[Grem] Cardinal Zen: The Vatican doesn't understand Communism and badly mishandles the China situation

[Emoke Greschik]

 Cardinal Zen: The Vatican is badly mishandling China situation
by *Catholic News Agency
<http://catholicherald.co.uk/author/catholic-news-agency/>*
posted Friday, 26 Oct 2018
http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2018/10/26/cardinal-zen-the-vatican-is-badly-mishandling-china-situation/
(CNS/Liau Chung-ren, Reuters)

*The former bishop of Hong Kong said the Pope does not understand the
communist regime*

*The recent agreement between the Vatican and China is a step towards the
“annihilation” of the Catholic Church in China, Cardinal Joseph Zen, former
bishop of Hong Kong, wrote in a New York Times op-ed published on
Wednesday.*

Zen, who has been openly critical of Vatican’s approach towards China in
the past, did not hold back in his assessment of Pope Francis’ new deal and
in offering his views on communist governments.

*A Sept. 22 agreement between the Holy See and Beijing was intended to
normalize the situation of China’s Catholics. The Church in China has been
split between the “underground” Church, in full communion with Rome, and
the state-run Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), which was not.
The Chinese government appointed bishops of the CPCA.*

*The September agreement was designed to unify those groups, by approving a
formula through which Pope Francis would approve bishops nominated by
Beijing.*

But Zen’s op-ed said the distinction between the underground Church and the
CCPA has not been eradicated.

He said *those who attend the “underground” Church worship in secret *and *are
subject to persecution from the government if they are discovered. *Amid a
religious crackdown in China, Zen said that priests of the underground
church have been encouraging their parishioners to skip Mass for their own
safety.

*While Pope Francis is “very pastoral,” Zen said does not think that he
properly understands how Communist China works.* *In Pope Francis’ home
country of Argentina, the Communists worked to defend the poor against
government oppression, often alongside Jesuits, he said. This could be why
the pope “may have a natural sympathy for Communists,” as he views them to
be persecuted.*

*It is far different, said Zen, in places where Communists are the ruling
party–like China. When they acquire power, the Communists become the
persecutors themselves,* he said.

After Zen returned to China from studies in Rome in 1974, he said it had
become a “whole nation under slavery,” and cautioned about society
forgetting how oppressive the regime was at that time. And while he
concedes that the Chinese government has made significant strides in
embracing human rights, “you can never have a truly good agreement with a
totalitarian regime.”

The current iteration of Church leadership does not properly understand the
threat Communist governments pose to Catholics, said Zen. *He praised the
work of Cardinal Jozef Tomko, who was the prefect of the Congregation for
the Evangelization of Peoples from 1985 until 2002. Tomko, who is from
Slovakia, “understood communism, and he was wise,” said Zen.*

*Under Tomko, the Vatican considered only the underground Church in China
as the true Church*, and that while there were “many good people” in the
state-sponsored church, it was “unlawful.” *After Tomko’s retirement, *however,
Zen said *things took a turn for the worse with the appointment of Cardinal
Crescenzio Sepe, who Zen described as “a young Italian with no foreign
experience.”*

*Sepe “began legitimizing official Chinese bishops too quickly, too
easily,” he said, which created an impression that the Vatican would
“automatically” approve of any Bishop appointed by the Chinese
government. **This
continued through Cardinal Ivan Dias, the next prefect, who was a
“proponent of détente” with former Soviet states. *This mentality carried
over into Dias’ view of China and the Chinese Church.

Zen went as far as to accuse the Vatican of purposefully mistranslating
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics that called
for the reconciliation of the churches.

“In a delicate passage about how priests in the underground might accept
recognition by the Chinese authorities without necessarily betraying the
faith, a critical caveat was left out about how “almost always,” however,
the Chinese authorities imposed requirements “contrary to the dictates” of
Catholics’ conscience,” said Zen. This error in translation was “too
important to have not been deliberate.”

Although the translation was eventually updated, it was too late, said Zen.
The original letter had been “widely circulated” in China, and some of the
underground church’s bishops understood the letter as permission for them
to join the CPCA.

Zen was also critical of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro
Parolin, who he described as caring more about diplomatic success than he
does about the Church. Parolin seeks to restore normal relations between
the Vatican and China for the first time since 1950.

While the exact terms of the agreement between China and the Vatican were
not released, Zen is not optimistic about the future of the underground
church. While Pope Francis could still “veto” the nomination of a
state-approved bishop, “how many times can he do that, really?”

“What good is having the last word when China will have all the words
before it,” he asked. He also expressed doubt that the approximately 30
bishops of the underground church will still be permitted to function as
bishops if the two churches are reconciled.

*Since the agreement in September, two CPCA bishops were invited to attend
the synod on youth. These men are “known to be close to the Chinese
government,” and their attendance at the synod is “an insult to the good
bishops of China.”*

*Despite** this,* *Zen warned the clergy of the underground church against
starting any kind of “revolution.” Instead, if the government takes away
their churches or prohibits them from officiating,* *they should return to
their families, continue praying, and “wait for better times.”*

*“Communism** isn’t **eternal.*”
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