Posted on 11/21/2014 5:55:52 AM PST by marshmallow
Beijing: In a bid to repair strained relations with the Vatican, China has proposed a joint system for appointment of bishops, offering the papal authority a greater say in matters relating to administration of churches.
The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), an official body that governs the Catholics in China, said it hopes to receive the Vatican's reply by the start of next year to its proposals in this regard, official media reported in Beijing on Friday.
"The Vatican seems to hope for more agreements beyond bishop ordination, such as cancelling the CCPA. But that doesn't appear likely," state-run Global Times report said.
The CCPA's authority has always been controversial between the two sides.
Till now, China insisted that it has the sole authority to appoint Bishops while the Vatican's stand is that bishops can only be appointed by the Pope.
After Buddhism, Christianity was believed to be the fastest growing religion in China.
Though China is governed by the atheist Communist Party, it does not discriminate against religion as a state policy it is very apprehensive about the role of Church considering the catalyst role played by the Vatican in transformation of socialist countries like Poland.
The relations between Vatican and China strained over differences on administering Churches and appointments of Bishops. But the ties were on the mend since new government headed by President Xi Jinping took over last year.
In August, China permitted Pope Francis for the first time in recent years to fly over its air space when he visited South Korea, saying it hopes to conduct constructive dialogue with the Vatican and improve relations strained over differences on administering Churches.
(Excerpt) Read more at firstpost.com ...
The Vatican ought to canonize Cardinal Kung.
Hmmmm, do I sound cynical?
Not a bad idea. He has to have SOME kind of backbone to stand up for The Truth in Commie-land.
I had heard that this last bunch of Patriotic seminarians refused to have a Chinese commie as their main speaker, I think it was their graduation or something. And it caused a stir among the commies. I think that is why they are now trying to work out a deal with the Vatican as far as the new bishop is concerned.
All this time the commies have rested in the fact that the priests who were being ordained had no idea that they were not really in line with Rome. Now they know so the commies have to relent somewhat.
A deal of this kind could undermine the underground Catholics in China by providing legitimacy to the state-approved church, which I suspect is what the Chinese government is after.
Anybody else notice how "patriotic" non-Western Commies always are?
Why can't our Commies ever be patriotic???
Official Catholics may be Catholics bur are not necessarily Catholics. It is an interesting situation.
That’s a legitimate concern.
Overall, though, there’s much to be excited about regarding the spread of Christianity in China. There are now more Chines Catholics than American Catholics, and there are twice as many Protestants than Catholics in China. That would mean 225 million Christians in China, or about 20% of the population. That’s a force that cannot be easily suppressed.
The Chinese may be nearing their Constantine moment.
Saints are not proclaimed for political reasons. The Church does not make Saints but rather recognizes some of them when there are enough carefully considered signs of Sainthood before and after a Saint’s death. Very many surely go unrecognized but are Saints nonetheless.
Most of the Chinese seminarians have been trained in American seminaries and especially over the last decade our seminaries have become even more in line with Rome. This has affected the Chinese seminarians in a good way. They have been trained in the Truth.
Until the Chinese seminarians stood up the commies thought they that they had fooled everyone. Not so now. Let's pray that more recognition is realized.
The Cardinal Kung Foundation has been asking everyone for years to pray one Hail Mary per day for the opening of his cause. What I said is not for a political reason. The man deserves to have a hearing, because he suffered like a saint in prison.
Yes. His cause should be taken up and surely has been. These things are not often trumpeted while in process and the process can take many years.
Thanks to you and Slyfox for your very interesting comments.
China is STILL the uber Commie country of the earth, so matter HOW they try to spin it. They still really, really believe that they (and India too) are superior to the rest of the planet because they are such old cultures.
I guess they don't get it that OLD does not equal BETTER. It just means OLD. I've been to both countries and you can TELL old and nasty places by their plumbing...or lack thereof.
Flushing waste into a river (Shanghai) or lake (Dal) shows where their priorities are...oh yuck. I could SEE the pink toilet paper coming out of the toilet flushing of the water-houses into the lake.
I got DEATHLY ill in India from their miserable water and sanitation. I didn't have that problem in China because after the India experience we drank NOTHING but bottled soda (orange soda back then) and Bejing peejiu...beer: Beijing beer (Chinese: 北京啤酒; pinyin: Běijīng píjiǔ).
The Germans had traveled all the way to China eons ago and taught the Chinese to make REAL beer. It wasn't very good, since REAL beer REQUIRES absolutely pure water, but it didn't make me sick (as in at death's door) like their water would have.
I won't even MENTION how ill I got in Mexico or Damascus. It was the water. My stupid at all times. WHAT was I thinking? I thank the Lord for my Western health else I would not have survived.
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