Sspx rome reconciliation 2019 full#

In the past, official and unofficial bishops met together and the underground communities were offered the use of churches for celebrations.” Cervellera concluded his editorial entitled “Sino-Vatican Accord Betrayed” with these bitter lines: “Then, there is another serious aspect for which the Agreement risks being betrayed. Bernardo Cervellera, editor-in-chief of the Italian agency AsiaNews and expert on Chinese affairs, wrote in his editorial of April 27, that after the renewal of the Agreement, the actions of the Chinese state against unofficial bishops - such as detention, house arrest and fines - continued.įr. To date, many observers, says Elise Ann Allen, have expressed concern that the new Chinese rules on religious personnel increasingly restrict religious freedom and are therefore in direct contradiction with the Sino-Vatican Agreement on the appointment of bishops. While the measures taken “have not solved all the problems that still exist and will probably take a long time, they are a step in the right direction, towards conciliation within the Church,” he said bluntly.

“All we do is guarantee a normal life in the Church in China” by ensuring “spaces of religious freedom” and of communion “because we cannot live in the Catholic Church without communion with the successor of Peter… We therefore look at the Church in China with great respect, also for its history,…a history that involves a lot of suffering,” he added. “The Church in China represents a fundamental part of the Catholic Church and… everything that has been done and is being done, aims to protect this community which is still small but which has great strength and vitality,” declared the Secretary of State. He spoke in particular on the fruits of the Agreement between the Vatican and China. The Vatican Accord to “Guarantee Normal Life in the Church in China”Ĭardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, gave an interview to Spanish radio Cope, broadcast on April 5, 2021. An agreement whose terms have never been made public. The preliminary announcement in November 2020 of these new “administrative measures” came one month after the Vatican renewed its two-year interim agreement with China on the appointment of bishops. Religious personnel are also required to “practice the core values of socialism, adhere to the principle of independence and self-management of religion, and adhere to China's religious policy, maintain national unity, ethnic unity, religious harmony and social stability.”Īnd therefore everyone must participate in the fight against “illegal religious activities, religious extremism, and resistance to infiltration by foreign forces using religion.” Set forth in seven chapters of 52 articles, these rules are applicable to all those who exercise a religious function (bishops, priests, Buddhist and Taoist monks, etc.) and require everyone to be officially registered with the government.Īll must “love the motherland, support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, support the socialist system, respect the constitution, laws, regulations, and rules.”

Sspx rome reconciliation 2019 full#

These “administrative measures” provide for the creation of a national database with information on religious personnel indicating rewards and punishments distributed, and full details of their ministry, repots Elise Ann Allen of Crux.

Originally published in November 2020 - with a final version in February 2021 - by the Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), new guidelines, titled “Administrative measures for religious personnel,” came into effect on May 1, 2021, announced the English-speaking site Crux on May 3, 2021.