni Valente stressed that the restored full communion of all bishops with the bishop of Rome cannot be said to be "disappointing" from the point of view of the Holy See, stressed Gianni Valente, especially if we remember this history: “Those who call the Practice Agreement with mediocre results, or even a regrettable error, must not only remove references to the sacramental dynamics that have kept the Church alive, but have to hide everything that has happened to Chinese Catholics in the past 70 years.”
Catholics are not agents of hostile forces
For a very long time, bishops and the Vatican were often seen as the "guardian police" of Western imperialism. Today, no one in China can think of insulting the pope and the Catholic Church as aiding hostile forces.
Gianni Valente stressed that Catholics can live without privileges, but without being discriminated against and seen as foreigners, as strangers or representatives of distant cultures.
Witnessing the daily lives of Christians, Fides understands that their circumstances can lead to fatigue, disappointment, and suffering, but Catholics are capable of professing their faith in Christ. .
The recent popes have attested that their communion with the Chinese Catholic Church cannot be restored by means of legal supremacy, simply because this communion is already available, based on on sharing the same catholic faith. It is the only treasure that can be relied upon, even in the most mysterious and controversial events of the moment, Mr. Gianni Valente concludes.
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