Chinese Catholics barricade themselves in church to prevent its destruction

Our Lady of China, intercede for our abandoned brothers and sisters!

I don’t think there is any way to avoid this conclusion: the Holy See sold out our Chinese brothers and sisters.

From CNA:

Chinese Catholics barricade themselves in church to prevent demolition

Beijing, China, Nov 1, 2019 / 09:07 am (CNA).- Priests and parishioners have barricaded themselves in a Catholic church in the Chinese province of Hebei. According to reports, the Catholics are attempting to prevent the Chinese government from tearing down the Church.

The protest began at 6am Thursday morning at the church in Wu Gao Zhang, part of the Guantao district of Hebei, on the coast of northern China. Officials have ordered that the church be destroyed even though it is fully recognized and approved by the government. According to the website AsiaNews, local authorities have said the building lacks appropriate permits.

In September 2017, China enacted strict new regulations concerning religion. Since then, authorities have been vigilant in enforcing permitting requirements. Churches that are not found to be in compliance are destroyed[If not for that reason, then for any other.]

According to AsiaNews, many Chinese Catholics say that last September’s Sino-Vatican Agreement has served to embolden the government to take punitive action against Catholics who did not belong to state-approved churches.

Officials have reportedly claimed that “the Vatican supports us” and have ordered an additional 40 churches be destroyed.

[…]

“The government places spies in CPCA churches to specially monitor what priests say in their sermons and what activities they hold,” a priest from Yujiang reported to the magazine Bitter Winter. The Chinese government monitors the everyday activity of CPCA priests, their travel.

“Basically, the state knows everything about the priests,” he added.

[…]

On that last point, if you don’t think this is happening in “free” countries, you are naive.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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19 Comments

  1. William says:

    Annise Parker.

  2. Lurker 59 says:

    When we look at the situation in China, it becomes obvious that these people do not even believe in the heterodox misguided theology of liberation that they are spouting. The persecution of an indigenous Church by state authorities mirrors a lot of the experiences of the Church in the Americas, both under colonial rule and later on. The situation is a complete betrayal of so many of the core principles of Liberation Theology by the very people who are championing it. These people are betrayers of even their own false Gospel.

    In the Jesuit journals, there should be monthly articles castigating and condemning the Vatican over this in the harshest of terms. That the liberals are not hammering the Vatican over this shows you that they are not really liberals. There are wolves in sheep clothing, yet there are things darker still that wear the skin of wolves.

  3. GregB says:

    The Holy See also sold out the Cuban dissidents.

  4. abdiesus says:

    I think those in the know realize that the level of surveillance going on inside the Church even here in America (and I mean not just in Rome, but also at the local level) is pretty extensive, so it’s not surprising the current Pope and his backers would be supportive of the Chinese doing the same thing. The Lavender Mafia must have complete knowledge if they are to prevent or crush and “uprisings” of orthodoxy or orthopraxis before they develop any momentum.

  5. Yes, this is happening in free countries, but there, there is no need for the government to order the destruction of churches. Members of the hierarchy have been doing that for decades.

  6. tho says:

    Wow, Anita Moore just hit a home run. Those two sentences should become bumper stickers, or banners to be waved at the next synod.

  7. Kathleen10 says:

    Rome has no use for faithful Catholics. As was pointed out the Cubans were sold out too, and if he could he’d exact some vengeance on faithful American Catholics, who he really dislikes.
    Our hearts go out to the Chinese Catholics. Not only do they suffer under a horrible regime, they can’t even turn to the church for consolation. Rotten Rome.

  8. Amerikaner says:

    Let’s have a China Synod! Trot out folks with bound feet and 1800’s dress. Discuss how rare earth mineral mining is destroying the world. Ask about the possibility of women bishops and married gay clergy. Be sure to include an image of Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy.

    Then in the final analysis, mention nothing about true Catholicism in China or proper Catholic evangelism. Maybe even discuss how Traditional Catholics are meanies and racists.

  9. Irish Timothy says:

    So brave and so true! I have to pray that I would have the guts – that’s what they have – the guts – and faith to do the same. True love of Christ. That will come here to Canada and the US. Pray and fast. Thanks for posting this Father Z!!

  10. trespinos says:

    Do I recall correctly that Dante placed betrayers in the lowest circle of Hell?

  11. Gab says:

    It is heartbreaking to learn what our brethren are suffering in China and Nigeria and many other places in the world, and while we may ponder what’s happening in the West to our churches, it is still not as dire as in, say, China. We still have Masses offered freely, in relative terms, and yet so many will not avail themselves of the opportunity to worship and hear the Mass. Our Chinese, our Middle Eastern, our African and many other siblings in Christ, do not have the opportunities we have to worship. I pray I do not take these opportunities for granted for one day we may experience the same.

  12. cpt-tom says:

    My wife is Chinese, her family, Catholic from the time of the first missionaries, suffered greatly during the revolution for the Church. Imprisonment, beatings, loss of property, status and livelihood. They persisted for the love of God, the Blessed Mother and his Holy Church. My wive was baptized by her mother because all the true priests had been arrested. Normally she and her family are joyous about their experiences. However, this Pope’s actions have made them quite sad and my wife calls the Pope,”Patriotic Church ” and a traitor. Considering that the Church in China was originally taken over by the communists by the help of traitors, this is the ultimate knife in the gut to my wife. Pray for those persecuted in China. Our Lady of Shensen pray for them!

  13. JonPatrick says:

    Allegedly this sellout of the Chinese Catholics was engineered by former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Makes one wonder about the story that as a penniless young man he was flown to St. Gallen in Switzerland which at the time was a hotbed of Communist activity and there made the decision to enter the priesthood. We also know of Bella Dodd’s testimony corroborated by another former Communist of the 1100 Communists recruited to become seminarians in the 1930’s. It would explain a lot. Our Lady of Fatima pray for us and for our Church!

  14. AnthonyJ says:

    China is also one of the worst offenders, if not the worst, when it comes to polluting the environment, but you never hear the Vatican bureaucracy going after China over this. They mostly condemn the US , even though the US is the least polluting country in ratio to its population in the world. More proof the Vatican has sold out to the ChiComs.

  15. DeaconCharleyWaite says:

    I had the wonderful Grace to serve with the first ever Chinese Special Needs pilgrimage to Lourdes, France a few years ago. I won’t give specifics to protect the wonderful Catholics I met but they were devout, loving and gracious people and it breaks my heart to think of how they are being abandoned.

  16. Kathleen10 says:

    cpt-tom, what a sad comment, ugh, it’s so hard to take. It is now impossible for me to have anything but contempt for these men. Dear God, when will you come to our aid!

  17. TonyO says:

    On that last point, if you don’t think this is happening in “free” countries, you are naive.

    On Fr. Z’s last point: I have often wondered, lo these now several decades into a period in which pretty nearly any parish priest might be a material heretic or practice gravely illicit changes to the Mass: what is a sound, careful, holy, and energetic bishop to do about these parish priests? I have (tentatively) concluded that among several other things, he would send out trusted “information specialists” (in other terms, “spies”) to go out into the parishes and FIND OUT what Fr. A and Fr. B are saying and doing at Mass, and report back, directly and personally, to the bishop. After all, what priest is not going to adjust his behavior (somewhat, anyway) for when the bishop himself comes to the parish (e.g. for confirmations)? So, if he relies only on what he sees himself, the bishop will NEVER get honest information on what is going on in the parish when he isn’t there.

    But does any bishop do this in these times? I don’t think so. So, who is making the bigger mistake here: me, or them?

  18. Semper Gumby says:

    “…those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese.”

    -Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

  19. Semper Gumby says:

    AnthonyJ: Many of the Vatican hierarchy are anti-American. They seem to have learned about economics and foreign affairs from the back issues of Pravda and protest signs at hipster rallies.

    A while ago St. John Paul II, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher allied against Communism. Times have changed. Sorondo and others think a Gulag is part of Catholic Social Teaching. (China has interned more than a million Uighurs in something akin to a Gulag.)

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