There is a widespread "despair", "bitterness", and even "anger" among
the underground community of the Catholic Church in China.
Underground
communities are those who in the name of religious freedom guaranteed in
the Chinese constitution, reject all the controls put in place by the
Government on religious personnel, places of worship, activities,
teachers and texts to be published and read.
Above all, they refuse to
sign up – and this is part of the conditions imposed by the government –
to the Patriotic Association (PA), whose statutes outline a national
Church independent of the Holy See, because it is against the Catholic
faith.
According to some priests, it was this "desperation" that pushed Fr. Dong Guanhua (underground priest) to be ordained illicitly,
publicizing the announcement of his ordination along with his phone
number and offering to ordain other bishops without the Holy See’s
mandate.
The incident is very ambiguous (Fr. Dong’s mental health; the doubts
of those who ordained him and when; the questions about who is the real
instigator of this episode: whether it is someone in the underground
Church or some government spy trying to humiliate all underground
Catholics). The fact remains - demonstrated by the many comments that
are on the internet - that the faithful of the underground Church are
frustrated by the Holy See’s "oversight" toward them.
Some of them point out that for at least 20 years the Vatican has
failed to appoint a successor when an underground bishop bishop dies,
but at most indicates a priest as an apostolic administrator. In the
eyes of the faithful, this decision is a kind of death sentence on their
communities and dioceses. This has given rise to their "desperation".
Especially since at the same time, they see that the Vatican approving
episcopal candidates who have already registered with the Patriotic
Association, while rejecting it as "incompatible with Catholic doctrine"
is by Benedict XVI as Pope Francis.
The recent news of an "imminent"
agreement between China and the Holy See, of the "imminent" removal of
the excommunication and reinstatement of the eight illegitimate official
bishops (some with wives and children) exacerbate this
sense of frustration. Some accuse the Vatican of using "double
standards", embracing official bishops and priests while being
completely indifferent to and even marginalizing unofficial ones.
A young priest from the underground Church in the center of China
noted that for many groups of the official church, who go as pilgrims to
Rome, the Secretary of State does all it can to help them meet with the
Pope and even to take a group photo.
For example, on 5 October in St Peter's Square, a hundred faithful
from the Diocese of Suzhou (Jiangsu) took this picture with the Pope and
with their Bishop Msgr. Joseph Xu Honggen (see photo). Now Msgr. Xu is a
great bishop on his own merit, recognized by the government and the
Holy See. However, it is virtually impossible for a pastor to be
pictured alongside the Pope of Rome without a prior concession from the
Patriotic Association. The well-publicized occasion frustrates
underground Catholics who, when they come to ask to speak to the Pope of
their situation, are beaten back. A priest who for months had been
asking for a papal blessing for his bishop in Henan, who was marking 25
years as bishop - often very difficult, under police surveillance and
house arrest - was sent packing empty handed. "My bishop – he confided -
has undergone persecution and faced difficulties to defend the faith
and his loyalty to the Pope in all these years. Now they won’t even give
a sign of support and encouragement to those who need it most. This
makes us feel very lonely. "
"Feeling lonely," "abandoned", "forgotten" is a refrain frequently
heard among unofficial Catholics from Heilongjiang up to Xinjiang and
Inner Mongolia to Guangdong.
Of course, the Vatican, in an attempt to bring the Pope to China and
to reach an agreement on the appointment of bishops, and (in the future)
diplomatic relations, is very cautious not to give in to some Chinese
critics who might accuse it of "meddling in China's internal affairs
under the guise of religion ", even supporting persons who commit acts
outside the government's control and therefore - according to Beijing -"
criminals. "
In addition, as if to avoid any friction with Beijing, the Vatican
has decided to stop listening to Card. Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of
Hong Kong, champion of religious freedom in China and "spokesman" of the
underground Church. Even the mission entrusted to Msgr. Savio Hon, a
Salesian like Cardinal. Zen, the only Chinese in the leadership of the
Roman Curia, secretary of Propaganda Fide, sent to Guam in recent
months, is seen as a move away from the Sino-Vatican negotiating table.
It must be said that underground bishops would be willing to register
with the government and the Ministry of Religious Affairs, but not to
the Patriotic Association, given its "incompatibility with the Catholic
faith". Instead the government - in Henan, Anhui, Shaanxi, ... - obliges
registry with the Patriotic Association. And even when it promises the
bishops that they will be only registered with the Government,
automatically supplies them with a membership card of the Association.
To belong or not to the PA is a crucial fact. Not only it submits
bishops, clergy and faithful to suffocating controls, with heavy
interference in the appointment of bishops, in the positions of the
priests, in the assessments on young people's vocations, it also drags
the bishops away from the diocese and from their pastoral work for
months, to "bring them on vacation" and indoctrinate them. In fact it
was an official bishop, with a very high role in the PA who confessed to
us: "We are all puppets. We just do what they tell us to do. "
Because of that, even if the Vatican is in agreement with Beijing on
the appointment of bishops and gives an indication on the registration
of priests, many underground communities have already declared that they
will not do it because of conscientious objection. This is not in
"disobedience to the Pope," as some commentators have improperly
claimed, but a final attempt to safeguard the freedom of the Gospel from
being engulfed in a state and political structure, that has nothing to
do with faith.
It is likely that a possible agreement between Beijing and the Holy
See will not give any indication on belonging to the PA or not, leaving
the bishops and priests free to choose within the margins of religious
freedom conceded to them. Thus underground Catholics will continue their
lives full of risks and possible imprisonment, but without submitting
to the PA.
However, this would be a defeat for the Vatican, at least
temporarily: in the first attempt at a longed for dialogue with China,
it has failed to wrest a minimum freedom for all the faithful, in view
of a future, real, peaceful reconciliation of the two communities, the
official and underground.
But it will also be a defeat for the Chinese government with the
further frustration of its obsession with control. According to some
observers, the over- publication of an "imminent agreement" is the
result of Beijing’s so-called "soft power" which it uses to intimidate
Taiwan, restless underground communities and drive the Vatican to sign a
hasty agreement to hem in the experience of the underground Church,
putting the whole Church in the hands of the government and its control.
These two "losses" are not painless: they have generated widespread
distrust in the government and the Vatican among the official and
underground Catholics, and there is the risk that before distasteful
political agreements, the faithful will take refuge in more ways private
to live their the faith.
This situation, however, is also an opportunity to help the Church in
China not with political dialogue, which closes off entire portions of
the Christian community, but in strengthening relations of communion, of
friendship, cooperation and especially formation. Diplomatic agreements
can wait.
In one of the last conversations I had with the heroic Bishop Anthony Li Duan of Xian, who died in 2006,
he said: "There is no need to search for diplomatic relations at all
costs between the government and the Holy See. Only when Beijing can
guarantee full religious freedom to the Church, should we pursue
diplomatic relations. Meanwhile, let us strive to build up the Church
and to evangelize Chinese society".