Pope and China in historic deal on bishops

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I lived for many years in that part of the world, and know first hand what it feels like to be persecuted under a communist regime. I can tell you it is absolutely critical for bishops to be approved by Rome—because Chinese Catholics want the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church—not state-sanctioned propaganda. In sum, they want Christ Himself. It would be great if a Bishop is also accepted by the government. But if Rome, as the new agreement says, must work off a list of candidates for bishops given by the government, it is a huge problem. This is so because the government wants to control and undermine the Church. This list would be problematic because a key criteria for their candidates must first and foremost be loyal to the state—not the Church. Right now, many of the “bishops” in the patriotic church in China are in fact high ranking members of China Communist party.

If the new agreement is what it says in the news, I suspect, and even expect, the underground Church in China to go even further underground…
 
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This is a huge mistake. I am actually very surprised that a sitting Pope would ever agree to state appointed Bishops, particularly in a country where one must hold allegiance to the state over and above allegiance to the Church. Christ said that we must carry our cross rather than save ourselves. This is a conciliatory gesture that will lead to the state coopting the Church, not carrying the cross. The historical witness of similar such actions testify to this. Look for example to the Reichskirche in WWII, and the Church in Romania, Poland, and other Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War as examples of how detrimental this decision is likely to be.
 
I was thinking that maybe the Holy Father understands the importance of the Holy Eucharist and the advantage of the grace in this sacrament being made available to the Catholic faithful. This might be seen as a great sign of faith.
 
Perhaps, these words from the very same letter from Pope Benedict would help:

“…On the same occasion, my venerable predecessor recalled that “the Bishop, a successor of the Apostles, is someone for whom Christ is everything: ‘For to me to live is Christ …’ (Phil 1:21). He must bear witness to this in all his actions. The Second Vatican Council teaches: ‘Bishops should devote themselves to their apostolic office as witnesses of Christ to all’ (Decree Christus Dominus, 11)” [38].
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As in the rest of the world, in China too the Church is governed by Bishops who, through episcopal ordination conferred upon them by other validly ordained Bishops, have received, together with the sanctifying office, the offices of teaching and governing the people entrusted to them in their respective particular Churches, with a power that is conferred by God through the grace of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The offices of teaching and governing “however, by their very nature can be exercised only in hierarchical communion with the head and members of the college” of Bishops [40]. In fact, as the Council went on to say, “a person is made a member of the episcopal body in virtue of the sacramental consecration and by hierarchical communion with the head and members of the college” [41].

Currently, all the Bishops of the Catholic Church in China are sons of the Chinese People. Notwithstanding many grave difficulties, the Catholic Church in China, by a particular grace of the Holy Spirit, has never been deprived of the ministry of legitimate Pastors who have preserved the apostolic succession intact. We must thank the Lord for this constant presence, not without suffering, of Bishops who have received episcopal ordination in conformity with Catholic tradition, that is to say, in communion with the Bishop of Rome, Successor of Peter, and at the hands of validly and legitimately ordained Bishops in observance of the rite of the Catholic Church.
…The Pope, when he issues the apostolic mandate for the ordination of a Bishop, exercises his supreme spiritual authority: this authority and this intervention remain within the strictly religious sphere. It is not, therefore, a question of a political authority, unduly asserting itself in the internal affairs of a State and offending against its sovereignty.

The appointment of Bishops for a particular religious community is understood, also in international documents, as a constitutive element of the full exercise of the right to religious freedom [43]. The Holy See would desire to be completely free to appoint Bishops [44]; therefore, considering the recent particular developments of the Church in China, I trust that an accord can be reached with the Government so as to resolve certain questions regarding the choice of candidates for the episcopate, the publication of the appointment of Bishops, and the recognition – concerning civil effects where necessary – of the new Bishops on the part of the civil authorities."
 
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We should also remember that for centuries bishops in Europe were appointed by kings and either confirmed or rejected by the Church. Democratic governments are rather new. When the Church was first organized in the US, the Vatican asked the government about bishops, and for the first time, it was informed it was not any business of the US government.
 
Well, Pope Francis’ predecessor Pope Benedict XVI initiated the process of dialogue between the Chinese government and the Vatican so that the Chinese practicing the faith in hiding should be able to practice openly. So what do you mean by ‘‘the other popes were wrong when they chose to leave Chinese Catholics in hiding?’’ Pope Francis is simply continuing what Benedict 16 started. I am always baffled on this forum to see people bashing Pope Francis without even taking a little time to check facts out.
 
Many years ago I read that same anecdote, it is rather a historical amusing fact. BTW, I read on Wikipedia that there are currently 12 countries who have special agreements with the Vatican about appointment of Bishops, but I have not found a list.
 
I do not know the list either but i suspect Russia is one of them.
 
Yes, I suspect so. I know it includes Vietnam, I suspect Cuba also. I would actually not be surprised if some of the central European countries that were in the Warsaw pact still have some say from a purely technical basis (ie its still on the books, but the government doesn’t do anything about it).
 
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