Such was the government’s intent in corralling the bishops, by force in many cases, to attend this assembly and its rigged election. In a diplomatic game of chess between the Vatican and the Chinese Communist government the Church is clearly losing. For the sake of the 12 million loyal Catholic faithful in China and the suffering underground clergy this game must cease and the rigged “elections” and post-assembly appointments to posts in two non-Catholic organizations, the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the Bishops Conference of the Chinese Catholic Church, must be declared null and void by the pope. In my estimation, the Holy Father now has no choice. In ending the election conference, the new head of the BCCCC, illicitly consecrated Bishop Ma Yinglin (also now a vice-president in the CCPA) declared that the “Catholic” Church in China is autonomous, self-managerial, and democratic. The new head of the CCPA is Bishop Fang Xinyao, who was papally approved for consecration as bishop this year. He now also joins four unapproved, illicitly ordained bishops, as one of the vice-presidents of the papally condemned BCCCC. Asia News reports here.
