Increasingly insistent rumours indicate
that the Assembly of Chinese Catholics Representatives, delayed for
almost five years, will be held the next December 7 to 9. Bishops
recognized by the government should attend the meeting.
The Vatican has
long expressed its opposition to the assembly and advised bishops not to
take part.
Benedict XVI, in his Letter to Chinese Catholics, defines
the organization and its principles as incompatible with Catholic
doctrine. Among Catholics, there is tension and resistance to the
pretensions of the Patriotic Association (PA), which wants to build a
Church independent from the Holy See.
This explains the appeal launched
by Benedict XVI during his general audience.
During the Assembly the posts of president of the Patriotic
Association (PA) and chairman of the council of bishops are due to be
filled, positions which have been vacant since the death of the two
leaders in 2007 and 2005 (see: 17/11 / 2010 " Assembly of Chinese Catholics "by the end of the year").
The Assembly is convened just weeks after the illicit ordination of
Fr. Guo Jincai as Bishop of Chengde (Hebei), commissioned by the PA
against the wishes of the Holy See.
The Holy See issued a strong
statement condemning the ordination and denouncing "severe violations of
religious freedom" as some bishops were kidnapped and forced to
participate (see 24/11/2010 Holy See condemns illicit episcopal ordination in Chengde).
According to many local Catholics, the ordination was a show of force
to threaten the bishops and the Vatican not to oppose the assembly and
the election of new presidents.
In addition, the newly ordained bishop
Guo Jincai, who as a result is now automatically excommunicated, is
apparently in the running for one of the posts.
Catholics fear their bishops will be forced to attend the Assembly,
with more kidnappings, threats and punishments, as was the case for the
Chengde ordination.
Faithful priests of those bishops forced to attend
the ordination have written to the Holy See in support of their bishops
taken hostage and humiliated by the regime.
Bishop Francis An Shuxin, a
former underground bishop, who was recognized by the government, and who
was also present for ordination, is afraid and ashamed to show himself
in public and celebrates mass alone.
The standoff between the official Church and the Patriotic
Association is becoming increasingly tense.
For weeks, 100 teachers and
seminarians at the seminary of Shijiazhuang have been on strike, where
for the first time a government representative, Tang Zhaojun, was
"elected" vice-rector.
So far, government bureaucracy had limited itself
to appointing the professors of politics.
The seminarians are concerned
that this decision - made without consultation with the Church
authorities, submits the already difficult religious life of the
seminarians to politics.
Last week a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei, responded
to the Vatican and the universal Churches condemnation violations of
religious freedom by the government, with the "claim" of interference in
the appointment of bishops, and the accusation that the Vatican is
instead responsible for "restrictions of religious freedom and
intolerance."
SIC: AN/INT'L
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