Pope Francis Seeks Deal with China, and China's Answer Is Increased Religious Persecution

Pope Francis may be preparing to lead the Catholic Church down a rabbit hole in China, just as he did in Cuba, only a hole of a much greater magnitude. • • • POPE FRANCIS COURTS BEIJING. In October, the Guardian reported that if Pope Francis has his way, a deal to bridge what many believe is an insurmountable divide between the Roman Catholic Church and the Communist Chinese government could be announced within the next 30 days. The Guardian was quoting sources who follow the Vatican-China talks as saying that the Pope would like to seal a deal before the conclusion on 20 November of the Holy Year of Mercy, which was called by the Pope to celebrate acts of forgiveness. • That didn't happen but the dialogue with China apparently goes on. The toughest issue between the two sides -- the Vatican’s right to appoint its own bishops in China -- would represent the most important diplomatic feat of Francis’s papacy. It would also spur a debate about whether Francis -- a Jesuit who has always promoted the importance of “encounters” but has declined to meet the Dalai Lama -- has ignored concerns about human rights and religious freedom for the sake of furthering the Vatican’s own interests in a country that is officially atheist -- in other words, is Pope Francis, like President Obama, apt to forget what side he is on because he's chasing a"legacy"? • While evangelical Christianity has seen explosive growth in China, Catholicism has lagged behind. The Pope told Asia Times in early 2016 : “For me, China has always been a reference point of greatness. A great country. But more than a country, a great culture, with an inexhaustible wisdom." Francis has courted China since he became Pope in 2103 -- there was the telegram Francis sent to President Xi Jinping as his papal plane flew in Chinese airspace on the way to Taiwan in 2014; there was the gift of a silk print, symbolic of Christianity’s presence in China, that was reportedly given to the Pope in October by a representative of Xi, though the accuracy of that story has not been confirmed; and, according to Francesco Sisci, a scholar and senior researcher based at China Renmin University in Beijing, Francis is the first Pope to have his homilies translated in China. "Of course," says Sisci, "Francis is not a superstar, he is not as popular as a rock star, but he is known to the Chinese public and that is very different from other Popes, who were totally unknown." • No one believes that negotiations between the two sides will lead to formal diplomatic relations, because that would force the Vatican to break ties with Taiwan. Jeroom Heyndrickx, a Belgian priest who has championed the negotiations, says the talks are centred on whether the Vatican would be given permission to appoint its own bishops. There is also a disagreement over the the fate of eight “illegal” bishops appointed by officials in China, some of whom have been excommunicated by the Vatican. According to Heyndrickx : “There have been efforts at dialogue in the past, but never as intense and ongoing, and with perseverance on both sides. The situation is more hopeful now than it has been in 65 years.” Reaching an initial agreement on the bishops could make it easier to tackle other key issues, such as the fate of the China Catholic Patriotic Association, a state- controlled organisation that controls the Catholic Church and appoints bishops. Heyndrickx says negotiations between the Vatican and Beijing are set to recommence before the end of 2016. A preliminary agreement that was reportedly reached in August would allow the Pope to choose bishops from candidates recommended by the CCPA. Church sources have separately told Reuters that China is preparing to ordain at least two new bishops before the end of the year, and these appointments would reportedly have the blessing of the Vatican. • • • IS CHINA WILLING TO NEGOTIATE? John Allen, the editor of The Crux, a Catholic publication, says Francis -- like his predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II -- has signalled a willingness to address China’s concerns that the Catholic Church would be hostile to the state if it was shown any latitude. Allen says the Vatican is pursuing a “huge long-term interest” in its courting of China, which is controversial to some within the church. But the real difficulty in hammering out a deal, according to Allen, is not resistance inside the Vatican but rather China’s objections : “The problem is that Xi has a strong wing of the party apparatus that says if you give the Christians, and the Catholics in particular, an inch, they are going to take a mile. Ultimately, this is about who controls the Catholic community in China. Is the primary loyalty to the state or the Pope?” • • • CHINA MAY SEE FRANCIS AS EASIER TO DEAL WITH. The difference between the current negotiations and previous talks is Francis himself. The first non-European Pope is viewed as less political and more sympathetic to interests outside the US and Europe, experts say. Richard McGregor, a China expert and author of The Party, thinks it is not clear why agreeing a deal with the Vatican would be a priority for senior Chinese officials : “There are lots of obstacles in the way of a genuine deal. At the same time, they have many other political priorities in the area of managing and keeping a lid on religion, so it is hard to see why China would compromise.” While a deal would be a propaganda coup for Beijing and put pressure on Taiwan, McGregor says there were “fundamental issues of authority” at stake that would make it hard for the Vatican to demand any guarantees on control of the Church in the mainland. • CATHOLIC VOICES FOR AND AGAINST POPE FRANCIS. The most vocal critic against any such deal is the most senior Chinese Catholic, Cardinal Joseph Zen, 84, a former bishop of Hong Kong, where he still teaches at the Salesian school, and a critic of China’s human rights record. In September, Zen wrote in Asia News : “It is unthinkable to leave the initial proposal in the hands of an atheist government who cannot possibly judge the suitability of a candidate to be a bishop.” Talk of a deal has been circulating for months, and some say the diplomatic coup for Pope Francis would be in resolving the highly controversial issue of allowing China’s Communist government to have a hand in selecting bishops. But, Cardinal Zen says any agreement in which Beijing would have a hand in approving clergy would be “a surrender” : “Maybe the Pope is a little naive, he doesn’t have the background to know the Communists in China. The Pope used to know the persecuted Communists [in Latin America], but he may not know the Communist persecutors who have killed hundreds of thousands.” Cardinal Zen told the Guardian that most supporters of the deal did not truly know China, lacking first-hand experience with the state of the Church under the Communists. He spent seven years frequently teaching in cities across China in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that was followed by severe tightening of freedom of expression and religion. The Guardian says one motivation for the Vatican is "the relatively small number of Catholics in a country filled with people who are increasingly searching for meaning in their lives. There are roughly 10 million Catholics, just a 10th of the overall number of Christians in the country." Cardinal Zen suggests this is false reasoning, saying that the “fake freedom” provided by a proposed deal, under which priests could more easily preach and more churches would open, would offer only "the impression of freedom, it’s not real freedom, the people sooner or later will see the bishops are puppets of the government and not really the shepherds of the flock. The official bishops are not really preaching the gospel. They are preaching obedience to Communist authority.” • Sisci says from Beijing that “a very wide-ranging agreement” appears to be on the horizon but that it remains unclear exactly when the deal will be unveiled. No observers expect it to lead to full diplomatic relations. Sisci, who conducted a rare interview with Pope Francis at the start of 2016 in which Francis backed the idea of dialogue with Beijing, said he believes the deal would represent a “a major breakthrough” for China, the Vatican and people of all faiths. Sisci rejects the idea that the Vatican is abandoning its principles by engaging with Beijing and claims many within the Church leadership believe it would be more effective to talk to China’s Communist leaders than to “wage war” against them on issues such as human rights and religious freedom. Sisci says he believes the Pope thinks the Church could play “a crucial role in helping China move into the modern world, to become a modern society. He may be naive, but it is his job being naive, being a man of faith." • However, that naivety could harm the Catholic church in China for decades to come, according to Zen, and a perception is building that the Pope is pushing a pact he may not fully understand : “You cannot go into negotiations with the mentality ‘we want to sign an agreement at any cost,’ then you are surrendering yourself, you are betraying yourself, you are betraying Jesus Christ. If you cannot get a good deal, an acceptable deal, then the Vatican should walk away and maybe try again later. Could the Church negotiate with Hitler? Could it negotiate with Stalin? No.” • • • CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED IN CHINA. Chinese Catholics are free to go to mass and attend church, but barred from proselytising. An “underground” Catholic Church exists, and members and its clergy have faced persecution by authorities. The Christian Times and other media outlets reported in May that Chinese government officials were forcing thousands of churches to remove crosses. China Aid, in its annual report published on May 18, revealed that a total of 20,000 Chinese Christians suffered religious persecution at the hands of the Communist Chinese government in 2015 alone. The "2015 Annual Report Chinese Government Persecution of Christians and Churches in China," conducted by China Aid, said : "In 2015, China Aid documented 634 cases of persecution in which 19,426 religious practitioners were persecuted, representing an 8.62% increase from 2014's 17,884 religious practitioners persecuted." China's "Three Rectification and One Demolition" beautification campaign targeted demolition of numerous Christian buildings. The crosses of more than 2,000 Christian churches were forced to be removed on charges of violations with the country's building code, in an ongoing push to remove crosses from Christian churches. The demolitions have led to the death of a church pastor's wife in Henan province and the arrests of Christian leaders as well as human rights lawyers. • The bulldozer death of the Chinese Christian woman was also reported by Fox News in April. Fox reporter Perry Chiaramonte wrote : "A Christian woman's fateful and defiant stance in front of a bulldozer last week evoked the memory of Tiananmen Square and has become a rallying cry against persecution at the hands of the Beijing government. The woman, identified by Christian activists as Ding Cuimei, wife of the Reverend Li Jiangong, was trying to stop the government-ordered demolition of Beitou Church in the central Hena province city of Zhumadian. Unlike the iconic man who brazenly stopped a tank in the 1989 uprising, Ding was pushed into a ditch and buried alive as horrified congregants watched helplessly. 'Bury them alive for me,' a member of the demolition team said, according to a report by China Aid, a nonprofit focused on human rights and religious freedom in the world’s most populous country. 'I will be responsible for their lives.' The grim incident underscores the Chinese government’s increasing persecution of religious minorities, say advocates. Thousands of churches across the country have been demolished in the past year, and dozens of pastors have been arrested on trumped up corruption charges, according to nonprofit groups that monitor the situation. David Curry, president and CEO of Christian advocacy group Open Doors USA told FoxNews : 'There was a time where they [Christians] were being recognized as productive members of society. The government treated them fairly. But that has changed. China has the goal of nationalizing Christians [5% of the population].' Curry said the Chinese government appears determined to lower the profile of the church. The effort takes varied forms, from re-zoning church properties to allow for demolition, as in the case of the April 14 incident in which Ding was killed, to forcing pastors to meet weekly with local officials to explain their sermons, said Curry : “It has had a chilling effect on religious freedom in China." Two demolition workers were arrested in the death of Ding. Her husband, who was also pushed into the ditch but managed to crawl out, has allegedly been warned not to discuss the case. Chinese government officials are also forcing thousands of churches to remove crosses, according to China Aid, whose report also pointed out that aside from Christians, both Tibetan Buddhists and Moslems "likely experienced even more intense government persecution" by the atheistic Chinese government. However, Christianity in China continues to grow despite relentless persecution. The China Aid report indicates that Christians fasted and prayed everywhere, tied themselves on the cross, protested on the streets carrying small wooden crosses, re-erected crosses that had been removed by the authorities, and put up a staunch fight against the government demolitions. Many Christians were also boosted by the court victories achieved in cases including civil law, administrative law, and property rights law. Bob Fu, China Aid president, told the Christian Post : "The top leadership is increasingly worried about the rapid growth of Christian faith and their public presence, and their social influence. It is a political fear for the Communist Party, as the number of Christians in the country far outnumber the members of the party." • • • XI JINPING'S CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANS. These incidents underscore the serious violations against religious freedom in China that have occurred since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013. Xi has taken a strong ideological turn to create a new cultural revolution according to Fu : “He [Xi] has really turned against the independent churches and any independent social movements. The government wants to contain the growth of Christianity.” In its 2015 Annual Report, China Aid cites terrible persecution campaigns that it says made 2016 one of the most tyrannical years since the Cultural Revolution. • As imprisoned human rights lawyers still fight for the right to defend their clients without legal repercussions, officials in Zhejiang province carried out the third consecutive year of a beautification movement that targets church crosses for demolition, Henan province launched a movement focusing on forcing “illegal” Catholic and Protestant churches to conform to socialist ideals, and authorities arrested and detained church members. Trials for lawyers rounded up in the 709 Incident, the nationwide crackdown on human rights defenders named for the day it began -- July 9, 2015 -- started on August 2 with the sentencing of Zhai Yanmin, a rights activist who received a three-year suspended prison term for coordinating protests against government rule. A day later, a Tianjin court condemned Beijing church elder Hu Shigen to 7 1/2 years’ incarceration and 5 years’ deprivation of political rights for allegedly “subverting state power” by using Christianity to “spread subversive thoughts and ideas.” The tribunal presented photos of his baptism as evidence of his guilt, and Hu was forced to confess to his crimes, after which he accepted his sentence and did not appeal. Hu, a Beijing University alumnus and former instructor at the Beijing Language Institute, formerly served 16 years of a 20-year prison sentence for founding an organization that opposed the Communist Party. On August 4, Zhou Shifeng was coerced into confessing to his crimes. Zhou, a Christian attorney, was arrested on suspicion of “subverting state power” on January 8, 2016. In an attempt to publicly authenticate their charges against him, authorities pressured Zhang Kai, a human rights lawyer known for his defense of more than 100 churches affected by the cross demolition campaign, to travel from his home in Inner Mongolia, attend the trial and conduct an interview in which he denounced Zhou and the other imprisoned human rights lawyers. Zhang later recanted his statements, saying he had been too frightened to stand up to the authorities. Consequentially, officials barred him from social media and attempted to arrest him again. On the night of August 25, 2015, government personnel broke into a church in Wenzhou, Zhejiang and took Zhang and his two legal assistants into police custody. After holding him incommunicado for six months at an unofficial prison known as a “black jail,” China forced Zhang to confess on television on February 25, 2016. A few days later, he was taken into criminal detention and released on bail on March 23. Since then, he has lived with his parents in Inner Mongolia. Another Christian lawyer, Li Heping, vanished into police custody on July 10, 2015, followed by his brother, attorney Li Chunfu, on August 1, 2015. Li Heping was formally arrested on January 8, 2016, on suspicion of “subverting state power.” Since their disappearance, family members have not been able to contact either of the men. • In addition to previous restrictions on religious activity, Henan province published a work plan devising ways to bring “illegal” Catholic and Protestant churches in line with the Party’s ideologies. According to the official document, the authorities plan to manage church meetings and force the congregations to eradicate all religious symbols and become more socialist. The timeline outlined by the official document stated the plan was to be implemented on September 4 and run until October 15. The Chinese government mandated that the village and sub-district government branches investigate churches, submit reports to their superiors, assist the religious affairs bureau in distributing a notice about the expected changes to the churches, shut down non-compliant congregations, and record how satisfactorily they were able to complete the job as part of their year-end assessment. Prompted by this decision, the Bo’Ai County Religious Affairs Bureau issued a notice to a house church. Claiming that the church was unauthorized, the bureau ordered it to immediately disband and remove any religious materials within three days. They urged the attendees to conduct religious activities at the local official churches, with which many of them have deep, theological disagreements. Failure to comply with these measures will result in further government interference. CHINA'S APPROACH TO THE PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS. This campaign echoes the new political trend set out in a proposed revision of the Regulations on Religious Affairs, which was introduced by the State Council earlier this month. The revision introduces tighter control on peaceful religious activities, such as punishing house church meetings by imprisoning Christians or heavily fining the church leaders, forbidding religious adherents from attending conferences or trainings abroad, and barring minors from receiving religious education. These measures violate China’s own Constitution, which guarantees religious liberty and condemns discriminating against religious and non-religious citizens and breaches the country’s pledges to adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. • In the highest profile case of Christian persecution since the Cultural Revolution, China ousted Gu Yuese, chairman of the Hangzhou branch of the China Christian Council, from his position as the head pastor of China’s largest Three-Self Church on January 18. Later that month, Gu was arrested on a falsified “embezzling 10 million Yuan (U.S. $1.6 million) in funds,” although many Christians believe authorities incarcerated him for his opposition to the cross demolition campaign. On April 1, he was released and placed under “residential surveillance.” His case demonstrates the rampant spread of religious persecution as China clamps down on both house and state-run churches. The China Aid report concludes : "China continuously violates its own laws and international statutes safeguarding religious freedom in favor of promoting a socialist agenda, forcing religious devotees to choose between certain persecution and disregarding their deeply-held beliefs. Additionally, it prosecutes lawyers who attempt to defend the rights of religious practitioners, completely disregarding the rule of law. International governments must persuade China to free those it unjustly holds behind bars." • • • POPE FRANCIS'S RECORD OF DEFENDING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM. • Reuters reported on December 12, 2014, that Pope Francis denied a private audience to the Dalai Lama because it could harm the Holy See’s already fraught relations with China. The Vatican confirmed the report, saying the request was declined “for obvious reasons concerning the delicate situation” with China. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, understood the situation, the Vatican spokesman added. The Dalai Lama, in Rome for a meeting of Nobel peace prize winners, told Italian media he had approached the Vatican about a meeting but was told it could create inconveniences. An unnamed Vatican official said the decision was “not taken out of fear but to avoid any suffering by those who have already suffered” -- a reference to Catholics in China who are loyal to the Pope. The Vatican said the Pope would not meet any of the laureates and that the number two in the Vatican hierarchy, secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin, had sent them a message on the Pope’s behalf. The last meeting between a Pope and the Dalai Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, was in 2006, when he met former Pope Benedict XVI. • Pope Francis and Vatican diplomats also played key roles in the re-opening of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba and the release of the imprisoned American, Alan Gross, according to the leaders of the two countries and a Vatican statement issued in December 2104. Pope Francis sent letters to Barack Obama and the Cuban president Raul Castro in the summer of 2014. Both leaders acknowledged the importance of his appeal in their statements announcing the breakthrough. The Vatican said the Pope’s letters called on the two countries “to resolve humanitarian questions of common interest, including the situation of certain prisoners, in order to initiate a new phase in relations." The Vatican also hosted delegations from the two countries at what were said to have been the talks at which the breakthrough was made. Kenneth Hackett, the US ambassador to the Holy See, said a senior Vatican official had “played an important part in this historic moment by meeting US and Cuban delegations in October to help bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.” Reuters said : "The re-establishment of normal relations between the two countries has been a cause dear to the hearts of successive Popes, but the issue took on an even greater importance last year following the election last year of the first Latin American leader of the Catholic church." A senior US official told Reuters news agency: “The support of Pope Francis and the support of the Vatican was important to us.” • • • Dear readers, China and Cuba are just two countries where Pope Francis has tried to use his office to bring about agreements and decisions that are items on his Legacy agenda. Francis gets good publicity, photo-ops with smiling leaders shaking hands and then he disappears into the Vatican to work on his next Legacy agenda item. But, what about the aftermath of Pope Francis's forays into the international political arena? Success or failure? Tomorrow.