Vatican: Press Office responds to China reports

An auxiliary bishop in Shanghai, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, has reportedly had his appointment revoked by the government-sanctioned Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church of China. Bishop Ma was reportedly placed under house arrest shortly after his ordination for resigning from the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Responding to questions about the reports from China, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., said the Vatican has no further information. He noted, however, the recent authoritative expression of the Holy See’s position by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, who said it pertains “to the whole Church to defend the legitimate rights of the Chinese faithful” and to the Holy See to give a voice to the voiceless.



Below, please see the full text of Father Lombardi’s remarks:

With regard to news circulated recently about the situation of the bishop Ma Daqin of Shanghai, the Holy See at this time does not have any information other than what has appeared in the media. In any case, the Holy See's position on the matter was authoritatively expressed recently in an extensive article by Cardinal Filoni, published in the journal Tripod, which is worth recalling on this occasion:

“In practice, the situation remains serious. Some bishops and priests are segregated or deprived of their liberty, as recently happened in the case of the Bishop of Shanghai, Ma Daqin, for declaring his intention to dedicate himself full-time to the pastoral ministry, laying aside offices that, among other things, are not even within the competence of a pastor. Control over people and institutions has intensified, and recourse is had more readily to indoctrination sessions and pressure. In the absence of freedom of religion or in the presence of strong limitations, does it not pertain to the whole Church to defend the legitimate rights of Chinese faithful, and primarily to the Holy See to give voice to those who have none?”