US Religious Freedom Envoy Insists Vatican-China Deal Should Be Made Public

Crux ^ | 7/12 | Elise Harris

[marshmallow]

ROME - U.S. Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said Friday that the Vatican’s agreement with China on the appointment of bishops ought to be made public so that it can be evaluated.

“It certainly seems to me that it’s in everybody’s interest for the agreement to be made public so that people can appraise it and it can be subject to the light of day and people understand what the parameters of it are,” Brownback told journalists via conference call July 12.

The deal, reached last September, is believed to allow both Chinese officials and the pope to have a say on which bishops are named. However, the details of the agreement have not been made public, a fact that has been widely criticized.

During a visit to Hong Kong in March, Brownback said the deal had set a poor precedent for government interference with other religious communities, including Tibetan Buddhism and other Christian denominations.

Answering a question posed by Crux on Friday’s call, Brownback said that while he can’t say religious persecution in China has been made worse because of the deal, “more aggressive actions have happened towards virtually every faith in China” since the Chinese Communist Party was given power over the regulation of religion in 2017.

Referring to the Vatican’s agreement with China, Brownback said “I don’t know that it’s made it worse, but certainly I believe it true that the agreement should be made public.”

He said the Chinese government was not invited to participate in the ministerial, explaining that, “We invited nations to this that are like-minded, that support religious freedom or are aspirational to engage for more religious freedom in their nation.”

[treetopsandroofs]

Whatever. Commie Popie Frankie’s supporters are on their own.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I wouldn't describe the faithful traditional underground Catholics of China as "Commie Pope Frankie's supporters."

You seem to have missed a couple of important pieces, there.

[I want the USA back]

The pope is a communist. So is China. He is willingly turning over part of the church to those he adores.