Church in China

Today's news: Hong Kong’s new cardinal says a liaison office is a matter “between the two governments," but stresses his diocese’s role as a potential "bridge" between China and the Vatican. India and Bhutan report a significant rise in the number of wild tigers. The United Arab Emirates will allow protesters to “assemble peacefully” during COP28. A “delicacy" in many countries, frog legs shortages are reported in Indonesia and Vietnam. Russia speeds up building its own "sovereign internet".

Vatican sources tell Reuters that President Võ Văn Thưởng will be in Rome for the signing of the agreement. Such a deal corresponds to Card Parolin’s request for a “permanent liaison office” in Beijing. Meanwhile, Chinese Catholic websites have not reported Pope Francis’s recognition of Shen Bin as bishop of Shanghai.

For Father Criveller, PIME missionary and China expert, by appointing Shen Bin as bishop of Shanghai, the pope shows that he cares for the people of God and we are with him. But Card Parolin’s interview clearly indicates that the Holy See is disappointed by the situation. It is hard to imagine that Chinese authorities, who are bent on nationalising religions, would stop acting unilaterally.

In a conciliatory move, Francis has decided to accept Bishop Shen Bin’s irregular transfer "for the good of the diocese”. In an interview, Secretary of State Card Pietro Parolin explains the papal decision. In it he calls for dialogue to continue but urges Chinese authorities to stop acting unilaterally. He stresses the need for regular communications between bishops and the pope and respect for underground communities. He expresses hope that the Holy See might open a liaison office in China.

In mainland China, Catholic communities have expressed joy at Pope Francis’s choice. For PIME missionary and China expert Fr Gianni Criveller, this is a sign of the pope’s closeness to the suffering caused by China’s national security law. With Zen and John Tong (respectively in their nineties and eighties), Hong Kong will now have three cardinals.

Consistory called for Sept. 30, on the eve of the Synod. Asians include Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang. Pontiff's "sorrow" over new violence in Holy Land, hope for resumption of "direct dialogue." At Angelus Francis recalls the "things" that God has "hidden" from the wise and revealed to the "little ones" who know how to "welcome" them.

The list of participants in the 16th Ordinary General Assembly in Rome next October was announced today. Momoko Nishimura, a consecrated woman from Yokohama, is one of nine delegates who will chair the work. Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong is one of Pope Francis’s picks. Unlike 2018, no official Catholic bishop will come from mainland China.

Fr. Gianni Criveller remembers the Chinese academic who died in Beijing. "The son of militants who had done the Long March with Mao, he was proud of his studies at the Catholic University of Milan. He collaborated in the Cause for the beatification of Matteo Ricci. A man who symbolised a season of China's great openness towards faiths, now drastically reduced'.

A member of the Missions Etrangères de Paris, the clergyman died in France at the age of 91. A pioneer in rebuilding ties with communities that survived the Cultural Revolution, he published a "Guide to the Catholic Church in China" in 1986 that has become a major point of reference. “Their Christian faith is the faith of their ancestors,” he wrote elsewhere. “If they are sometimes labelled as foreigners, that is because they belong, like Christians in every country, to a Kingdom that is not of this world”.

Even among the 67 officially recognised by the Beijing authorities, a dozen are under close surveillance, 13 'underground' held in custody or restricted in their ministry. But in today's confused climate there are also about 15 Chinese priests who have proclaimed themselves bishops, defying both the civil and the ecclesiastical authorities.

Francis calls for closeness to Chinese Christians on the Day the Church celebrates the feast of Mary Help of Christians venerated at the Sheshan shrine. A special thought "for the pastors and faithful who suffer": may they find "consolation and encouragement in the communion and solidarity of the universal Church".

The State Bureau of Religious Affairs today activated a website, ostensibly for greater "transparency", that requires users to give their phone number. Charges of fraud are often used against Evangelical "house churches". Three women are arrested in Suining on fraud charges.