China’s persecution of Catholics

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

It has been known for a long time that China, as a matter of state policy, is persecuting Christians and Muslims. China, of course, denies this charge, but evidence is overwhelming that indeed China is engaged in wiping out those whose religion is anathema to the Chinese government. Recent documented reports of Uighur being sent to “re-education camps.” As usual the Chinese government denies this, but communist ideology is anti-religion.

A letter written by Cardinal Joseph Zen, SVD was recently released to the world. There had been many reports of what the Cardinal Emeritus of Hong Kong thinks about the state of the Church in China, but nothing had moved to put an end to this persecution. To be more precise, let me quote His Eminence that his words may be known to the outside world especially to the Philippines where there is practically little information about this persecution. Even our own bishops and the Philippine Church and the Vatican have remained silent.

Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, SDB is a cardinal of the Catholic Church from Hong Kong, who served as the sixth Bishop of Hong Kong. He was elevated to the College of Cardinal in 2006 and has been outspoken on issues regarding human rights, political freedom, and religious liberty, consequently attracting criticism from communist China. The letter I quote below is addressed to the Catholic Cardinals.

“Pardon the inconvenience my letter will cause you. It is just that, in conscience, I believe that the problem I present here concerns not only the Church in China, but the Church as a whole, and we cardinals have the grave responsibility to help the Holy Father in guiding the Church.

“From my analysis of the document of the Holy See (June 28, 2019), ‘Pastoral guidelines of the Holy See concerning the civil registration of clergy in China,’ it is quite clear that it encourages the faithful in China to enter a schismatic church (independent of the pope and under the orders of the Communist Party).

“On July 10, I presented my “dubia” to the Pope. His Holiness, on July 3, had promised to take an interest in them, but to this day I have still not heard anything.

“Cardinal Parolin (the Secretary of State, mps) says that today when we talk about the independent Church, this independence should no longer be understood as absolute, because the agreement recognizes the role of the pope in the Catholic Church.

“First of all, I cannot believe that there is such a statement in the agreement, and I do not see it there. (By the way, why must such an agreement be secret, and why is it not granted even to me, a Chinese cardinal, to see it?) But, even more clearly, the whole reality after the signing of the agreement shows that nothing has changed. Cardinal Parolin quotes a sentence from Pope Benedict’s letter completely out of context — indeed, diametrically opposed to the whole paragraph. This manipulation of the pope emeritus’s thought is gravely disrespectful; indeed, it is a deplorable insult to the person of such a meek pope, who is still alive.

“But it also disgusts me that they often declare that what they are doing is in continuity with the thought of the previous pope, while the opposite is true. I have reason to believe (and I hope one day to be able to prove with archival documents) that the agreement signed is the same one that Pope Benedict had, at the time, refused to sign.

“Your Eminence, can we passively witness the murder of the Church in China by those who should protect and defend her from her enemies?

“Begging on my knees, your brother.” Then his signature.

Pope Francis has allowed the Chinese government to have a say on the appointment of bishops who administer the Communist approved “Catholic Church” of China. There is, however, an underground Catholic Church that still acknowledges the Pope. This is the Church China persecutes.

Cardinal Zen talks of schism in China – one (the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church) acknowledges the primacy of the atheistic Chinese government; the other only God and ironically the Pope that Cardinal Zen pleads to save from the persecution at the hands of Chinese government.

Will the Cardinals listen? Maybe, but the faithful must pray for perseverance of the Church in China.