On the Appointment of Bishops, China Is Doing Everything on Its Own. And the Pope Kowtows

L'Espresso ^ | February 16, 2021 | Sandro Magister

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On the Appointment of Bishops, China Is Doing Everything on Its Own. And the Pope Kowtows

“A slap in the face for the Vatican.” This is how "Bitter Winter," the top online newspaper in the world for information on religion in China, presents the full text of the new directory issued by the State Administration of Religious Affairs for collecting in a single database all the information on religious personnel present in the country, to push its control to an almost Orwellian level:

> Enter the “Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy”: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

The 52 articles in the directory have it all. For example, that the reincarnation of a Buddhist lama must be authorized by the Chinese Communist Party.

But here it should be enough to focus attention on article 16, that which concerns Catholic bishops, their appointment, their consecration, their official recognition.

On September 22 2018 the Holy See and China signed a provisional and secret accord on the appointment of bishops, renewed for another two years on October 22 2020, an accord that Pope Francis - in the speech of February 8 this year to the diplomatic corps - called “essentially pastoral,” with the hope “that the process now begun can be pursued in a spirit of mutual respect and trust, and thus further contribute to the resolution of questions of common interest.”

But to read the directory just published by the State Administration of Religious Affairs, of the “pastoral” there is absolutely nothing. The methods of appointing bishops are completely in the hands of the Beijing authorities, through that operational arm of theirs which is the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and that false simulacrum of an episcopal college which is the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference, not recognized by Rome.

The procedure starts with a “democratic election” of the new bishop by the local “Catholic community,” continues with the “approval” of the appointment by the pseudo episcopal conference, leads to his “consecration” by a conforming bishop, and is crowned by the official registration of the newly elected in the database that will monitor him all the way to the grave.

And the pope? And the Holy See? Not a word, as if they have no say in the matter.

In fact, this is what Article 16 of the Directory states:

“Catholic bishops are approved and consecrated by the Chinese Catholic Bishops' Conference. The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Chinese Catholic Bishops' Conference shall, within twenty days after the consecration of the bishop, fill out a Catholic bishop reporting form and report it to the State Administration of Religious Affairs for the record, and submit the following materials .

“(a) A copy of the bishop's household register and a copy of his resident identity card.

“(b) A statement issued by the Catholic community of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government on the democratic election of the bishop.

“(c) a letter of approval from the Chinese Catholic Bishops' Conference.

“(d) the certificate of consecration of the bishop signed by the consecrating bishop.

"The Catholic bishops registration form shall be the one supplied by the State Administration of Religious Affairs."

The directory will go into effect next May 1. Assuming it does, there is nothing to suggest that the balance of the accord between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops will be better than that recorded so far:

> Deep In the Red. The Disappointing Balance Two Years Into the Accord with China

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