On the same day that Pope Francis is expected to visit Kazakhstan next week, Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to go there.
On September 14, during the pope’s three-day trip to Nur-Sultan, Xi will have a meeting with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, according to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.
The Holy See and China are negotiating to renew an interim agreement on the appointment of bishops in China at the same time as Francis and Xi’s travels.
Vatican-China Agreement
The arrangement will likely be renewed this autumn, according to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state for the Vatican, who said in a September 2 appearance on Italian television that a party of Vatican officials had just returned from China.
Since the Holy See signed it in September 2018, the deal with Beijing has been renewed thrice.
In 1951, after the Chinese Communist Revolution and Mao Zedong’s expulsion of missionaries, Beijing broke diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
In the lack of diplomatic ties, a potential encounter between Xi and Francis would be unofficial. There has never been a meeting between a pope and the leader of China in the history of the Church.
abuses of religious liberty
It is “theoretically conceivable,” according to a source in the Kazakh parliament, for the pope and the president to meet.
Pope Francis will visit the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan from September 13 to 15.
On September 14, the day when Xi arrives in the capital of Kazakhstan, the pope is scheduled to have private talks with a number of summit attendees at noon.
The presence of the Chinese leader at the gathering of religious leaders from Islam, Christianity, and other faiths appears unlikely.
China’s harsh suppression of Uyghur Muslims in the northwest area of the country, Xinjiang, has brought Xi increasing worldwide disapproval.
A study detailing “serious human rights violations” in Xinjiang, including patterns of torture, detention, and sexual assault against China’s religious minority, was published by the UN on September 1.
Since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, when he oversaw the strictest lockdowns in history, Kazakhstan would be Xi’s first official trip outside of China.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Xi’s trip to Central Asia may include a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan.
Taiwanese pilgrimage to the Vatican
The former vice president of Taiwan met with Pope Francis at the Vatican a day before news of Xi’s upcoming trip to Kazakhstan broke.
Former vice president Chen Chien-jen, according to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, represented Taiwan during the beatification of Pope John Paul I on September 4.
Prior to his beatification, Chen claimed on social media that Pope Francis “specially greeted” him and requested him to “pray for the Taiwanese people.”
The Holy See is the only organisation in Europe that recognises Taiwan as a sovereign state and is one of only 14 nations that have established formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China (ROC).
Since 2016, seven countries have switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing as a result of Beijing’s pressure campaigns to isolate Taiwan as a renegade province. It is commonly believed that Beijing would require breaking ties with Taiwan in order to resume diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
probe into Cardinal Zen
Any meetings with Chinese authorities during the pope visit will take place against the background of a Catholic cardinal who has been a fervent supporter of religious freedom and democracy’s arrest and imminent trial in Hong Kong.
The retired bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, will go on trial in Hong Kong from September 19 to September 23 for his involvement as a trustee of a pro-democracy legal fund.
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller expressed disappointment that the cardinals did not utilise the consistory meeting to “declare unambiguous support with Zen on behalf of the College of Cardinals” after a conference of 197 Catholic cardinals last week in the Vatican.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s emeritus prefect said in an interview with Il Messaggero on September 1 that “the silence of this consistory on the Zen question causes me pause.”
He highlighted that there was absolutely no suggestion of a collective prayer for Cardinal Zen.
“It is obvious that political factors preclude the Holy See from taking such actions. “I’m referring about the recently reached agreement for the renewal of bishops with Xi’s administration,” Müller said.
“Perhaps the Church should be freer from the constraints of power-based, materialistic thinking so that it can act and, if necessary, condemn those regimes that suppress human rights. I wonder why Beijing shouldn’t be condemned in this situation “He went on.
Zen is a symbol; he was imprisoned on spurious charges; he didn’t do anything wrong; and he’s a well-known, valiant, and feared government officer. We have abandoned him, and he is over 80.”