Pope Francis voiced the hope that the Holy See’s accord with Beijing will be extended in the fall, which alarmed human rights advocates who fear that there will be further restrictions on Christians in China.
Pope Francis stated in an interview with Reuters that he thinks “the agreement is moving well” over four years after the Holy See signed a deal with Chinese officials in September 2018; the interview was published this week.
Advocates for human rights disagree.
According to Nina Shea, the head of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, after the agreement was reached in 2018 “the CCP has all but destroyed the Catholic underground church and tightened conformity with its teachings over the patriotic church,” according to CNA on July 6.
“The six new episcopal appointments used to justify the Beijing agreement are offset by the detention, arrest or disappearance of six Vatican-recognized Catholic bishops,” Shea said.
“Children are now banned from churches and exposure to religion, Bibles are tightly restricted and censored on the Internet and in app stores, churches are blanketed with high tech state surveillance, priests and Christian leaders are forced into life-long indoctrination on Christianity according to communist thought, and required to actively support CCP practices, leadership, and core values, even in their sermons,” she added.
On June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Bishop Paul Lei Shiyin of Leshan, one of the illegally appointed Chinese bishops whose excommunication was lifted after the Vatican and China signed the agreement, recently celebrated the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in his local cathedral.
Catholics who attended the ceremony in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Leshan were invited to “listen to the word of the Party, feel the grace of the Party, and follow the Party,” according to Asia News.
“Since the deal was reached, things have gone from bad to worse for Catholics in China,” Reggie Littlejohn told CNA.
Littlejohn is the president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an aid and advocacy organization that works with women on the ground in China. The organization was founded in response to forced abortion and sterilization under China’s one-child policy
She said that the “secrecy of the China-Vatican deal has been used to bludgeon faithful Chinese Catholics.”
Littlejohn urged the Vatican to make the preliminary agreement between the Holy See and the Chinese Communist Party leadership public. The document’s language has been kept a secret since it was initially signed in 2018.
“Faithful Catholics cannot defend themselves or their Church because they do not have access to this secret deal,” she said.
When discussing the Holy See’s diplomacy with China, Pope Francis said that “diplomacy is the art of the possible and of doing things to make the possible become a reality.”
Shea responded: “It’s difficult to see how the Pope can possibly succeed in the art of diplomacy when dealing with a force as evil as the CCP.”
“I think the Vatican should be energetically bolstering the underground church and speaking up for human rights, not making accommodations with the CCP and self-censoring on important moral issues,” she said.
Recent restrictions on religious groups in China
The United Front Work Department is now in charge of overseeing the financial administration of houses of worship and charitable contributions throughout China under new regulations that took effect on June 1.
The United Front is tasked with making sure that organisations outside of the CCP, such the Catholic Patriotic Association, Tibetan Buddhists, Hong Kong democracy campaigners, and Xinjiang Muslims, are adhering to party policy. The United Front Work Department has been referred to as one of Xi Jinping’s “magic weapons” for subjugation and control.
According to Asia News, the government would keep an eye on the funds and activities of religious organisations under the new regulations.
Catholic priests who hold legitimate positions of ministry in China are obliged to sign a document pledging their allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party. They are only permitted to minister in legally authorised houses of worship that are closed to youngsters under the age of 18.
According to Asia News, since March 2022, religious organisations in China are not permitted to perform any religious activity online without first requesting and gaining authorisation from the provincial Department of Religious Affairs. Masses and homilies can only be streamed live online after being granted a specific authorization.
European Parliament resolution
Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong and four other well-known proponents of democracy will go on trial in September. Cardinal Zen has been a vociferous opponent of the Vatican-China agreement.
On July 7, the European Parliament will debate Zen’s detention in relation to human rights and the rule of law. The resolution demands that the retiring bishop of Hong Kong have all allegations against him dropped.
The resolution also “calls on the Vatican to strengthen its diplomatic efforts and its leverage on Chinese authorities to demand Cardinal Zen’s unconditional release and the end of persecution and human rights violations in China.”