Persecuting the faithful

There are two "catholic" churches in China: One is under the thumb and obedient to government policies, and one is illegal but independent, and persecuted by that communist government.

SCMP article on this.

and it's not just about Catholics: the millions of Bible Christians who attend illegal/unregistered "house churches" are being targeted too.

The fight over who runs the church goes back to ancient times: in the Anglican and Russian Orthodox churches, the churches bowed to the King/czar, but in western Christianity, the Pope insisted on the independence of the church.

Now Pope Francis is planning to destroy that idea (and the Catholic church in China) in the name of niceness.


 OnePeterFive, who is one of those "fake news" sites that the Pope is complaining about, has an article on the problem with lots of details.

In a blog post in June, 2016 — no longer available online — Cardinal Zen told Chinese Catholics that they could not follow the pope into an agreement with Beijing.

According to La Stampa journalist Giannie Valente, who quoted that post in a disapproving piece that same month, Zen had advised the faithful in China that any agreement between the Vatican and Beijing would “most certainly have the pope’s approval,” and that “at the end of the day, one’s conscience is the ultimate criterion for judging our behaviour.

So, if your conscience tells you that the content of whatever agreement goes against the principle of our faith, you should not go with it”.

Cardinal Zen's statement HERE.

so why worry?

Because putting all Catholics under the thumb of a tyrannical government means there will be less outside pressure to stop persecuting Christians, and this will give a green light to persecute believers who refuse to kowtow to the government... and this would include increasing pressure on the growing underground Bible "house churches".

More here:

AsiaNews (a Catholic news site):

The Vatican asks legitimate bishops to step aside in favour of illegitimate ones

Last December, Mgr Peter Zhuang Jianjian of Shantou (Guangdong) was forced to go to Beijing where "a foreign prelate" from the Vatican asked him to leave his see to illicit bishop Joseph Huang Bingzhang. He had received the same request last October.

Mgr Joseph Guo Xijin, ordinary bishop of Mindong, is expected to become the auxiliary or coadjutor of illicit Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu. Sinicizing the Chinese Church means supporting the principle of independence and follow the leadership of the Communist Party.

I should note that Catholics do not have to obey the Pope's political orders. Heck, even Dante put one political pope in hell for this.

but these moves are on top of moves to pretend the Bible doesn't condemn adultery and to give the Eucharist to people living in sin, something Paul warned against.

so the slow schism continues... and one wonders what will cause a major earthquake that will destroy the church, something that has a huge geopolitical implications. UKGuardian discusses.

a lot of the Pope's minions are trying to make the church conform to modern western ideas of sexuality and making what is sacred just a nice fiction, so they can get along with the powerful in Europe and the American elites.

But the deplorables are saying: NO. Not just those nasty right wing Catholics that the UK Guardian article complains about, and not just those stubborn Chinese bishops who refuse to make nice with their tyrannical government, but the African church is objecting to his so called reforms, calling it "eurocentric".


Thomas Becket, call your office.