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EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Zen criticizes Vatican for ‘despis[ing] the heroes of faith’ in China In a 20-minute discussion, the cardinal lamented the Pope’s silence on China’s abuses of power in Hong Kong and described a dire situation for faithful Chinese Catholics. NEW YORK, February 14, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The communist-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association “has always been objectively schismatic” and remains that way “but with the blessing from the Holy See,” Cardinal Joseph Zen said today. Cardinal Zen sat down with LifeSite for a one-on-one interview in New York today. In the 20-minute discussion, the cardinal lamented the Pope’s silence on China’s...

When Wei Sun, a 48-year-old engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems, left for an overseas trip last year, he told the company he planned to bring his company-issued HP EliteBook 840 laptop along. Sun, a Chinese-born American citizen, had been working at Raytheon, the fourth-largest US defense contractor, for a decade. He held a secret-level security clearance and worked on highly sensitive missile programs used by the US military. Since Sun’s computer contained large amounts of classified data, Raytheon officials told him that taking it abroad would not only be a violation of company policy, but a serious violation of federal...

Vatican picks Hong Kong bishop, delays announcement Hong Kong, China, Jan 17, 2020 / 07:06 am (CNA).- The Holy See has delayed announcing its pick for the next bishop of Hong Kong, CNA has learned, amid concerns that local clergy and lay Catholics will see Rev. Peter Choy Wai-man as too sympathetic to the Chinese Communist government.The Diocese of Hong Kong has been without permanent leadership since January 2019, when Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung died unexpectedly. Since Yeung died, the diocese has been led temporarily by Cardinal John Tong Hon, Yeung’s predecessor, who retired from the post in 2017.Senior Church...

[Catholic Caucus] Bishop Guo Evicted, Homeless, After Refusing to Join Vatican-Approved Chinese Patriotic Church In 2017, Bishop Guo Xijin of Mindong in China’s Fujian province disappeared. At that time, he was pressured to sign a document stating his willingness to “voluntarily” be demoted to coadjutor bishop, as a condition that he be recognized by the government during his one month detention.This would have been bad enough. But in 2018, Pope Francis became the one to order Guo to step down, taking the role of auxiliary bishop of his own diocese. The demotion was not for any failure on Guo’s part, but rather...

Blood on His Hands Pope Francis' betrayal of Chinese Catholics While, for the most part, it's been high-level cardinals and archbishops who made a back-door, secret agreement with the Communist Chinese government regarding China's growing Catholic population, Pope Francis bears ultimate responsibility for their betrayal. Details of the negotiation between the Vatican and the Chinese government have been kept secret by the man directly under Pope Francis, Cdl. Pietro Parolin. Hong Kong's retired archbishop, Cdl. Joseph Zen, has been petitioning Pope Francis to review the agreement. Zen met with the Pope in July 2019 and handed him a letter outlining...

Mindong’s Msgr. Guo evicted from the curia: he will sleep on the street. Several priests and elderly also made homeless (Video) At least five parishes have been closed, with electricity and water supplies cut off. These include Fuan, Saiqi and Suanfeng. "Fire safety" measures given as a justification, an excuse for persecution. Some priests have been kicked out. A home for the elderly kept by the nuns is also closed. Of the thirty guests, some are hosted by relatives, others are homeless. Official bishop Zhan Silu bypassed by the United Front. Some priests speak of Holy See’s having “too lightly”...

The Vatican’s Alliance With China: More Evil Than We Thought The accord with China has led to greater persecution of Catholics Today I have to write about something that deeply disturbs me. Let's start with a report at The Daily Caller: "Right now, those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese," Sorondo told the Vatican Insider, applauding China's efforts to follow the green initiatives spelled out in Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, Laudato Sí.  Sorondo also accused President Donald Trump of allowing himself to be manipulated by global oil firms and praised China for defending the Paris Climate Accord. Bp....

What Now, Pope Francis? The butchers of Beijing tighten the noose on underground Catholics in China. Soon the hanging? “Bitter Winter”, the online journal of Massimo Introvigne on the state of human rights in China, reports the wholly expected news that the butchers of Beijing have decreed the death of religious freedom in China following the Vatican’s sellout of the Underground Church.  Doubling down on the already draconian New Regulation on Religious Affairs enacted in 2017, the Communist Party of China [CCP] has announced new “Administrative Measures for Religious Groups” that “will come into force on February 1, 2020.” “Two years after the 2017...

I represent more troops than any other member of this body. I buried one of them earlier today at Arlington. If our servicemembers have the courage to fight and die in these wars, Congress ought to have the courage to vote for or against them. I’m voting for this resolution.

2020 to See Harsher Rules for China’s Christians New measures demand total submission to Communist Party Beijing (AsiaNews) - As of Feb. 1, 2020, new administrative measures will be put in place for Chinese religious groups. According to a communication published by Xinhua, published yesterday, they complete the "Regulations on religious affairs" revised two years ago and implemented on February 1, 2018. The text of the "Administrative measures for religious groups" published by Xinhua consists of six chapters and 41 articles dealing with the organization, functions, offices, supervision, projects and economic administration of communities and groups at both a national and local level. Every aspect of the life of religious...

[Catholic Caucus] Catholic Holy Site Shattered, Churches Closed or Demolished Altar destroyed, Virgin Mary statue removed In late September, the altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the central province of Henan was demolished on orders by the United Front Work Department and Religious Affairs Bureau of Linzhou city. The only remaining Virgin Mary statue in the sanctuary, kept inside the ruins of the Church of Our Lady atop the mountain, was dismantled and taken to a church at its foot.The altar on Mount Carmel was destroyed in late September.The sanctuary...

On December 7, North Korea claimed to have conducted a “very important test” at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station that “will have an important impact on changing the strategic position of the DPRK.”[1] The North Koreans did not describe what was tested, but prior open-source imagery suggests it was a static (ground) test of a large liquid-propellant rocket engine.[2] It remains to be seen what rocket system the engine was associated with: a previously launched intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), intermediate-range ballistic missile, space launch vehicle, or a new system. In any case, the static test could be the precursor to...

Vatican Bishop: ‘China Trusts Pope Francis’ ROME — A top Vatican bishop has confirmed Pope Francis’ wish to visit Beijing and establish formal diplomatic ties with the country, as reported Monday in China’s state-run Global Times. “Pope Francis has love and confidence in China and China trusts Pope Francis,” said Argentine Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, speaking at an organ donation and transplantation conference this weekend in Kunming, Southwest China.“In this dynamic, the next step is to reach [an agreement on establishing] diplomatic relations,” said Sanchez, while also underscoring the pope’s wish to visit...

Church on the Brink of Schism in China. The Alarm of Cardinal Zen On December 3 “New Bloom,” an online magazine based in Taiwan, published an extensive interview with Cardinal Joseph Zen Zekiun, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong.The interview took place in Hong Kong and bears the byline of Nicholas Haggerty. It can be read in its entirety in English on this page of “New Blooom”:> Interview: Cardinal Joseph ZenThe cardinal reviews with a richness of detail the Holy See’s policy toward China during the last three pontificates. And he identifies those mainly responsible for the surrender to the communist...

[Catholic Caucus] Cdl. Zen: Pope ‘Shutting Down’ Work of Predecessors in China Says Francis has 'low respect' for John Paul II, Benedict XVI HONG KONG (ChurchMilitant.com) - In a recent interview with New Bloom, Cdl. Joseph Zen discussed the worsening plight of the underground Catholic Church in China and described how Pope Francis is "shutting down" the work of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.  After providing some historical background on the relationship between the Vatican and Communist China, Cdl. Zen talked about the situation coming to a head under Pope Francis' pontificate and deteriorating in the wake of the surreptitious 2018 Vatican-China...

The man [Romney] on the left flew to New York to beg for Donald Trump’s support in his 2012 run for President against Barack Hussein Obama. He came to Trump again when he ran for the U.S. Senate after somehow losing the presidency to a Socialist Muslim no one had ever heard of before. Trump graciously helped him - again. But Mitt Romney is a sorry politrickster. He let Manchurian candidate Barack Obama smoke him in the presidential race… but he [later] won a seat in the Senate. So Trump backs Romney twice, but when last week’s flap over a...

Mystery deepens over high-ranking Chinese deputy mayor and his supposed defection to the U.S. Reuters Feb 9, 2012 – 9:40 AM ET | Last Updated: Feb 9, 2012 9:42 AM ET By Michael Martina The United States said Thursday a former Chinese police chief rumoured to have tried to defect had visited one of its consulates, fuelling a political intrigue analysts say may signal a power struggle in China. The mysterious consular incident in southwest China has cast an unwelcome spotlight on Bo Xilai, a former commerce minister jostling to join the Communist Party’s inner circle, but muted reaction in...

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 22, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — At Chick-fil-A, the politically correct handwriting was on the wall for a long time, but most of us missed it. Until now. Just four days since the popular chicken restaurant’s infamous announcement about reprioritizing its corporate giving, and despite the launch of a counter-narrative by conservatives Rev. Franklin Graham, Erik Erickson, and others, it’s clear that Chick-fil-A (CFA) has been on a troubling leftward trajectory for quite some time. The revelations are stunning. Chick-fil-A evolving into a pipeline of cash to leftist causes CFA fans wouldn’t have been caught by surprise if they...

Faithful Chinese bishop goes into hiding from communist authorities BEIJING, November 20, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — A faithful Catholic Chinese bishop is believed to be hiding from Chinese communist authorities following his refusal to sign an agreement to join the communist-run “patriotic church” that would allow him to serve his flock openly. According to AsiaNews, the 61-year-old auxiliary bishop Vincent Guo Xijin of Mindong, Fujian province, is reportedly exhausted by his ordeal, having been harassed for more than a year by the Chinese government. Although under the watch of government security guards, Guo escaped from the headquarters of Msgr. Vincenzo...

[Catholic Caucus] The Accord Between China and the Vatican Has One Sure Effect: More Persecution. A Dramatic Report from the Diocese of Mindong For the enthusiasts of the secret accord of September 22 2018 between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops, that of Mindong should have been the pilot diocese, the one that would educate the world about the goodness of the agreement.Instead it is precisely the diocese of disaster.A few hours ago “Asia News,” the online agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions that specializes in China, published with the byline of its director, Fr....