Mmm, Cardinal Zen could not get an audience with the bishop of Rome, but now the Vatican is soooo concerned about this godly man's welfare. Brood of vipers!
Martyrs shed blood in China for Christ (Who did not abandon them) as opposed to the current regime in the Vatican (who have thrown faithful Catholics to the the "running dogs" of Beijing).
Here's how I see it. (My qualifications: International Relations PhD specalising in Vatican Diplomacy)
I've been following this for years as well as the ebbs and flows of Holy See diplomatic approaches.
First: the Holy See MUST maintain is neutrality. It cannot be seen to be interfering or 'taking sides' in a conflict or it voids the Lateran Treaty. Even in situations like this (or Ukraine) where it's own flock are being hammered, the Lateran Treaty, already a somewhat precarious arrangement in International Law will be subject to sanction if it doesn't up hold those terms. That would be bad.
Second: One of the key tenets of the Holy See's diplomacy is don't make the situation worse for actual people living in that State territory for the sake of it. What's going on in China is not good. BUT it hasn't escalated to the scale of the Uigher genocide. That's what Pope Francis and the Holy See are trying to avoid. If they go 'on the attack' or even provide a mild 'veiled critique' of the internal matters of China, the CCP will not hesitate to tear up that agreement and round up every Catholic (or suspected Catholic) and subject them to what the Uighers (and Tibetans) have suffered by the end of the week. They will make the Catholic Church in China disappear. That would also be bad.
Third: Stop comparing Pope John Paul II to Francis. They are different men and operating in very different geopolitical worlds. The defeat of Communism in Europe was a beautiful operation of the Holy Spirit that brought the right Pope from the right people at the right time. Poland was 90% Catholic, with a rich and extensive network of resistance and a long history of doing so. They all hated the Soviet imposed communism and it was ready to blow. Communism itself was bankrupt ideologically and economically. It's thanks to Pope John Paul II that the resistance was relatively bloodless.
China's Catholic population is, at generous estimates, about 1% of the population, have always been a minority who have been hounded and pursued with the added 'bonus' of effectively being treated as 'foreign infiltrators' because of Christianity's colonial association. Even if our next Pope is Chinese, it would make very little difference and would only embolden Beijing to throw it's weight around further because it sees itself as the true governor of all Chinese people around the globe, even those who are 5th generation Australian with Chinese ancestry.
Pope Francis is in an impossible bind. China is not so stupid as to have ignored the 'lessons' from Poland. It fears religiously couched defenses of freedom and even basic preaching like God is real more than if fears political speech. Pope Francis could go full prophetic and that would be absolutely interpreted as 'interference' from Beijing which they hypocritically do not tolerate. Look at Australia's trade difficulties over the last 5 years for a SMALL taste of the pain to come should the Holy See be accused of 'interfering'. Pope Francis' personal charisma is of no use in China, they view all religious leaders with so much contempt and have begrudgingly dealt with the Holy See because it shuts them up for a while. Pope John Paul II couldn't make much headway with China in the 1980s when the Communist Party was opening up and friendlier than ever to the cultural and economic riches of the West.
I pray every day for Jimmy Lai and Cardinal Zen, and all the suffering Catholics (and others) in China. I pray that their blood cries out for justice and screams loudest at people like Hong Kong's new chief minister, and party apparatchiks.
Mmm, Cardinal Zen could not get an audience with the bishop of Rome, but now the Vatican is soooo concerned about this godly man's welfare. Brood of vipers!
Martyrs shed blood in China for Christ (Who did not abandon them) as opposed to the current regime in the Vatican (who have thrown faithful Catholics to the the "running dogs" of Beijing).
Makes me proud to be a Catholic
Here's how I see it. (My qualifications: International Relations PhD specalising in Vatican Diplomacy)
I've been following this for years as well as the ebbs and flows of Holy See diplomatic approaches.
First: the Holy See MUST maintain is neutrality. It cannot be seen to be interfering or 'taking sides' in a conflict or it voids the Lateran Treaty. Even in situations like this (or Ukraine) where it's own flock are being hammered, the Lateran Treaty, already a somewhat precarious arrangement in International Law will be subject to sanction if it doesn't up hold those terms. That would be bad.
Second: One of the key tenets of the Holy See's diplomacy is don't make the situation worse for actual people living in that State territory for the sake of it. What's going on in China is not good. BUT it hasn't escalated to the scale of the Uigher genocide. That's what Pope Francis and the Holy See are trying to avoid. If they go 'on the attack' or even provide a mild 'veiled critique' of the internal matters of China, the CCP will not hesitate to tear up that agreement and round up every Catholic (or suspected Catholic) and subject them to what the Uighers (and Tibetans) have suffered by the end of the week. They will make the Catholic Church in China disappear. That would also be bad.
Third: Stop comparing Pope John Paul II to Francis. They are different men and operating in very different geopolitical worlds. The defeat of Communism in Europe was a beautiful operation of the Holy Spirit that brought the right Pope from the right people at the right time. Poland was 90% Catholic, with a rich and extensive network of resistance and a long history of doing so. They all hated the Soviet imposed communism and it was ready to blow. Communism itself was bankrupt ideologically and economically. It's thanks to Pope John Paul II that the resistance was relatively bloodless.
China's Catholic population is, at generous estimates, about 1% of the population, have always been a minority who have been hounded and pursued with the added 'bonus' of effectively being treated as 'foreign infiltrators' because of Christianity's colonial association. Even if our next Pope is Chinese, it would make very little difference and would only embolden Beijing to throw it's weight around further because it sees itself as the true governor of all Chinese people around the globe, even those who are 5th generation Australian with Chinese ancestry.
Pope Francis is in an impossible bind. China is not so stupid as to have ignored the 'lessons' from Poland. It fears religiously couched defenses of freedom and even basic preaching like God is real more than if fears political speech. Pope Francis could go full prophetic and that would be absolutely interpreted as 'interference' from Beijing which they hypocritically do not tolerate. Look at Australia's trade difficulties over the last 5 years for a SMALL taste of the pain to come should the Holy See be accused of 'interfering'. Pope Francis' personal charisma is of no use in China, they view all religious leaders with so much contempt and have begrudgingly dealt with the Holy See because it shuts them up for a while. Pope John Paul II couldn't make much headway with China in the 1980s when the Communist Party was opening up and friendlier than ever to the cultural and economic riches of the West.
I pray every day for Jimmy Lai and Cardinal Zen, and all the suffering Catholics (and others) in China. I pray that their blood cries out for justice and screams loudest at people like Hong Kong's new chief minister, and party apparatchiks.
based holy see