Tag: Joseph Zen

As of now, the atheist government in Beijing and the bureaucrats in the Vatican are acting as if they were allies, having signed a deal last September that neither the Vatican nor the communists have released to the public, and that will govern how Catholic bishops are appointed in China. Does China's atheist regime try to force Catholics to act in ways that are contrary to their faith? The State Department said last May: "The CPA does not recognize the authority of the Holy See to appoint Catholic bishops. So, a man appointed as a bishop in China's "official" church could only qualify for that position if he were to pledge support for a party that demands its members be atheists. Yet last Sept. 22, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, announced that the Holy See had signed a "Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People's Republic of China Concerning the nomination of Bishops." He also indicated that the bishops in China's "official" church had been legitimized. But the Vatican did not release the text of the agreement or explain in detail what is in it. Nor did they tell Cardinal Zen or other faithful Chinese Catholics. "Candidates will be chosen at the diocesan level through the 'democratic election' system that the Chinese authorities introduced in 1957, whereby the priests of the diocese, together with representatives of women religious and laypeople, vote from among the candidates presented by the authorities that supervise church affairs," said America Magazine. That is all he can do," said Cardinal Zen.