Vatican commission laments pressure by China’s Patriotic Association
(April 27, 2012) A special papal commission studying the Catholic Church in China
has exhorted Chinese Catholics to resist the efforts by the government-backed Patriotic
Association to control the Church. In a statement released in English and Chinese
on Thursday, at the conclusion of a 3-day meeting in Rome, the commission expressed
sympathy for the Chinese bishops and priests who are under pressure from the Patriotic
Association. Their statement noted the “particular difficulties” of pastors who feel
that they must cooperate to some degree with the regime in order to preserve their
ability to preach the Gospel. Nevertheless, the commission cautioned, “evangelization
cannot be achieved by sacrificing essential elements of the Catholic faith and discipline.”
However, the commission expressed admiration for bishops and priests who “are detained
or who are suffering unjust limitations on the performance of their mission. It commended
the strength of their faith and for their union with the Pope. The report called
upon all Catholics to pray for these persecuted clerics. In a reference to the
Patriotic Association, the papal commission denounced those who seek “to place themselves
above the bishops and to guide the life of the ecclesial community.” Their statement
encouraged Chinese Catholics to follow the instructions set forth by Pope Benedict
XVI in his 2007 letter to the faithful of China. If the faithful observe the Pontiff’s
instructions, the commission said, “the face of the Church may shine forth with clarity
in the midst of the noble Chinese people.” This clarity, the statement noted, has
been obfuscated by those clerics who have illegitimately received episcopal ordination
and by those illegitimate bishops who have carried out acts of jurisdiction or who
have administered the Sacraments. In so doing, they usurp a power which the Church
has not conferred upon them. In recent days, some of them have participated in episcopal
ordinations which were authorised by the Church. The behaviour of these bishops, in
addition to aggravating their canonical status, has disturbed the faithful and often
has violated the consciences of the priests and lay faithful who were involved. The
papal commission said that during the coming Year of Faith, the Church in China should
make a special effort to promote the spiritual formation of the laity. Lay Catholics,
the report said, …are called to take part in civic life and in the world of work,
offering their own contribution with full responsibility: by loving life and respecting
it from conception until natural death; by loving the family, promoting values which
are also proper to traditional Chinese culture; by loving their country as honest
citizens concerned for the common good. As an ancient Chinese sage put it, “the way
of great learning consists in illustrating noble virtues, in renewing and staying
close to people, and in reaching the supreme good.”