Two years ago, Auxiliary Bishop Guo Xijin of Fujian, China, who was forced to step down because of the agreement, suddenly announced his resignation at this critical moment. On the other hand, the post of Bishop of Hong Kong has been vacant for 21 months. The Vatican had preferred Auxiliary Bishop Hsia Chi-sheng to take over the post. He had been a high-profile supporter of Hong Kong’s anti-Sentinel campaign over the past year, and it is rumored that the Vatican may have appointed Bishop Tsai Wai-Min, who is “Beijing’s favorite”, as the new bishop. Does the “bishop dispute” in Hong Kong foretell the future of the Diocese of Hong Kong, which will follow in the footsteps of the Church in China and be controlled by Beijing?
The Vatican is actively pursuing a renewal of the provisional agreement with China on the appointment of bishops, which was signed in September 2018 for two years and has been kept secret. At the end of the agreement, a key figure, Auxiliary Bishop Guo Xijin of Fujian Province’s Mindong Diocese, suddenly announced his resignation.
According to Catholic media reports, Guo announced his decision during a Sunday evening Mass. In an alleged speech circulating on the Internet, he said that the Church in China is now in a new era, and that it needs “handsome people with great talent, knowledge and understanding of the times” to keep up with the times, and said that he is not keeping up with the times, and “should not drag the feet of the times and become an obstacle to progress. “As a result, he resigned, ceased to participate in public activities, and withdrew from the diocesan governing body. At the end of his speech, he asked for forgiveness for his “weakness and incompetence”.
We have called the Luojiang Catholic Church in Fuan, where he is a member, but there was no answer.
Vatican-appointed bishop gives way to Beijing-appointed bishop
However, after the signing of an interim agreement between the Vatican and China in 2018, the Vatican gave in to China and demoted Guo to Auxiliary Bishop in favor of Zhan Silu, Vice President of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPA), who is also a member of the CPPCC and recognized by Beijing. Zhan Silu, who had been excommunicated by the Vatican for accepting the “self-selection” by Chinese authorities, was pardoned by the Vatican after the Vatican and China signed an agreement that transformed him from an “illegitimate bishop” into a full bishop of the eastern Fujian diocese.
Guo Xijin, who was originally appointed by the Vatican, was persecuted even more severely after his demotion. According to several media reports, Guo and the underground church groups were suppressed by the authorities, including the closure of parishes under his jurisdiction and the cutting off of water and electricity to the church where he lived, and some priests of the underground church groups were even arrested for not wanting to join the Patriotic Association.
Analysis: Resignation to show dissatisfaction with Vatican-China agreement negates Pope’s China policy
The resignation was prompted by the Vatican’s “frequent changes” in its instructions to him after the signing of the Concordat in 2018, according to observers of Sino-Vatican relations cited by the Tiana news agency. When the agreement was first signed, the Vatican instructed Gian Silvio not to intervene in the underground church and to work with Guo Xi Jin to “maintain the status quo of the diocese,” but later said that Guo Xi Jin had “no privileges,” leaving him confused.
Observers of the church’s relations with China believe that Guo’s resignation “is a rejection of the clarity of Pope Francis’ strategy in dealing with the Church in China since he took office.
In an interview with the station, Xing Fuzhen, a professor at Chung Chi College of Theology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that after the agreement was signed two years ago, the Vatican never clearly explained how to deal with the underground bishops originally appointed by the Vatican, but only asked them to accept the agreement and the arrangement, thus Guo Xijin’s sudden resignation at the crucial moment of renewing the agreement or expressing his dissatisfaction with it. The newest member of the team, the former head of the team, has been a member of the team for more than a decade.
The Bishop of Minto, Fujian Province, resigned two years after the agreement, and it is easy for people to speculate or associate that he actually expressed his dissatisfaction with the agreement. If it is really a preparation for the renewal of the agreement, the Holy See should not let him resign, because if the underground bishop is allowed to remain in the diocese as an auxiliary bishop, I think it would be the best arrangement (for the Holy See), not for him to resign, so I think we should not ask him to resign, but he has some dissatisfaction and use his resignation as an expression.”
Church in China Today, Diocese of Hong Kong Tomorrow?
The “battle for bishop” in the Chinese Church is also playing out in Hong Kong. After the death of former Hong Kong Catholic Bishop Yang Ming-cheung in January 2019, the bishop’s post has been vacant for 21 months, and the Vatican originally favored Auxiliary Bishop Ha Chi-sing to take over as bishop. In the past year, he has made several high-profile expressions of solidarity with the anti-sending campaign, including going to the Legislative Council demonstration area to pray with young people in the early days of the campaign, participating in the “Hong Kong Mothers Against Sending China Rally”, and even visiting students left behind at PolyU when the Hong Kong Polytechnic University was under siege by Hong Kong police. In response, the Vatican has come under political pressure or changed its decision to appoint Bishop Tsai Wai-Min, the “Beijing-friendly” Auxiliary Bishop of Hong Kong, as a bishop with full powers. He is said to have good relations with the Chinese authorities, and met with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor during the anti-sending campaign.
Cardinal Joseph Zen: Beijing wants a fully obedient Bishop of Hong Kong
This worries Cardinal Joseph Zen, the Catholic Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, who has been a supporter of the democracy movement in Hong Kong, and who traveled to the Vatican in late September to meet with the Pope to express his views on the choice of a bishop for Hong Kong, but the Pope did not receive him. In an interview with the station last week, he said Beijing wants someone “totally docile” to be the bishop of Hong Kong.
His (Tsai Huimin’s) views, his words, are more reassuring to them (Beijing),” said Chen, who was interviewed by the Pope last week. Of course, we are not saying that we must find someone who is antagonistic to Beijing, in fact, there is no antagonism between Father Xia and Beijing. We church people have our standards, we can’t be completely obedient, we have to discuss, we have to have standards, and we sometimes protest.”
Cardinal Joseph Z. Chen: Fully obedient bishops will reduce Hong Kong diocese to Church in China
When asked why Tsai Huimin was favored by Beijing, Cardinal Joseph Zen was reluctant to say much, but stressed that Hong Kong is now no different from mainland China under the National Security Law of Hong Kong.
A perfectly obedient (person) would be in trouble, because you see that Beijing’s aim is to destroy our Church completely,” said Joseph Zen. The Church in China, they succeeded also because the Vatican didn’t even do what our Church did, and they (the Vatican) gave in completely, and gave in without getting anything. Our Church on earth (in China) is entirely those who are willing to serve the government, and the underground (churches) have been wiped out to come entirely to earth, so we don’t want the same thing to happen in Hong Kong, and if the bishops in Hong Kong want what Beijing likes, then we are not one country, two systems at all.”
He said that if the Vatican still uses “Beijing’s preference” as a criterion for appointing Tsai Huimin as Bishop of Hong Kong, he has nothing to say, but he still hopes that Pope Francis will think twice. He also said that under the National Security Law, even if he is arrested at any time or for speaking his mind, “the truth is the truth”.
Xing Fuzhen, a professor at the Divinity School of Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that under the current circumstances in Hong Kong, Beijing may not want to see a critical bishop emerge, and that the “China factor” has become an indispensable factor in the Vatican’s consideration of bishops. He believes, however, that there is still a difference between the status of Hong Kong and that of the Chinese diocese, and that the Vatican is either delaying the announcement of a bishop for Hong Kong or is looking for the right time.
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