Why does Pope Francis keep dialogue with China open?
Pope Francis has chosen a "soft" line with Beijing despite the fact that the regime's grip is becoming increasingly tighter, even towards Catholics. Michele Marsonet's article for Atlantico Quotidiano
The position of the Catholic Church in China is becoming increasingly precarious. On the other hand, it is certainly no better for the faithful of other religions. In fact, the various Protestant confessions, very active in the work of evangelization, are also targeted by the government and the Communist Party. And the violent repression of Uyghurs, Muslims living in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, is well known.
The last, sensational fact concerning Catholics dates back to 12 May. In Hong Kong, the police arrested the cardinal emeritus of the former British colony, the 90-year-old Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, well known to international public opinion for his unconditional support for the demonstrations of the democratic movement, repressed with violence by the Chinese authorities.
Now that Hong Kong has been completely "normalized" with the absolute ban on demonstrations and with the arrest of all exponents opposed to the regime, Beijing acts undisturbed and without more restraints. In line with the directives of Xi Jinping and his leadership group, who fear (to put it mildly) the influence of religious movements on the population. The former governor Carrie Lam, very faithful to the directives of the regime, has been replaced by John Lee, former minister of security and head of the police force that suppressed the revolt in the city-island. There is no doubt, therefore, that the grip of the central government will become even tighter.
The news of the arrest of the cardinal emeritus, later freed after the payment of a bail, nevertheless aroused confusion. It means, in fact, that Beijing is determined to crush every obstacle, completely regardless of international protests. In recent months, many Catholic priests have been arrested in mainland China, with the usual accusation of conducting subversive activities, among which Beijing also includes the mere celebration of Sunday masses.
The arrest of Joseph Zen casts a shadow over the Chinese policy of Pope Francis and the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Both have in fact chosen a "soft" line in order not to jeopardize the dialogue with Beijing.
The problem is that this dialogue remains very difficult, if not almost impossible, since the Chinese government and the Communist Party want to control the ordination of priests and above all the appointment of bishops, not accepting that Rome should indicate who should be chosen. The attempt is to organize a faithful Catholic Church in Beijing, similarly to what happened in Moscow at the time of the former Soviet Union.
Cardinal Zen has always strongly opposed this strategy, judging it to be fruitless, and he did not hesitate to criticize the Vatican leaders apertis verbis for this. Totally contrary to the "joint" episcopal appointments imposed by Beijing, the elderly cardinal was not even received by the pontiff on the occasion of his last visit to Rome in 2020.
For Zen Christianity and communism are irreconcilable, while in the Vatican it is believed that the "politics of dialogue" is destined to produce results. Remember this policy, the one practiced by the late Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, also Secretary of State, who inaugurated the dialogue with the former Soviet Union, which did not prove very fruitful and in any case interrupted due to the collapse of the USSR.
In line with this strategy, Pope Francis has recently appointed Jesuit Stephen Chow, considered very loyal to Bergoglio, as the new cardinal of Hong Kong. It appears that the appointment was welcomed by the regime. It obviously remains to be seen whether it will bring benefits to persecuted Chinese Catholics.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/papa-francesco-cina/ on Sun, 22 May 2022 05:14:19 +0000.