Tag Archives: Patriotic Association

Cardinal Zen: Is Theirs Not a Schismatic Church?

AsiaNews: It took five months. Msgr. Ma’s beautiful blog posts had, to some extent, relieved our anxieties. Beijing’s silence was understandable: they were otherwise occupied. A one-line comment arrived from Rome on July 8 and then a mention in the recent article by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. My blog was blank, waiting for some good news, at any time. … More →

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Chinese Bishop Taken Away After Resigning Patriotic Association at His Consecration Mass

AsiaNews: Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, ordained auxiliary bishop of Shanghai on July 7, with the approval of the Pope, was taken away by a group of religious officials in the evening, but nobody knew where they took him to. Some Catholics specially went to his first mass yesterday morning, but found that the bishop was missing. According to local sources, the bishop is now in … More →

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Chinese Patriotic Association Plans to Consecrate Bishop Without Papal Approval June 29

AsiaNews: Catholics in Harbin (Heilongjiang), in far north-east China, are praying and fasting to avert an episcopal ordination without papal mandate. Sources tell AsiaNews that “no one wants this ordination: neither official nor underground Catholics not even the candidate himself. The Patriotic Association (PA) just wants to assert its power over the Church and give a slap in the face to the Vatican. ” The … More →

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Papal Commission on China Exhorts Catholics to Resist Patriotic Association Interference

Catholic Culture: A special papal commission on the Church in China has exhorted Chinese Catholics to resist the efforts by the government-backed Patriotic Association to control the Church. Full report here.

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China’s Police Increasing Pressure on Underground Church to Join Schismatic Patriotic Association

AsiaNews: The Easter holiday will be “very discreetly” celebrated this year in unofficial (underground) communities in China. Many community leaders, bishops and priests, were in fact called in by the police for a “conversation” and even underwent weeks of indoctrination on the government’s religious policy. Several Church observers clearly see a campaign underway to “convert” the underground Church and absorb it into the official church. … More →

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Threats, Arrest, or Reward, China and the Church

The pope created a new cardinal in China, the current acting Bishop of Hong Kong, John Tong Hon. Here is part of what he had to say in an interview with Asia News. www.Chiesa: On the occasion of his appointment, the new cardinal Tong gave an interview to “Asia News,” the agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions directed by Father Bernardo Cervellera. In … More →

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China: Priest and Nun Beaten While Petitioning for Restitution of Stolen Church Property

The Chinese “Catholic” Patriotic Association opposes these appeals for restitution of properties  partly because the Association receives hefty rent revenues from the tenants. Asianews: A Catholic nun and priest were violently attacked when they tried to get two Church properties returned to their rightful owners. The latter had been seized in Kungding, in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Local sources said that Sister Xie Yuming … More →

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Beijing Escalates Its War Against the Church, Another Episcopal Consecration Coming

Zenit News: The French agency Eglises d’Asie is reporting that China’s next illicit ordination will happen in the coming few days. This will be the third episcopal ordination without the Pope’s approval since June 29. Read full report here.

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Vatican Declares Illicitly Consecrated Bishop Has ‘No Authority’

Catholic Culture: In a strongly worded statement, the Vatican has announced that a Chinese bishop installed by the government-backed Patriotic Catholic Association last week “has no authority to govern the diocesan Catholic community.” Read more about this here.

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Chinese Officials Issue New Threat on Ordaining Bishops Without Papal Mandate

Catholic Culture reports: Chinese authorities say that they are making plans to appoint new bishops, pointing toward a new clash with the Vatican. More on this here.

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Vatican Approved Chinese Bishops Forced to Attend Illicit Episcopal Consecration of Patriotic Assoc. Priest

CNA reports: China’s government-run Catholic organization has ordained a bishop without the approval of the Pope. In response, a prominent cardinal said the action never should have happened. Read more of Cardinal Zen’s reaction here.

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Head of China’s Catholic Patriotic Assoc Unconcerned Over Vatican’s Warning Against Illicit Consecration

AsiaNews: The vice-president of the Patriotic Association, Liu Bainain confirmed to the media that the ordination of Fr Joseph Guo Jincai as Bishop of Chengde (Hebei) will take place tomorrow November 20. The ordination of the 42-year old priest, the first in the last four years, and the obligation of certain bishops to attend were criticized by the Vatican yesterday as “serious violations of freedom … More →

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Informative Article on Current Situation of Church in China

I posted a column last week on the ongoing persecution, direct and subtle, of the Catholic Church in China. This afternoon I read an excellent account written by China expert, Father Bernardo Cervellera of Asia News, that I think supports my brief assessment with a plenitude of facts. One thing missing from Father Cervellera’s article, however, is that the Catholic Patriotic Association’s Council of Bishops … More →

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Book Review: The Iron Man of China

If the axiom “the corruption of the best is the worst” is true of persons, it can also be true of institutions, and perhaps even of nations as well. Too often this proverb, which ought to be a perennial caveat, ends up being a reflection upon some sad story of a once great but later vanquished paragon of virtue.

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