China’s Catholics Rue Church’s Slide as Powers Debate Control
- 6 years ago
China’s Catholics Rue Church’s Slide as Powers Debate Control
"We believers just go to church and pray." The Vatican has already asked Guo Xijin, the underground bishop in Mindong, to yield his leadership
of an estimated 70,000 Catholics to a government-appointed cleric who commands about 10,000 followers — a huge concession to Beijing.
One lay nun whose order has deep roots in Mindong said Bishop Zhan would have difficulty running the diocese
because most worshipers are in the underground church and support Bishop Guo.
Others say that the outside world’s binary view of Chinese Catholicism — of loyalist underground church members
and government flunkies — misses more subtle realities on the ground.
This time, it centers on talks between China and the Vatican to bridge their historical differences by settling the thorniest issue dividing them: control of the bishops
and priests who run the Roman Catholic Church in China.
In 1957, the authorities added to the church’s problems by setting up the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association to replace the Vatican in appointing the clergy
and give Beijing’s atheist leaders control over the church.
Bishop Guo, 59, who has been a priest in Mindong since 1984, said in an interview
that he was willing to accede if it helped heal the long split between the underground and government churches.
"We believers just go to church and pray." The Vatican has already asked Guo Xijin, the underground bishop in Mindong, to yield his leadership
of an estimated 70,000 Catholics to a government-appointed cleric who commands about 10,000 followers — a huge concession to Beijing.
One lay nun whose order has deep roots in Mindong said Bishop Zhan would have difficulty running the diocese
because most worshipers are in the underground church and support Bishop Guo.
Others say that the outside world’s binary view of Chinese Catholicism — of loyalist underground church members
and government flunkies — misses more subtle realities on the ground.
This time, it centers on talks between China and the Vatican to bridge their historical differences by settling the thorniest issue dividing them: control of the bishops
and priests who run the Roman Catholic Church in China.
In 1957, the authorities added to the church’s problems by setting up the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association to replace the Vatican in appointing the clergy
and give Beijing’s atheist leaders control over the church.
Bishop Guo, 59, who has been a priest in Mindong since 1984, said in an interview
that he was willing to accede if it helped heal the long split between the underground and government churches.