Persecution of Catholics has increased in Communist China, and the government is blatant about its efforts to control and/or crush the Church in China. Yet Pope Francis reportedly just expressed his satisfaction with the results of the disastrous Vatican-China deal.
Only an idiot or an avowed Marxist — and the current pope seems sometimes to be both — would think that the results of the Vatican-China deal so far are anything but horrible. As a Catholic, I find it deeply disturbing that the pope is so callous toward the worsening plight of Catholics in China, even saying he “admire[s]” China, especially since the Catholic Church long ago officially declared Communism heretical and anti-Christian.
LifeSiteNews reported that while Francis was flying from Singapore to Rome, journalist Stefania Falasca asked him if he was “satisfied with the results and dialogue so far” between the Vatican and the genocidal Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after years of the scandalous deal. Francis reportedly answered, “Yes, I’m pleased with the dialogues with China. The results are good. Even for the appointment of bishops, things are progressing with goodwill.” That is an absolutely astounding claim to make, considering that the persecution of Catholics in China has only become worse over the last few years since the agreement was first made.
Francis added, “I’ve spoken with the [CCP] Secretariat of State, and I’m happy with how things are going. As for China, I see China as an ‘ilusión’ (aspiration, ed.), meaning I would like to visit China. It’s a great country, and I admire and respect China.”
And the angels wept.
In 1949, Pope Pius XII, who had seen and continued to see the havoc that Communism wreaked on the world, issued a decree excommunicating all Communist Catholics. Communism is a heretical, anti-Christian ideology, one fundamentally opposed to the doctrines of Christ. Unfortunately, of course, Communists tried to infiltrate the Catholic Church, and many of them reached powerful positions — it seems now even the papal office itself. But the fact remains that no one can be a true Catholic and a Communist. Which makes Pope Francis’s support for Communist China so particularly scandalous.
The human cost is great. From LifeSiteNews:
One example from 2021: Father Joseph Liu of the Diocese of Mindong was detained by police in July and tortured for 10 hours before “six policemen took him by the hand and forced him to sign” his allegiance to the CCP. That very day, Vatican News was full of praise for China, as Bishop Li Hui became the fifth bishop consecrated under the terms of the deal. But as far as the Vatican was concerned, Liu might not even have existed…The officially secret Vatican-China deal is believed to recognize the state-approved church in China and allows the Chinese Communist Party to appoint bishops.
Last year, National Catholic Register reported on the tragic effects of the Vatican-CCP deal. Frederick Davie, vice chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said at the time, “The Vatican China agreement on bishop appointments has not brought improvement in religious freedom to these vulnerable Catholics.”
Davie continued, “In fact, just this past year authorities detained and then forcibly ‘disappeared’ a number of underground Catholic bishops and other priests who refused to join the state-controlled Chinese Patriotic Association.” Pope Francis can mourn the alleged deaths of Christian-persecuting Gazans, but where is his vaunted love for the oppressed and vulnerable when it comes to Chinese Catholics?
National Catholic Register also quoted Fr. Kurt Klismet, of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives, “Bishops, priests and religious leaders and members of the faithful live in fear of being detained, imprisoned, abused, having their churches destroyed if they dare to speak out … church buildings are periodically damaged and destroyed in various regions of China by government order.” Klismet cited the case too of Cardinal Zen, brought to court on trumped up charges by the CCP.
When I had the opportunity of attending a papal audience some years ago, the one question that I shouted at Pope Francis in Italian was, “What about the Chinese Catholics?” He totally ignored me, of course, amidst the cheers of more enthusiastic attendees, but it is a question that still needs an answer. What about the Chinese Catholics? Are they so unimportant, their lives are so lacking in value, that the persecution they suffer means nothing to the man who has (honestly or dishonestly) come to papal office? How can Francis compliment a country run by a government (the CCP) responsible for 500 million deaths and counting?
Papal infallibility does not protect the pope from making stupid personal or political decisions, but one could wish we had a pope whose integrity prevented him from such condemnable decisions. Certainly the Chinese Catholics would desire that, for their lives and souls are at risk while Francis plays political games with their persecutors.
