China trying to prove it is 'master of the Church,' missionary priest warns

[Holly3278]

Rome, Italy, Dec 10, 2010 / 05:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Father Bernardo Cervellera, a longtime observer of Sino-Vatican affairs, is deeply troubled by recent moves made by China’s communist authorities.

"We are back in the 1950s,” said Fr. Cervellera, a missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and editor of institute’s influential Asia News website.

catholicnewsagency.com/news/china-trying-to-prove-it-is-master-of-the-church-missionary-priest-warns/

So sickening and saddening. Jesus is the Master of the Church and the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, not the Chinese government! I hope and pray that the communist Chinese government would make a quick turn around so that Catholics would be able to have true freedom!

 

[Argh]

This is very sad. I understood that relations between Beijing and the Holy See were improving.

I go to the *only *Catholic church in Nanjing where a bilingual priest offers English language Mass Sunday nights for us 老外. Americans, Europeans of all stripes, quite a few Africans， and some South Americans all gather to worship together. Often, only the bad news reaches CAF about Catholics in China, but I can report that Catholics here have a vibrant community.

P.S.

To anyone out there who is fearful of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, try it something in Chinese.

 

[Holly3278]

This is very sad. I understood that relations between Beijing and the Holy See were improving.

I go to the *only *Catholic church in Nanjing where a bilingual priest offers English language Mass Sunday nights for us 老外. Americans, Europeans of all stripes, quite a few Africans， and some South Americans all gather to worship together. Often, only the bad news reaches CAF about Catholics in China, but I can report that Catholics here have a vibrant community.

P.S.

To anyone out there who is fearful of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, try it something in Chinese.

Is this a Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church? If so, that may be why they are all doing well. If I recall what the article said correctly, it is mostly the underground Chinese Catholics that are not doing well and who are being persecuted.

 

[Borealis]

The Chinese government can persecute God’s Church all they want…look how well it worked out when the Roman government did the same thing.

 

[Holly3278]

The Chinese government can persecute God’s Church all they want…look how well it worked out when the Roman government did the same thing.

I agree that the Chinese government could persecute God’s Church all they want and that it still would not eliminate God’s Church. However, I still definitely do not want them to persecute God’s Church and I do believe that the human rights violations are serious enough that something, not war, ought to be done to urge the Chinese government or even to pressure them into not persecuting the true Church.

The Catholic Church is the true Church in China, not the “Chinese patriotic church” or whatever name it is that this Catholic church goes by in China. The Catholic Church led by Pope Benedict XVI and only the Catholic Church led by Pope Benedict XVI and of course ultimately by Christ is the only Church that is founded by Christ, not some fake Communist approved “Catholic” church. I do not know if the Chinese Communistic government’s “Catholic” church has validly ordained bishops and priests or whether they are valid but illicit or whatever but I do know that they are not authentically Catholic. I don’t really know for sure whether or not they even claim to be authentically Catholic.

I guess you could say I am just sick and tired of seeing governments throughout the world such as the Communistic government in China and the radical Islamist government in Saudi Arabia among others violate human rights and persecute people just because they don’t agree with their religion. This especially makes me angry when the people being persecuted are my brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church.

Because of this anger, I would like to see some sanctions or something imposed on nations that abuse their power in this manner. Unfortunately, I don’t know if that will ever happen or not. I don’t approve of war against these nations though because of the fact that I am almost completely certain it would not fall under what would be classified as a Just War according to the Just War Doctrine. The unfortunate thing about imposing sanctions on nations like China and Saudi Arabia is that it would ultimately affect the poor and those who are already persecuted and probably it would not affect the government anywhere near as much as those who are already suffering under these tyrannical regimes.

I really don’t know exactly what can be done but surely something can be done. I do know that the only thing I know to do is pray for the persecuted Church. Justice may never be served against some of these tyrannical dictators and such in this world but it surely will in the next. I entrust that judgment to God as He is the only one who is truly just.