>>703860 (cont)
Naive Vatican officials
That naiveté appears to extend to Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences who infamously remarked in February: “Right now, those who are best at implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese.”
It also may extend to now-disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who, as one of Pope Francis’s advisors, may have helped in smoothing the ground for the coming deal.
McCarrick, who has been creditably accused of sexual abusing minors as well as seminarians and young priests, has been a frequent flyer to China, most recently in February 2016. He told Global Times he was not visiting in his "official capacity," but, reported the Global Times, “his trip has shown that ties are growing more comfortable.”
On previous visits, McCarrick met with Wang Zuo’an, head of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, and late bishop Fu Tieshan, former president of Bishop Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC), an organization the Holy See does not recognize, Global Times reported.
“A lot of things that China worries about, [Pope Francis] worries about, about the care of poor, older people, children, our civilization and especially the ecology,” McCarrick told Global Times.
“I see a lot of things happening that would really open many doors because President Xi and his government is concerned about things that Pope Francis concerned about.”
Xi Jinping persecuting practice of religion
Many Western sources agree with Mosher that Xi Jinping is ruthlessly intent on abolishing what religious freedom there is in China, and won’t cede any authority to the Vatican.
“In practice, China’s Communist Party is unlikely to give up control over any religion, even Catholicism, which has relatively few adherents in China,” the WSJ notes.
“Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched a program to ‘Sinicize’ all religions to make sure they don’t offer alternate viewpoints to the Communist Party.”
That was echoed by Forbes contributor Olivia Enos, who pointed out religious persecution has risen notably since last October’s Party congress.
“Finalizing a deal now would send the message that the Vatican is willing to turn a blind eye to Chinese threats to religious freedom—including the persecution of Catholics,” wrote Enos.
The deal would also have serious implications for Taiwan, “known for respecting religious freedom,” she added.
Under the One China policy, Beijing would likely require the Vatican to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China, leaving Taiwan bereft of its last European ally, Enos explained.
Perhaps the fiercest critic of the imminent agreement is Cardinal Joseph Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, who strongly criticized Pope Francis and his advisors when the deal was first brokered for betraying faithful Catholics in China’s persecuted underground Church.
“They are delivering the whole administration of the Church into the hands of the so-called ‘Patriotic Association,’ which is just a puppet in the hands of the government,” Zen told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo.
“And so it’s a complete surrender. It’s incredible.”
Zen, too, suggested Pope Francis was naive and following bad advice.
“We are very much worried because it seems that the Vatican is going to make a very bad agreement with China,” Zen told LifeSiteNews in an exclusive interview in February.
“And I can understand that the pope is really naive … He doesn’t know the Chinese communists. But unfortunately the people around him are not good at all. They have very wrong ideas. And I’m afraid that they may sell out our underground Church. That would be very sad.”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-to-allow-chinese-communists-to-select-bishops-in-forthcoming-v