How the American Pope With Communist China? One of the criticisms of Francesco’s pontificate was precisely that of having adopted a policy too compliant with Beijing despite the strong restrictions on religious freedom. The provisional agreement on the appointment of the bishops also deteriorated the relations of the Holy See with the America of Trump in the first term and may have been decisive even during the conclave For the failure to election of the man who most dealt with it, the cardinal secretary of state Pietro Parolin.
First steps
The contested agreement will last until 2028 and Leone XIV has not given the impression of wanting to repeal it. The current was an important month in the Sino-Vatican relationships because the Pope has suppressed the Diocese of Xuanhua and XIwanzi – erected in 1946 by Pius XII and not recognized by the Chinese government – erecting in their place that of Zhangjiakou as requested by Beijing. Leone has headed the new diocese Giuseppe Wang Zhengui at the same time ordered bishop in accordance with the provisional agreement.
The bishop against the regime
The new diocese and the new bishop fall within that province of Hebei where there is a strong vitality of Catholicism and the groups of the so -called resist “Clandestine” church who wants to obey the Pope only and not also to the Chinese Communist Party. Among his exponents is Monsignor Agostino to whom Tai holding the suppressed diocese of Xuanhua and who has repeatedly been arrested or put under house arrest by the regime for his unavailability to collaborate with the civil authorities. On September 12 the Holy See made it known that it was “Episcopal dignity also civilly recognized” of which Tai. Perhaps for this reason a voice of his alleged adhesion to the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association had circulated in recent weeks. Adhesion, however, that it comes clearly denial by people close to the Emeritus Bishop of Xuanhua.
New prohibitions
Despite the continuation of politics on the appointment of bishops, things they don’t seem to improve on the front of religious freedom. This week, in fact, is the news that the state administration for religious affairs has issued a new code of conduct for the activities of the clergy on the Internet. The code prohibits religious activities of evangelization and education of minors on the web. Furthermore, they will not be able to collect Funds to build places of worship. Rigid rules for those who want to operate in the virtual world: to be on social media, a certificate of belonging to the religious order must be provided. Support for the communist system and leadership of the Communist Party is mandatory. No religious rites on platforms other than those pre -established. In short, the communist China fear The potential of the web for the spread of the Gospel and has established a very restrictive code.
Leone’s words
The new rules come close to the statements made by Leone XIV in his first interview. The new Pope said clearly to respect “That significant group of Chinese Catholics who have lived a sort of oppression or difficulty in practicing one’s faith freely ” marking a change of pace with his predecessor who loved to repeat the invitation to Chinese Catholics to be “good citizens ” as hoped for by the civil authorities.
The fact that Prevost said he wants to continue appears significant “The line that the Holy See has followed for some years now, and which was also carried out by several predecessors” but specifying “short -term“. The American Pope makes himself perfectly realized that the Chinese one is “A very difficult situation”.