Any optimists out there who may have been
expecting a move towards greater freedom from the new Chinese leadership
cannot ignore the significance of the message sent out by Shanghai in
recent days. The Chinese Episcopal Conference’s decision - supported by the government - to remove Thaddeus Ma Daqin’s title of “bishop coadjutor” just weeks before the Communist Party Congress draws to a close, is of unequivocal importance.
The Holy See had appointed Ma Daqin as Auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai. Ordained last 7 July, Ma Daqin became the first Chinese bishop to publicly quit the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the body established by China’s government to monitor the Church’s activities.
Local rumour has it that the Conference, which is not recognised by the Vatican, has decided - for good measure - that in the future, new bishops will be asked for an “assurance of their loyalty”. Meanwhile, Ma Daqin is being “secluded” for two years, having been suspended from his pastoral ministry. He is no longer dean of Pudong or parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes. The bishop will basically not be able to make any public appearances for the next two years.
The general assumption is that little or nothing will change when Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang take office in March 2013 as President and Prime Minister respectively, leading millions of official and non official Christians, Catholics and Protestants. This vision is also shared by the Vatican and the United States; here, the “succession” process began about a year ago, when the two new leaders rose up in the nomenclature and so became involved in the evolving situation, without showing any particular signs of openness towards greater freedom.
In fact, as the Prefect of Propaganda Fide, Cardinal Filoni remarked some time ago, “there has been a tighter monitoring of people and institutions and indoctrination and pressure are becoming more and more frequent.” He also spoke of a “lack of religious freedom” and the “existence of serious limitations,” pointing out that one of the Church’s duties is to “defend the legitimate rights of Chinese faithful and the primary duty of the Holy See is to give a voice to those who have none.”
The situation is similar with regard to Protestants and “domestic churches”. The Church of Shouwang, which became one of China’s most highly attended churches, is being persecuted: it is forbidden to make use of its own properties and its members are arrested on a regular basis.
At almost exactly the same time as the Party’s Congress was taking place, members of a “domestic Church” in Henan were put behind bars on charges of belonging to a Christian Protestant denomination that was banned in China.
Even the activities of some churches that are “legal” are banned. In Yushu, in the province of Jilin, faithful of a big Protestant church were unable to organise a protest demonstration against the forced and probably illegal expropriation of their church by building contractors who had connections with members of the local authorities.
According to Ryan Morgan, one of the regional heads of International Christian Concern said that in a situation such as this, “the only remaining option was to practice the faith illegally and face up to the threat of abuse, arrest, torture and prison. Tens of millions of Christians in China are still forced to practice illegally today.
Still, Churches in China appear strong enough to continue to grow both in terms of numbers and in spiritual depth in the face of persecution.