Go here to read the story. The worst thing Francis did was to throw faithful Chinese Catholics to the Chinese Communist wolves. The worst thing that Pope Leo has thus far done is to stand behind that betrayal.
The Great Betrayal
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Fact! But at least it’s consistent with the Vatican’s “Ostpolitik” under Pope St. Paul VI, that sold out Europeans under communist rule.
I find it incredibly distasteful that the Church, founded by the God-Man who commanded us to shout from the rooftops what we’ve heard spoken in whispers, has entered into a secret agreement with one of the most brutal and Godless dictatorships ever to have existed.
In charity, however, I have to keep reminding myself that the behavior I perceive as pragmatism is probably viewed by the likes of Parolin, Sorondo and (hopefully) Leo as prudence. While I fear there exists a highly lucrative ‘carrot’ behind all this, being aware of what the CCP is capable of, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there also exists a very large ‘stick’ in the form of threats against Chinese Catholics and other Christians along the lines of the treatment currently being applied to the Uyghurs and other dissidents.
The fall of our Progenitors was the result of both temptations and threats from the serpent. His MO probably hasn’t changed much.
Some popes have been or had first-class diplomats who have accomplished genuinely first-class things. But a diplomat is concerned with the survival or success of a worldly mission. For the Church, God sees to all that. Christ did not say “You will be my diplomats”, but “You will be my witnesses”. By all means use worldly means for spiritual ends (as St. Paul used his Roman citizenship), but don’t sacrifice the second for the first.
Didn’t St JP II break from the Ostpolitik?
Pope St Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth I. This added fuel to an already enraged England. However, missionary priests lined up to go to England, and nearly all died martyrs. Did the Pope do the right thing?
We don’t have to excommunicate CCP members as they were never in the flock. (save for the few bishops who took an oath to CCP).
Cardinal Zen wants a simple recognition that clergy and faithful suffer for the faith. Jimmy Lai was never defended.
What of the clergy and faithful in Nicaragua?