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Don't be fooled: China-Vatican deal not on the horizon soon

State media reports signalling an agreement on bishop appointments are little more than Communist 'double-think'
Don't be fooled: China-Vatican deal not on the horizon soon

Catholics pray at a church in Beijing, September 2013 (Photo by ucanews.com) 

Published: November 24, 2014 10:05 AM GMT
Updated: November 23, 2014 11:27 PM GMT

On the surface, Chinese news reports at the end of last week on a possible breakthrough in Vatican-Beijing ties looked very positive. After written contact between Pope Francis and President Xi Jinping over the past 18 months and the first papal flight over China in August, Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Wenweipo newspaper reported last week that a deal is close on bishop appointments, the main stumbling block in establishing diplomatic ties.

But from what we know about the secret negotiations between both sides, this news represents little more than classic Communist double-think: although there is discussion and compromise, an agreement remains far from being a certainty.

What this surprising report really represents is a deliberate leak by the Communist party in a bid to increase pressure on the Vatican to accept its proposal while generating sympathy for its position so that when talks inevitably fail, Beijing can say that the Vatican is to blame.

That an unnamed Communist Party official leaked details of the secret talks to a pro-Beijing newspaper and that this was then reported on the mainland by the state-run Global Times indicates it is little more than a familiar Chinese gambit.

The actual substance of the Chinese compromise with the Vatican equates to exactly the same model that Beijing has proposed for “democracy” in Hong Kong. That is, a narrow choice of candidates pre-selected by the Chinese government. While this appears to be progress, it really represents little more than a new system with a veneer of choice designed to continue to sideline individuals seen as against the Communist Party, thereby maintaining its over-arching control.

With its appalling record on religious freedom and the fact it is one of only six countries that has failed to establish diplomatic ties with the Holy See — along with North Korea, Myanmar, Laos, Brunei and Vietnam — the onus is on China to compromise, of course. But these reports suggest it is ready to change very little.

Friday’s article in the Global Times dismisses any possibility that the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) might be abolished, a key concern of the Holy See which rightly views the CCPA’s appointment of bishops as illegitimate.

By lining up two experts to defend the role of the CCPA, the state-run Global Times has again reverted to the classic trick of painting Communist Party beliefs and desires as independently universal within China. The report even strays into outright fabrication in describing the CCPA as an “independent group” when it is clearly a state organ designed to oversee and control the Catholic Church in China.

Many Church observers will no doubt be eagerly awaiting a response from the Vatican. This is not only unlikely but hardly necessary given that the Pope himself has already indicated where the Church stands on this issue, which in turn points to the unlikelihood of a breakthrough anytime soon.

In August, on the papal flight back from South Korea while over Chinese airspace, Francis could not have been clearer: “We respect the Chinese people. The Church only asks for liberty for its task, for its work. There’s no other condition,” he said. “Then we should not forget that fundamental letter for the Chinese problems which was the one sent to the Chinese by Pope Benedict XVI. This letter is actual (relevant) today. It is actual. It’s good to re-read it.”

What Benedict’s remarkable open letter to China in May, 2007 essentially did was to remind everyone — particularly China and its government — of the Vatican’s position on the state of relations and of the Church’s role in any society. That is, that the Church should keep out of politics and instead concern itself with the well-being of ordinary people for the “common good”.

“In the light of these unrenounceable principles, the solution to existing problems cannot be pursued via an ongoing conflict with the legitimate civil authorities; at the same time, though, compliance with those authorities is not acceptable when they interfere unduly in matters regarding the faith and discipline of the Church,” said Benedict.

In citing Benedict’s letter, Francis was saying that the Vatican’s position remains straightforward and unchanged, so it would seem highly unlikely that this situation would have altered in the past three months. Remember that Francis consults the Pope Emeritus before every foreign trip, and would no doubt have done so before leaving Rome for Seoul in August.

The pope’s consistency on this matter correlates with what Church representatives in the region continue to say in private regarding the situation with China.

The Church has been flexible with some countries known for persecuting Christians, most recently China’s neighbor Vietnam. After the Vietnamese government and the Vatican established a working group dialogue in 2009, two years later Archbishop Girelli was appointed as a non-residential special envoy who visits the country regularly. But this does not mean the Vatican is likely to enter a similar deal with China, quite the reverse in fact.

Critics of the process say the Vatican was too swift to build bridges with Hanoi and that religious freedom has not improved despite the agreement. It has no doubt learned from its experience with Vietnam, the key lesson being that principles should not be compromised for the end goal of diplomatic ties.

The Vatican will be expected to be much more cautious in the case of China which has shown far less flexibility and signs of improvement on rights and democracy-related issues compared to Vietnam. There’s also a lot more at stake: The Vatican will be keenly aware that a false move on China, the most populous country in the world, will open itself up to far greater criticism.

While the Vatican shows no sign of deviating from its position that it alone should be free to choose its own representatives on the ground in China, the government does not appear ready to relinquish control of the process, just as it has shown no sign of giving up control of any organ of influence or power — be it the judiciary, legislative branch or key sectors of the economy.

In August during his landmark first trip to Asia, Francis made a thinly veiled appeal to China when he assured that Christians were not “conquerors” threatening national identities.

But, within a paranoid government which has stepped up persecution against a vibrant and growing Church, the pope’s words are unlikely to gain much traction.

Although talks between Beijing and the Vatican, and Chinese compromise on the system of bishop appointments — however superficial — do represent positive steps in a difficult relationship, the prospect of a tangible breakthrough remains elusive. Don’t be fooled by the recent reports.

Dan Long is the pseudonym of a journalist based in Beijing who has reported on the region for more than a decade.

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