Most Rev. Robert W. Finn wrote a piece at the Catholic Key that I think asks a pretty important question. He asks if China is buying America’s silence about the persecution of Catholics.
For me, the short answer is yes. I’ll ask you to recall that in 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said of speaking with China about human rights, “Our pressing on those issues can’t interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis.”
That seems pretty clear to me that human rights are at least secondary to this administration. And let’s face it, it’s probably been secondary for many administrations but Clinton was the first to mistakenly speak the truth.
It seems that China has recently stepped up its persecution of the Catholic Church with little outcry from America. Hey, you go a few billion dollars in debt to another country it’s a tad more difficult to criticize them.
Rev. Robert Finn writes:
In May of 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued a Pastoral Letter to Clergy, Religious, and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China. There the Holy Father expressed his affection for the people and his solidarity with them. He explained the proper relationships within the diocese, between the dioceses and the State, and the indispensable link between the local Churches and the Church Universal. The Pope offered encouragement for unity and a guide for evangelization.
The challenging circumstances for the work of the Church in China have been intensified because of a separation that has existed between a state-supervised Patriotic Catholic Association, China’s only legal public form of Catholicism, said to have about 5 Million members, and an “illegal,” “underground church,” believed to be the home for perhaps 10 million clergy, Religious and laity, who have sought to maintain a more unfettered communion with the Vatican. It is acknowledged that many members of the Patriotic Association, bishops included, have attempted to keep ties with Rome.
August 3, 2011 at 1:39 am
*sigh* we need to pray for the Church in China.
Of course the U.S government won't be caught dead defending the Church, any other religion, maybe, but Catholicism, no chance.
August 3, 2011 at 2:05 am
You're out by three orders of magnitude. It's trillions of dollars of debt.
August 3, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Just shows you that Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice.
August 6, 2011 at 4:01 pm
One problem is that China was bullied during the 19th century by the West and the second problem is that a Christian led the largest most lethal revolt in Chinese history (20million dead..Taiping Revolt) in that same century while the West was bullying China. It's actually amazing that China's communist party allows even legal Christianity.
Their priority is control because historically even their rivers elude control and kill many during floods. Feng Shui is about control. An over valuing of martial arts was about control. Superstition and fortune tellers is about control. Abortion is about control gone haywire. Understand their addiction to control and you'll understand why they want no foreign leader within Europe….the Pope…calling any shots. And they have the death penalty for 72 reasons and that buttresses their sense of control. These last two Popes with their unusual public comments that the death penalty is cruel….lessened China's trust of Popes.