The suppression of freedom and persecution of dissidents by China, particularly in Hong Kong, has increased tension in the Catholic Church between the exercise of moral leadership and the benefits of developing diplomatic relationships with political regimes that practice abuse of people and their natural rights.
Church in society and politics
Massimo Faggioli, professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, author of The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis: Moving toward Global Catholicity, comments that there are no easy solutions to satisfy all concerns in the Vatican-China deal.
In other words, the moral authority of the papacy is different from other churches also because some instruments of state power are a key aspect of the activity of the Holy See. (Think of the Holy See's diplomatic missions in almost every country in the world, the diplomatic missions accredited to the Holy See, its status as a permanent observer at the U.N., and its signature of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.) As China expert Michel Chambon wrote in February 2018, before the Vatican-China agreement was announced: "when journalists and other activists frame this encounter [between the Vatican and China] as an issue about morality only, they indeed belittle the legal aspect of such dialogue. More or less consciously, they insidiously deny rights to the Holy See, and therefore to the Holy Father himself, to stand as a sovereign entity. In their eyes, the pope should only be a moral leader telling the world what 'the good' is about. This approach is highly problematic, and those who are Catholic should carefully question it." For a brief period of time in 2014 I taught in Hong Kong, where I still have friends. It is distressing to see what is happening and could happen to that city and the church there, as well as to know what is happening to ethnic and religious minorities in other parts of China.1
Michel Chambon, University of Notre Dame, writes that The Holy See, China, and the question of sovereignty in the Sino-Vatican dialogue should not be used by Hong Kong people to serve their own needs.
the question of sovereignty is at the core of the Christian message. Those who turn to Christ embrace him as their Lord and work for the coming of his kingdom. They are not building a 'paradise on earth,' a world of absolute equality without a center and a master. They are collaborating for the coming of Christ's kingdom. Thus, the sovereignty of the pope is not only a worldly strategy to protect him and the church against secular powers; it is also a theological category to show this factual lordship of Christ, which is already but not yet fully present in this world.In the Catholic tradition, unlike in the Protestant ones, the lordship of Christ is not only a matter of personal and moral commitment but speaks to the socio-political order. It is objectified and externalized in a legal construction that goes beyond individuals and their particular nation-states through the sovereignty of the pope. No political order, even the modern and liberal one, can fully reflect the presence of the kingdom. The independence of the pope acts as a reminder of this already but not yet achieved presence of Christ's sovereignty. It is not the separation of two worlds, the religious and mundane ones; it is the Catholic way to point out the effective presence of the Lord in our only world today.2
Michael Pompeo, United States secretary of state, and top Vatican diplomats are reported to have had a recent ‘respectful’ exchange of views on China. In a Sept. 18 essay at First Things, Pompeo argued that the agreement had failed to protect Catholics from the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on believers.
In an article published on the front page of the Sept. 30 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, Andrea Tornielli said that the initial two-year pact had led to new episcopal appointments approved by Rome, some of which were also officially recognized by the Chinese government.
“Even though contact was blocked in recent months due to the pandemic, the results have been positive, although limited, and suggest going forward with the application of the agreement for another determined period of time,” the editorial director of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication wrote in the article, which was posted on the Vatican News website Sept. 29. “The goal of the Provisional Agreement, therefore, has never been merely diplomatic, much less, political, but was always genuinely pastoral. Its objective is to permit the Catholic faithful to have bishops in full communion with the Successor of Peter who are at the same time recognized by the authorities of the People’s Republic of China.”3
Cardinal Joseph Zen, the retired bishop of Hong Kong, told CNA (Catholic News Agency) earlier this month that the Church’s silence on human rights abuses in China as it sought to extend the deal would harm efforts to evangelize the country. Pompeo said that he planned to discuss human rights violations in China, and urge Vatican officials to speak out about Chinese persecution of religious groups.
“The Church has an enormous amount of moral authority and we want to encourage them to use that moral authority, to improve the conditions for believers, certainly Catholic believers, but believers of all faiths inside of China, and so that’s the conversation that we’ll have,” he said.4
Catholic theology holds that the lordship of Christ is not only a matter of personal and moral commitment but speaks to the socio-political order. We need to consider how the role of traditional diplomacy helps the mission of the Church to make Christ present in our society and politics for the promotion of the common good.
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