The atheists running the Catholic Church

It is absurd to hear the statements of politically correct state puppets defending Beijing's policies

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun
Hong Kong
July 26, 2011

These last few days, Catholic faithful inside and outside China have noted with sadness and indignation words pronounced by Anthony Liu Bainian and Reverends Joseph Guo Jincai, Johan Fang Xingyao and Joseph Yang Yu, which are hardly distinguishable from being schismatic. But yesterday’s statement by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) has reached the extreme of absurdity.

We may understand if the government comes out to defend their puppets by saying that they are politically correct, or to praise their courage in resisting foreign pressure; but now they come out to praise their “ardent Catholic faith” and to say that the ordinations without papal mandate are necessary for “the normal running of the Church and for the needs of pastoral and evangelizing activity.” This is absolutely preposterous and ridiculous, given that as some scholars have recently pointed out, the government is now “running” the Catholic Church.

Are they blind? Have they not had a chance to see how the Catholic Church works in the rest of the world? Does the special situation of China force the government to run a Church which simply can no more be recognizable as Catholic? They are making themselves the laughing stock of the world!

Can our leaders take out some time from their engagement in power struggle and give attention to this “tiny community” of Catholics? Why should our brothers and sisters not be allowed to live peacefully their normal life of faith? Is that not a right given them by the constitution?

They call the excommunication by the Holy See in the fifties “cause” and the illegitimate ordination of bishops “effect.” They are shamelessly twisting the reality.

From the recent three illegitimate ordinations and the Eighth National Congress of Catholic Representatives, everybody could understand that the SARA and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association have decided to lead the open Church to go unrepentant their way of an independent church and to unilaterally elect and ordain their bishops.

Then let them find someone with enough weight, like Martin Luther and King Henry VIII, to give a status to their new church, but they have no right to usurp the name of “Catholic Church.”

With violence they limited personnel freedoms; they even offended the dignity of conscience. They completely disregarded the authority and the kindness of our Holy Father, and still they dare to say that they have sincere will of dialogue. That is the biggest lie in the world! Only the self interest and cowardice of the nations prevent them from saying a fair word of disapproval.

The saying goes: “The eyes of the people are illumined.” In Leshan some people may admire the administrative efficiency of Reverend Paul Lei Shiyin, but they must know that he is unfit to be a bishop; in Shantou there may be people supporting the ambitions of Reverend Joseph Huang Bingzhang. But the generality of the Catholic faithful in China will reject these “opportunists” and will always be on the side of the pope.

Nobody knows how long the severe winter will last, but our faithful are not afraid, or they will overcome their fear with faith and prayer, which will give them strength to imitate the canonized martyrs and innumerable living heroes of faith, to give courageous testimony to our Risen Savior.

Dear faithful brothers and sisters, we salute you – from an old brother who is almost ashamed of living in freedom.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired bishop of Hong Kong, is a member of the Holy See’s Commission for the Catholic Church in China

590 words

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Iraola40

For all sui juris Churches, the appointment or election of bishops is in the competence of the Holy Synod. If a bishop who is appointed or elected to an eparchy has received prior episcopal consecration, then the Pope is not involved at all in the process of the selection of the candidate. If the candidate has yet to receive episcopal consecration, then the Pope’s assent is required (but the candidate has been elected by another instance which is not the Vatican Congregation of Bishops). The Pope may reject the candidate, but should choose an alternative from the list of candidates (normally 3) provided by the Synod (and not by the Congregation of Bishops). The Pope has the prerogative to choose his own candidate, but the Synod has the prerogative to not accept him. At that point, the selection process starts over.A Patriarch, after election of his Synod, does not require confirmation by the Pope; a Major archbishop or Metropolitan of a sui juris Church requires confirmation by the Pope; a Metropolitan within a Patriarchal or Major archiepiscopal jurisdiction requires the confirmation of the Patriarch or Major Archbishop.This process is already happening in many sui juris dioceses of America, Middle East, Orthodox Churches, and India, just to mention but a few.
Why does not the Vatican apply the same principle to the nomination of bishops in China and let them (local church) be the one to provide for their own pastors. The Vatican’s prerogative of appointment of bishops historically has not always been what is now. Stop hitting with the “stone” head against the same nail and choose instead to serve ad majorem gloriam Dei and the Gospel.
Kailing

Amen to that!
Rocky

I agree with you that the form of Petrine Ministry can be exercised differently in different ages of the Pilgrim Church. But this is not just about the Chinese Church but the whole Latin Rite Church. Perhaps it will require a World Synod or another Ecumenical Council to come up with a new form of exercising this unique, Christ-ordained Ministry.

The input from Orthodox and Protestant Christians is significant as Blessed John Paul II invited them to make proposals in Ut Unum Sint. In this aspect the fruits of dialogue between Catholic & Orthodox theologians in recent years on ‘the Papacy in the First Millennium’ will be helpful. Contributions by theologians & canonists are warranted too.

One Catholic principle that must always be upheld, however, is that the Office of Peter is one of jurisdictional, not just honorary. St. Ambrose’s famous dictum, “Ubi Petrus ibi ecclesia, et ibi ecclesia vita eterna” (Where there is Peter there is the Church, where there is the Church there is life eternal) always apply.
Azul Condor

If only our conciliar Popes listened to the teachings of their predecessors, the Church would not have been embroiled in the politics of this godless Communist regime in which they have been humiliated over and over. In the first place, Vatican shouldn’t have even considered recognising the Communist-created, Communist-inspired, and Communist-run
so-called Catholic Patriotic Association or CPA, a pseudo-church that is historically and and politically in existence because it toes the Communist party line. The CPA does not even recognize the Pope as its head, but its loyalty lies in the Communist Party of China. And yet the Vatican has been playing a dangerous game of appeasement with the Chinese Communists for sometime, and all it gets are slaps and the face and redicule for trying too hard, and despite the fact that it has already sold out the real Catholics in China. Benedict’s sell out of the underground Catholics to the Chinese Communists sounds like St. Peter exhorting the catacomb Catholics to come out and worship the pagan gods so Nero would spare them their lives, thus negate ” The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity.”