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MEDIA ADVISORY, Oct. 8, 2018 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Imagine hearing that the leader of your faith reached a deal with your persecutors that will allow them to oppress you further.
Photo: Chinese Christians praying
That is what is happening to millions of Catholics across China, as the Vatican and China reached a deal in the past month, mending their previously severed relationship and allowing them to co-appoint clergy. In the past, the Vatican and the Chinese government separated over this as Chinese officials appointed bishops excommunicated by the Vatican and refused to ordain those recognized by the Holy See.
Clergy approved by the Chinese government went on to oversee state-run congregations, which, while being China's only legal form of church, are censored and monitored, while those wanting to remain loyal to the Vatican were forced to operate illegally, leading to persecution.
In response to the agreement, ChinaAid President Bob Fu said, "While we understand the eagerness of Vatican for searching more legitimacy in the eye of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], this reported deal is nothing but a betrayal of both the millions of suffering persecuted Christians in China and the global Catholic Church. This could be a repeat of the 1940s Hitler's Germany, when the German state church consented to the persecution and slaughtered millions of Jews. Ironically, how can the Vatican respond with a good clear conscience for this appeasement deal while the CCP just launched a secret war vowing the wipe out of underground Catholics and Protestants?"
Now, the Chinese government will be able to impose its strictures on these private churches, using the Vatican's backing as justification and subjecting them to increased persecution.
