Despite opposition from the USA, “Vatican Renews ‘Deal With the Devil’”
Catholic Church in Jingzhou, China ()
Zeint.org, a pro-Vatican news source, reported the following:
October 22, 2020
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, … confirmed to journalists asking about the Provisional Agreement expiring between the China and the Holy See, that it would be renewed. The Vatican announced the deal’s renewal this morning in a communique on “the extension of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China regarding the appointment of Bishops.”
“Upon the expiration of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China regarding the appointment of Bishops, which was signed in Beijing on 22 September 2018 and took effect one month later,” it began, “the two Parties have agreed to extend the experimental implementation phase of the Provisional Agreement for another two years.”
“The Holy See,” it said, “considers the initial application of the Agreement – which is of great ecclesial and pastoral value – to have been positive, thanks to good communication and cooperation between the Parties on the matters agreed upon.”
The Holy See, the statement concluded, “intends to pursue an open and constructive dialogue for the benefit of the life of the Catholic Church and the good of Chinese people.”
While reflecting on the agreement, a reporter asked: “Do you have a wish for the Chinese Church?”
“My wish,” Cardinal Parolin said, “is that the Chinese Church rediscover, thanks also to this agreement, her unity and through this unity can become an instrument of evangelization, hence of proclamation of the Gospel in the Chinese society and of the genuine development of all its inhabitants.”
Asked whether he is satisfied with the results of the Agreement in the last two years, he noted: “If we look at the Agreement, I believe so, we can be content. We hope there can be a better and continuous functioning of the terms of the Agreement.”
“Then there are so many other problems,” he underscored, “that the Agreement did not intend to resolve. We stress this very much: don’t think that the Agreement can resolve all the problems that exist in China.”
When one pointed out the continued persecution of religion in the Asian superpower, the Cardinal replied: “But, persecutions . . . It’s necessary to use the words correctly. There are rules that are imposed and that concern all religions, and of course they also concern the Catholic Church.” https://zenit.org/2020/10/22/feature-cardinal-parolin-to-zenit-an-appeal-to-international-community-to-respond-to-syria-is-required/
The USA was officially against the deal:
October 22, 2020
The Vatican has faced some pressure from critics over the renewal, of whom the most vocal has been US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who warned that the Vatican “endangers its moral authority, should it renew the deal.”
Spadaro noted that renewal of the deal shows the Vatican gives all voices equal weight, “but then continues on the path judged to be correct without being intimidated or feeling under pressure. In this sense, the Holy See is giving a moral witness of resistance to political pressure.”
Despite growing pressure from the US, the Vatican has continued with its important dialogue with China. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1204322.shtml
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged the Vatican to take a more critical position with the Chinese Communist region because the human rights situation in China has deteriorated severely under Xi Jinping.
“It’s clear that the Sino-Vatican agreement has not shielded Catholics from the Party’s depredations, to say nothing of the Party’s horrific treatment of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong devotees, and other religious believers,” Pompeo said in an article published in U.S. religious magazine First Things last week.
“The Vatican endangers its moral authority, should it renew the deal,” he added on Twitter. …
12 million Chinese Catholics
China has roughly 12 million Catholics. They are traditionally split between a government-run association and an unofficial underground church loyal to the pope.
The two sides reached a provisional agreement in September 2018, giving both Beijing and the Vatican a say in appointing Catholic bishops in China.
The exact content of the deal was never published, yet both sides now recognize the pope as supreme leader of the Catholic Church.
Ji Shuoming, a Chinese journalist now based in Hong Kong, told VOA that the Vatican has made compromises in order to continue its engagement with the Beijing government.
“Vatican hopes that through engagement, it can spread its value and voices to believers in China,” he said, “It contradicts the U.S. approach of using decoupling as a tool to step up its pressure on China.”
He indicated that he supports the engagement tactic, saying no matter what tactic one chooses, the ultimate goal is “to sit down and negotiate with China.” …
Critics: ‘Selling out’ to China
Conservative members of the church, including former archbishop of Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, have accused the Vatican of selling out to China. Vatican officials admit the China deal was not perfect, but it gives the church “a direct channel for dialogue with Beijing after a break of nearly 70 years.”
Father Bernardo Cervellera, one of the Catholic Church’s leading experts on China affairs, recently told religious news site Cruxnow.com that the initial deal had so far borne “very little fruit,” 09/25/20 https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/voa-news-china/vatican-china-continue-engagement-despite-us-criticism
Many Roman Catholics in and out of China have concerns about this. Here is a report from a group called Church Militant whose logo is shown below:
Vatican Renews ‘Deal With the Devil’
October 22, 2020
VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – Despite fierce global opposition, Rome has renewed its controversial concordat with China, claiming that the deal has done away with “illegitimate bishops” and resulted in securing the “communion of all Chinese bishops with the pope.” …
‘Deal With the Devil’
Damian Thompson, associate editor of Britain’s The Spectator, told Church Militant that ” the Vatican under Pope Francis has essentially done a deal with the Devil, betraying faithful and suffering Catholics and other Christians into the hands of their totalitarian persecutors.”
“We should pay no attention to claims that this evil concordat is the work of Cdl. Parolin — dreadfully compromised though he is — and that the pope has merely been misled on this. The responsibility for this wicked act lies squarely with the pope himself,” Thompson stressed.
Boasting that the deal had ended the existence of “illegitimate bishops” — i.e., prelates appointed by the Holy Father and not by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Parolin explained that the agreement would not be signed again but “simply extended for another two years ad experimentum.” …
Asked if the pact would remain secret, the Vatican’s second-in-command replied: “Yes, but it is a relative secret because many contents are already known. By agreement of the two parties, the contents will be kept confidential as long as the agreement is an experiment.” …
In comments to Church Militant, Rahima Mahmut, head of the U.K. World Uyghur Congress, said:
This is a sellout — a betrayal of Catholics and other Christians in China, a betrayal of the Uyghurs, a betrayal of values of human rights and human dignity and a betrayal of the Church’s values and moral authority. In the past two years the situation for religious freedom in China has worsened, not only for the Uyghurs Muslims but also for Christians, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and others. Increasingly, experts around the world are recognizing the atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs as a genocide.
Only yesterday, she explained, a Canadian Parliament subcommittee described the egregious human rights violations as a genocide. But “the very next day, the Vatican renews its agreement with the CCP. Uyghurs, Christians, Tibetans and Hong Kongers will feel today that Pope Francis and the Vatican have abandoned them,” she marveled.
Cdl. Zen Outspoken on ‘Sellout’
In September, 88-year-old Chinese cardinal Joseph Zen — who was refused a meeting by Pope Francis after arriving at the Vatican — pointed out that the deal had left important dioceses without a bishop or with the impending appointment of a bishop approved by the CCP.
“The agreement concerns the appointment of bishops: Well, in two years there has been no new appointment. On the other hand, under the pretext of the agreement, seven excommunicated bishops were recognized by the Holy See,” Zen lamented. …
In a last-ditch attempt urging the Vatican to reconsider the treaty, a bipartisan duo of U.S. senators wrote to Pope Francis Monday.
“As the leader of the world’s largest institution of faith, we respectfully request that Your Holiness do all that you can to protect the most basic human rights for all people, including Uyghurs in Xinjiang,” Republican Todd Young and Democrat Tim Kaine pleaded.
Commentators also suggested that news announcing Pope Francis’ support for homosexual civil unions was timed to distract from the renewal of the China accord. https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/rome-renews-china-deal-no-more-illegitimate-bishops
As far as Pope Francis’ promotion of homosexual ‘civil unions,’ that was reported here yesterday (see Fratelli Tutti, the Beast, and Freemasonry).
As far as “illegitimate bishops” go, the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine, when he had not even been baptized, declared himself a bishop, convened the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., insisted on a non-biblical date for Passover, and his godhead views were ultimately accepted at the Council of Constantinople in 381.
So, while having “illegitimate bishops” seems to be an issue to some, the reality is that the future of the Church of Rome was, to a great degree, impacted by the illegitimate bishops Constantine.
Pope Francis is more focused on his interfaith and ecumenical agendas than keeping with the protocols his church usually follows related to bishops and certain other matters.
The Bible, itself, warns that the City of Seven Hills (Rome) will be wrongly involved with secular governments:
1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. 6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. … 18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:1-9,18)
9. And here is understanding, that hath wisdom. The seven heads: are seven hills, upon which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings. (Apocalypse 17:9, New Testament translated out of the Latin Vulgate)
4 Come out, my people, away from her, so that you do not share in her crimes and have the same plagues to bear. (Revelation 18:4, NJB)
The Vatican’s deal with China is consistent with end time prophecies involving the City of Seven Hills/Mountains–which even Vatican scholars realize is a biblical reference to Rome (some proof is in the article What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History?).
The compromise with China is only one of many improper deals that the Vatican will make.
It will also support various deals with Europe–but that will ultimately result in destruction for the Church of Rome (cf. Revelation 17:16-18)–but that is at least several years away–though we are getting closer to that.
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