In recent weeks, the Holy See is negotiating with Beijing the renewal of the secret agreement on the appointment of bishops, which has reached its first two years of natural expiration. Now, after a month scheduled to reflect on the past years, it will be necessary to renew, if this is the intention of the two parties. This agreement led the Vatican to a hard confrontation with the Secretary General of the United States Mike Pompeo , who with an article published in the magazine First Things tried to press on Vatican diplomacy to undermine the new chapter of Rome’s relations with the Dragon. .
Cardinal Joseph Zen, archbishop emeritus of Hong Kong, a man of great wisdom and experience, has never hidden his harsh criticism of the intentions of the Vatican officials. In February, the Holy See attacked the theses of the elderly Chinese cardinal head-on, with a letter of fire signed by the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re . The confirmation of this climate of open hostility finally arrived in recent weeks, when the eighty-eight-year-old cardinal went to Rome directly from Hong Kong to meet the Pope, but was not received.
Asked by Formiche.net, regarding what, in his opinion, are the Chinese responsibilities in the outbreak of the pandemic, the cardinal replies laconically: “I think a precise answer can be found in an article by Cardinal Charles Bo”. The reference and the statements, released last April by the religious information agency AsiaNews, of the Burmese cardinal Charles Maung Bo , the first to point the finger sharply against the Chinese Communist Party for the delays in sharing information on the imminent pandemic , also accusing him of having punished those doctors who tried to sound the alarm.US President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that the virus may have been born in a Wuhan laboratory, and he is not the only one to espouse this version of events. What do you think of all this Eminence, do you have information about it
I have no precise information, but there is news from a professor from Shanghai who recently came out of China with some revelations about it (the cardinal probably refers to the virologist Li Meng Yan , who in a British television program denounced the artificial origin of Covid-19, ed).Some international observers argue that in many countries of the planet the health crisis due to Covid-19 has been used as a pretext to implement authoritarian governance models, even against religious freedom. And I agree
I don’t know. However, I am of the opinion that religious authorities have often been too passive in accepting the restrictions imposed by the government. Religious service could have been provided to some extent with all necessary precautions.Since the beginning of the health emergency in Italy, the Chinese government has maintained an intense dialogue with Italian institutions, in particular with the Foreign Ministry, which has also led to the sending of humanitarian aid such as masks or doctors. How do you judge these events, and in your opinion what are the intentions of the Chinese government
? I am of the opinion not to trust the Chinese government: Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes. But the Italians are optimistic … You harshly criticized the provisional agreements signed on 22 September 2018 between the People’s Republic of China and the Holy See. Why
Not only because the agreement is secret, even for me, a Chinese cardinal. There has been worse. What does it refer to
At the same time, the Holy See legitimized seven illegitimate “bishops”, seven “lazzaroni” who for many years challenged the authority of the Pope, usurping the sacred power that derives from illicit ordination and even dared to ordain priests to other bishops. Two of them also have wives and children. None of them gave any public sign of repentance or gratitude to the Pope for the forgiveness granted. How the Pope was able to recognize them as true bishops and impose them on the faithful
In two of the seven dioceses there were two legitimate bishops of the so-called clandestine community, they were forced to give way to the legitimate!
Unthinkable things! There is more, Eminence, about which he has critical remarks
The worst thing was the document of the Holy See, released last year at the end of June, Pastoral guidelines of the Holy See on the civil registration of the clergy in China. Without signatures, without specification of the responsible department, but obviously Parolin’s work. In it all the priests were encouraged to come out of hiding and enter the Church of the Patriotic Association, completely under the control of the government. And the coup de grace! And legitimize the schismatic Church! The Holy See responded to his positions by speaking of continuity between the last three pontificates. What do you think of this statement
The continuity
And the blatant lie of the most eminent Cardinal Parolin. Just consult the book “The last conversations” by Pope Benedict.John Paul II and Benedict XVI were against Ostpolitik! What is the current condition of Christians and the Church in China, and what has changed since the agreement between China and the Vatican
We are at the bottom of the abyss. With the three acts, mentioned above, they have handed over the official “Church” with the “opportunist” bishops into the hands of the government, they have helped the government to eliminate the underground Church. But faith survives in the “catacombs”.