It's been a while since we looked at the state of the Church in China. Walt is sorry (but not surprised) to report that despite the efforts of Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, to make nice with the the Communists, bishops and priests who remain loyal to Rome continue to be persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, and even executed.
The least that can be expected by a bishop who doesn't toe the party line is to be discriminated against when it comes to things like travel outside (or even inside) China, and the freedom (or lack thereof) to speak out on matters of faith and the governance of the Church.
On the other hand, Catholic bishops who accept the leadership of the schismatic Chinese Patriotical Catholic Association -- the puppet "church" established by Beijing following the Communist revolution -- are richly rewarded for their objectively sinful allegiance.
In "Reward or Punishment. How Beijing Sanctions the Bishops", Sandro Magister, a Vatican insider, describes the very favourable treatment accorded by Beijing to "Bishop" John Baptist Li Suguang, who was ordained in October 2010 without the approval of the Holy See. The "bishop", by accepting this invalid ordination, is subject to automatic excommunication. However, he now claims to be acting as a force for reconciliation between the puppet "church" and the millions of Chinese Catholics who practise their Faith in the "underground Church".
Joseph Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong, an outspoken critic of Beijing, recently scolded the Sant’Egidio community for inviting Bishop Suguang to participate in an international conference. Cardinal Zen argued that all Catholics should accept the directive of Pope Benedict XVI to refrain from giving any recognition to the CPCA and its Communist-appointed leaders.
The fact that Bishop Suguang was allowed to travel to the meeting in Germany is itself evidence of the government's favour. Bishops loyal to the Holy See have been routinely denied permission to travel to Rome on Church business.
But that's how it is in the People's Republic of China, where freedom of religion is guaranteed in the constitution... as long as the Communists approve. There's one law for Communist Catholics, and another for real Catholics.
Mind you... there are many traditional Catholics who would say it's the same way in the Church of Rome itself: one law for the modernist, liberal Catholics who go along with the Vatican II "reforms", and another for the traditional Catholics who still cling to the Faith of our fathers.
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