The Underground Catholic Church in China Betrayed by the Vatican

This first post from CNA reports the background to the treacherous China Deal made by the Vatican with the atheist/communist  government of China. Cardinal Zen’s assessment of Pope Francis bad move, in ignoring the repeated warnings against the deal, has placed the Catholics in China at the mercy of a totally oppressive regime. In the second post from ‘Catholic Monitor’ last Saturday, Cdl. Zen steps up his criticism and asks whether Cdl. Parolin is the “puppet master” behind this betrayal of the faithful underground Church in China providing false information to the Pope. In this scenario, with the fate of millions of souls at stake, the Pope should be disobeyed,   

Catholic News Agency

1. Cardinal Zen: The Vatican Is Badly Mishandling China Situation 

HONG KONG -The recent agreement between the Vatican and China is a step toward 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 Wednesday.

Cardinal Zen, who has been openly critical of Vatican’s approach toward 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 Cardinal 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, Cardinal Zen said that priests of the underground Church have been encouraging their parishioners to skip Mass for their own safety.

Read on…

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Catholic Monitor

2. Is Cdl.Parolin the Puppet-Master behind the Pope’s Deal to Betray the Chinese Catholics or Does Francis have “No Faith”?

Cardinal Joseph Zen believes that Cardinal Pietro Parolin is the puppet-master behind Pope Francis’s deal to betray the underground Chinese Catholics to the Chinese Communist regime.

On November 2, Vatican expert Marco Tosatti reported that Cardinal Joseph Zen said:

“[T]he ‘Interim Agreement’ signed last September between the Holy See and the Chinese government allow a meeting between the two Churches… It does not make sense… It is a secret agreement of which only three elements are known for the time being. Everything is controlled by Parolin [Secretary of State, ed.], The Pope does not understand anything. Parolin does not tell the whole truth to Pope Francis! Parolin knows the reality of the situation of Chinese Catholics, but does not tell the whole truth to the Pope. He has no faith!… He wants a diplomatic agreement with China.” 

Communist expert Robert Royal on EWTN’s World Over has said that the Chinese government is a totalitarian regime that doesn’t respect truth, religious rights and most of all human life.

It is evil and totally godless.

Human life for them is cheap. People are killed and tortured at the whim of the regime.

Do Parolin and Francis believe that the underground Chinese Catholics are worthless things that they can cause suffering for to play at the so-called game of “diplomacy”?

If the Pope is actively collaborating with Parolin, with full understanding, in the totalitarian Chinese Communist deal, then he “has no faith” as Cardinal Zen said of Parolin. Francis said of the China deal:

“I think of the resistance, the Catholics who have suffered. It’s true. And they will suffer…”

“… I signed the [China deal] agreement,” Pope Francis stated. “I am responsible.”
(Catholic Herald, “Pope Francis takes responsibility for China Deal.” September 26, 2018)

The betrayal of the Chinese Church can thus be called the Francis/Parolin deal.

The Francis/Parolin deal is a abuse of papal power which can be disobeyed in good conscience as shown by the saintly English Bishop Robert Grosseteste.

In 1253, Bishop Grosseteste disobeyed Pope lnnocent IV who ordered that a benefice within his jurisdiction be given to the papal nephew. Benefices were a form of financial exploitation given to prelates who didn’t reside in the diocese and never saw their flock so souls were lost for lack of true shepherding or pastoral care.

Grosseteste said that benefices have only one end: “the salvation of souls.” Exploitative use of benefices was a abuse of papal power so he disobeyed Pope Innocent IV.

Innocent reportedly raged in anger, but his advisors told him to back down because all of Christendom knew Bishop Grosseteste was “one of the most learned men” of the age and a saintly bishop.

The Catholic Encyclopedia said of Grosseteste:

“Bishop of Lincoln and one of the most learned men of the Middle Ages… That he opposed… abuses of the papal administration is certain, but a study of his letters and writings… destroy the myth that he disputed the plena potestas of the popes.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, new advent.org, “Robert Grosseteste”)

If a pope could be disobeyed by “one of the most learned men of the Middle Ages” for the loss of souls due to benefices then there is no doubt that the Francis/Parolin betrayal of the Chinese Church to the totalitarian Communist regime which will result in the loss souls must be disobeyed.

Pray, pray very much for our Catholic brethren in China.