Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - While acknowledging that the Vatican's controversial and secret arrangement with China over the appoi...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - While acknowledging that the Vatican's controversial and secret arrangement with China over the appointment of Roman Catholic bishops is not ideal, Pope Francis expressed his hope that it can be extended in October since the Church has a long-term perspective.
One of the numerous Church and world issues the 85-year-old pontiff covered in an exclusive conversation with Reuters in his Vatican apartment on July 2 was relations with China.
The agreement, which was initially reached in 2018 and is up for renewal every two years, was an attempt to bridge a long-standing gulf between a pope-supporting underground following and a state-sponsored official church on mainland China.
The pope is currently acknowledged by both parties as the Catholic Church's highest authority.
The agreement, which is still in its preliminary state, focuses on cooperation over bishop appointments while retaining the pope's ultimate authority. There is no information available about it.
Francis stated, "The deal is progressing well, and I expect that it may be renewed in October."
ANALOGY TO THE SOVIET BLOC
Francis justified the agreement by arguing that it demonstrated the art of statecraft in making the best of limited resources.
He compared those who opposed it to those who criticised Popes John XXII and Paul VI in the 1960s and 1970s over the so-called "small steps" policy, in which the Vatican made occasionally uncomfortable agreements with communist countries in Eastern Europe to preserve the Church during the Cold War and lessen its persecution there.
"That is how diplomacy works. Finding a feasible route out of a situation that is blocked, rather than the ideal one, "Francis uttered.
Diplomacy, according to him, is the art of the feasible and of taking action to make the feasible a reality.
Agostino Casaroli, a diplomat who served under three popes between 1961 and 1990 and concluded his career as Secretary of State, was the principal architect of the Vatican's strategy towards the communist East Bloc.
Francis remarked that "many people spoke so many things against John XXIII, against Paul VI, and against Casaroli."
Despite accusations from his detractors that he was dealing with a godless foe, most historians concur that Casaroli's efforts preserved the Church in Eastern Europe up to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Francis stated his nomination of bishops in China since 2018 "is moving slowly, but they are being appointed," comparing the current state to the period before 1989.
Since the agreement, only six new bishops have been appointed, which, according to its detractors, shows it is not having the anticipated results. Seven bishops who had been ordained prior to 2018 without Vatican sanction also had their positions regularised as a result of the agreement.
The pope referred to the sluggish procedure as "the Chinese way" because nobody could rush the Chinese because of their sense of time.
VOCAL OPPONENT
Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, a former archbishop of Hong Kong who was temporarily detained there in May in connection with a national security investigation, is one of the deal's most outspoken opponents.
"Although the Vatican may have acted in good faith,
made an imprudent choice, "300 people gathered to Zen's lecture, and
a modest neighbourhood church on the island of Hong Kong last month.
"Brothers and sisters who cannot attend the Mass in any manner tonight - because they have no freedom today," Zen prayed at the time.
Zen and other people claim that the Vatican is ignoring China's breaches of human rights. According to the Vatican, it needs to have the resources to communicate with Beijing.
When former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused the Vatican of putting its "moral authority" on the line in an essay published in a conservative Catholic newspaper and a series of Tweets in 2020, the Vatican-China agreement led to a diplomatic dispute with the United States.
The Republican Party's anti-China stance loomed large in the U.S. presidential election, and the Vatican chastised Pompeo for attempting to involve the Holy See in the race.
Since the agreement, there are regional variations in the degree of freedom enjoyed by Catholics in China.
"Because the situation differs in different parts of the country, the Chinese likewise experience issues of their own. The treatment of Catholics is also influenced by regional authorities, "Francis said.
