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William's avatar

If it gets renewed this year, third time's the charm? God bless the persecuted Church in China

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Matthew K Michels, OblSB's avatar

I'm starting to think this lucrative-yet-clandestine agreement between China and the Holy See doesn't actually exist at all.

It's tragically comic to imagine that +Parolin, +Zuppi, and the rest of the diplomacy gang have just been making it up on the fly all along in order to justify the abject failure of Rome to have anything resembling a spine in the face of the CCP. "Oh, a fourteenth bishop has been installed by the Chinese state and we seemingly didn't even know it? Well.... uh... that's actually just part of the deal! Yeah, it's... totally in the agreement, don't worry everything's fine and we can be taken seriously on the international stage."

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Sue Korlan's avatar

Why accept an agreement when one knows the other side won't do what they say they will do?

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ALT's avatar

Why does one send money to Nigerian princes? Because one is naively optimistic and blinded by the desire for what the other side claims they will do.

Why does one send money to scammers who claim to have embarrassing pictures? Because one is afraid of what they might do if one does not accept the agreement.

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Justin's avatar

Reminds one of Cardinal Kung. Maybe the Pillar can provide context on that.

Or, just keeping obsessing over the term "couple"

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Justin's avatar

Good call.

It would be timely to a longer piece on Cardinal Kung, given a) the situation noted in this article, b) he retired in the USA in exile, and c) he could be declared a servant of God in the future, if he isn't already.

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Bisbee's avatar

May God save the true orthodox Catholics of China.

May God wise up Rome.

However well intentioned the agreement between Rome and Beijing, has Rome learned nothing about persecution of Christians by Communists of various regimes over the last more than 100 years?

God can change hearts, but normally only the willing ones.

Communist China has consistently shown it is in league with the evil one.

"Unity" at the cost of the freedom of the Church is no "unity."

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