Pope Appeals To China Over Naming Of Bishops

By Francis X. Rocca
Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Thursday (April 14) lamented China's interference with the Roman Catholic Church, and reaffirmed Pope Benedict XVI's willingness to negotiate with Beijing on the appointment of bishops.

A message to Chinese Catholics, published by the pope's special commission on China, noted the "sad episode" of a bishop in the northeastern city of Chengde who was ordained without the Vatican's consent last November.

For half a century, Chinese Catholics have been divided between a state-run church independent of the Vatican and an "underground" church of Catholics loyal to the pope.

The "official" church, supervised by the Catholic Patriotic Association, has claimed 5 million members; the total number of Chinese Catholics is estimated at 12 million to 15 million.

Thursday's message reiterated Benedict's 2007 call for an agreement that would allow the Vatican to approve bishops appointed by Beijing. The message noted that the Chengde ordination took place following a series of bishops' ordinations to which both parties had given consent.

The message did not mention the new bishop of the southern city of Jiangmen, who was ordained on Mar. 30 with the approval of the Vatican and Beijing.

Comments

[bbriani3842]

10:23 PM on 04/16/2011

I would like the Chinese to nominate the following people:

Michael Hunt
Holden MacGroyen
Oliver Closov
Myra Butreeks

and

Don Ho and his wife Nasty. . .

[Sharon Reed]

04:13 PM on 04/16/2011

lol. I bet sooner or later the Chinese government will get sick of the pope's yearly appeals that they will appoint their own pope. Just like how they appoint the God-King Dalai Lama since the Qing dynasty.

Anyway why are all the popes in history Europeans? I don't think an omnipotent God is a racist.

[ThinkCreeps]

07:53 PM on 04/15/2011

Don't make Ratzinger have to go over there and get medieval on ya!

(He does a very convincing medieval).

[bearchao]

06:41 PM on 04/15/2011

"Pope appeals to China"

I doubt that they find him appealing at all.

[Parade Keegan]

07:24 PM on 04/15/2011

It's true. This pope has no credibility, it was his to lose and he did. Hopefully he won't be pope much longer though the only way to get a new pope is sad indeed.

[Syl 13]

04:19 PM on 04/15/2011

If there's something worse than the Vatican being in control of the Church, it's the CCP. Why do we enrich them when they're the largest violator of human rights? It's not just the Catholic Church or the Falun Gong: any assembly that isn't given official approval is subject to harassment, arrests, and violence. They want complete control of every aspect of every citizen's lives.

We should stop giving them the business. If you knew a local store let the managers beat its employees and control everything from the number of children they had to their faith lives, would you give him your money? Its only because the populace enjoys a semblance of prosperity and stability that they can pretend to be content to have no freedom. Take away the prosperity and they will want freedom. And we could do it, as their biggest export market.

[Fuddpacker]

03:28 PM on 04/15/2011

China didn't bother with the Vatican's approval because they had already decided that abusing small boys was against their belief system.

[bearchao]

11:21 AM on 04/16/2011

Fanned

[LMPE]

02:09 PM on 04/15/2011

Now Benny, about the raping of children...

[OGigi]

12:10 PM on 04/15/2011

From Above: A message to Chinese Catholics, published by the pope's special commission on China, noted the "sad episode" of a bishop in the northeastern city of Chengde who was ordained without the Vatican's consent last November.

Then if not the will of the Pope, do not see how he is authenticated by the Roman Catholic Church.

[Billy Fritts]

04:29 PM on 04/15/2011

The Chinese are going to elect there own pope--they dont trust the one thats in there now-- but you will have two popes---WOW--

[OGigi]

08:29 AM on 04/26/2011

Billy Fritts:"The Chinese are going to elect there own pope ...... you will have two popes--WOW".

Has to be it, guess you would be right, two Popes. Wonder what the local Roman Catholic Faithful in the area are like, new pope or not. That is WOW. 5 months now without the Vaticans Blessing. I do not see how this can work out without authentication. Strange.

[allperils]

10:48 AM on 04/15/2011

Dear Pope,

Your days of influencing government decisions are long long over. Contrary to what other people think, I would be saddened if China or any other nation for that matter took any of your advice for real.

No really, religion(s) needs to be abolished.

[Peric Overde]

12:11 PM on 04/15/2011

As much as I agree with you that religion(s) should be abolished I see what is happening in China as very dangerous as well. In essence you have The State deciding over religious matters. One only have to look at Islamic societies to appreciate the mess this generates. That said, the Chinese drones collective with their usual submission would simply accept what is imposed on them.

[Macnos]

12:16 PM on 04/15/2011

That comment is kind of foolish if you think about it. It's not a matter of the Vatican interfering in Government matters, rather it is a question of the Chinese government interfering in Vatican matters. Why should the communists be choosing who becomes a Bishop? That's clearly interference. A little thinking can go a long way my friend.

[plumbergirl]

12:56 PM on 04/15/2011

This is the first time I have seen China's Government supporting a religion, I thought they were communist and didn't like religion. Now if they are going to be switching over to Catholicism they really should fallow the rules. ROFL

[FoxReincarnated]

09:42 AM on 04/15/2011

China shouldnt have any christians. The country is Buddhist, which is far more spiritual than the garbage known as Christianity.

[allperils]

10:49 AM on 04/15/2011

Fan and Faved.

Islam and Christians....the most violent religions to date.

Don't take my word for it, look at history.

Crusade after Crusade, even today, there are Crusades.

[Loggietoad]

11:27 AM on 04/15/2011

What a silly, silly comment. How about people can follow whichever faith they prefer?

[Sean Connolly]

07:51 AM on 04/15/2011

Mao zhuxi wansui!

[YourNewNeighbor]

03:43 AM on 04/15/2011

I wonder if they eat their transubstantiation wafers with chopsticks?

[clivechristy]

01:54 AM on 04/15/2011

Chinese Politicians shrug their collective shoulders and would likely reply to the Pope that Westerners are spoilt ideologists, Chinese people are hard headed pragmatists who treat government and organized religion as a game of GO not a naive fluffy religion. Playing GO takes skill, non-experts can not contribute. Likewise, the Chinese people accept that experts are better able to decide what is effective and what is not, in government. Therefore political activism and outside decisions on religion has no place in China, because experts call the shots and populist ideological debate is judged both worthless and dangerous. Do you think they could implement a one child policy or move 1.4 million people out of their homes if they allowed popular debate? Of course not. The Chinese people know how the Catholic and Western system works, and as long as they keep delivering the goods they are happy to let the government call the shots. The don't have tanks on the streets or walls around the country to stop people emigrating like the Soviet Union, North Korea or the bad old days of Mao. In the West pop stars and journalists sing or write whatever sells, but undermining government in China is illegal. Whether under the guise of religion or not, that's their system of government, it's a paternalistic elitist system, and the Pope is a threat, not a comrade. The Catholic Church should understand it, since they did it themselves for close to 1000 years.

[FoxReincarnated]

09:44 AM on 04/15/2011

You bring up a great point, Quiverfull christians in china just wouldnt work well. At all.