China to impose ‘strict governance’ on Protestant churches
Protestant Christians pledging allegiance to the government should do more to ensure strict implementation of rules on religions, top officials of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) told top Christian leaders, says a report.
(UCAnews).
(Agenzia Fides. Gianni Valente).
Giuseppe Yang Yongquiang è il nuovo Vescovo di Hangzhou, nella provincia cinese di Zhejiang. Lo riferisce il bollettino della Sala stampa vaticana pubblicato oggi, sabato 22 giugno 2024. «Nel quadro del dialogo relativo all’applicazione dell’Accordo Provvisorio tra la Santa Sede e la Repubblica Popolare Cinese» si legge nel testo diffuso dalla Sala Stampa Vaticana «in data 12 giugno 2024, il Santo Padre ha nominato S.E. Mons. Giuseppe Yang Yongqiang Vescovo di Hangzhou (Provincia cinese del Zhejiang), trasferendolo dalla sede di Zhoucun (Provincia cinese dello Shandong)». Il nuovo Vescovo di Hangzhou farà il suo ingresso nella sua nuova sede episcopale con una solenne liturgia eucaristica nella cattedrale di Hanghzhou, in programma giovedì 27 giugno. Giuseppe Yang Yongqiang è nato l’11 aprile 1970 a Boxing (Shandong), in una famiglia cattolica. nel 1987 è entrato nel Seminario dello Spirito Santo a Jinan. Ha condotto gli studi filosofici e teologici presso quel Seminario e presso quello di Sheshan, a Shanghai. Il 15 giugno 1995 ha ricevuto l’ordinazione sacerdotale. Dopo aver svolto il ministero di parroco, è stato inviato ad approfondire la propria formazione presso il Seminario Nazionale di Pechino. In seguito, ha ricoperto l’incarico di docente presso il Seminario dello Spirito Santo. Nominato Vescovo Coadiutore di Zhoucun, è stato consacrato il 15 novembre 2010 e l’8 febbraio 2013 è succeduto al Vescovo Ma Xuesheng alla guida di quella diocesi. Il 12 giugno 2024 Papa Francesco lo ha nominato Vescovo di Hangzhou.
(CNA. Hannah Brockhaus).
Pope Francis has named Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang to lead the Archdiocese of Hangzhou in China, transferring him from the Diocese of Zhoucun, the Vatican announced Saturday. The June 12 nomination took place “within the framework of dialogue concerning the implementation of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China,” the Vatican’s June 22 press release said. The new archbishop was one of two bishops from mainland China to participate in the October 2023 session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome. He has led the Zhoucun Diocese in Shandong Province since 2013.
(UCANews reporter).
A Uyghur Muslim woman has been sentenced to an additional 14-year prison term for allegedly teaching the Quran to teenagers following a decade in jail, says a report.
Heyrinisa Memet was sentenced on June 11 for imparting religious instructions to the youths in 2014, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on June 18.
Memet had provided religious instructions to the children at the request of her neighbors, the director of security of Zulkum village in Kashgar prefecture, who wished to be unidentified over fears of reprisals, said.
(Walter Sánchez Silva. Aci prensa).
Hace unos días falleció en China el P. Jacobo Huang Guirong, un sacerdote de más de 90 años que esperó casi la mitad de su vida —unos 45 años— para ordenarse; y que fue encarcelado durante más de una década por el régimen comunista que aún persigue a la Iglesia Católica en el país asiático.
Asia News informa que el P. Jacobo, ex administrador apostólico de la Arquidiócesis de Kunming, falleció la tarde del 16 de junio en el condado de Leping, al este de China.
Nació el 25 de julio de 1933 (o 1932) en el condado de Huaping, Lijiang. Era el hijo menor de su familia católica y tenía dos hermanas. Estudió en la escuela parroquial local y luego ingresó al seminario de Kunming.
En 1949 los comunistas llegaron al poder, lo que hizo que cerraran el seminario donde se formaba.
(Agenzia Fides).
Continua la visita pastorale di una delegazione della Chiesa cattolica del Belgio in Cina continentale. La delegazione, composta da 5 membri, è guidata dal Cardinale Jozef De Kesel, Arcivescovo emerito di Malines-Bruxelles e Presidente della Fondazione Ferdinand Verbiest di Lovanio. Della delegazione fanno parte anche padre Charles Phukuta, Superiore generale della Congregazione del Cuore Immacolato di Maria (missionari di Scheut, CICM) e padre Jeroom Heyndrickx CICM, grande amico della Chiesa cattolica in Cina.
(National Catholic Reporter. Osv news).
Catholic activist Jimmy Lai’s trial on charges of violating a Chinese-imposed national security law is nearing the 100-day mark. He is the highest-profile Hong Kong resident to be tried under the law, and his case is considered a landmark case. The trial of the 76-year-old pro-democracy advocate was suspended for a day June 3 after Lai’s lawyers said he was not feeling well. They told the judge that Lai, who is being held in Hong Kong’s Stanley Prison, had seen a doctor the previous night and had been prescribed painkillers. The trial resumed June 4, with one judge telling Lai he could notify the court if he felt unwell again. Lai’s son, Sebastien, has said his father suffers from diabetes and was diagnosed with high blood pressure while in prison in 2021. For decades Lai, who founded the now-defunct pro-democracy Apple Daily, campaigned for freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Hong Kong, which was designated a Special Administrative Region of China in 1997, when British rule ended after more than 150 years. Hong Kong’s Basic Law was supposed to allow the region “to exercise a high degree of autonomy and enjoy executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication.”
(UCANews Reporter).
Cardinal Stephen Chow of Hong Kong has stressed the need for forgiveness as the world marked the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
“What happened 35 years ago has left a deep wound in parts of our psyche, though it has been buried and scarred over,” said the cardinal in his “reflection” published in the diocesan weekly the Sunday Examiner.
In the tragic event of June 4, 1989, China’s communist regime used military tanks and guns to crush the students-led democracy protest that began in April of that year and spread to some 400 cities.
(Agenzia Fides)
Le comunità cattoliche cinesi hanno partecipato in tutto il Paese alle processioni eucaristiche e mariane che si sono svolte domenica 2 giugno, nella solennità del Corpus Domini, a conclusione dei tre giorni che hanno visto concludersi il mese di maggio, dedicato a Maria, e aprirsi il mese di giugno, in cui il popolo di Dio ravviva la sua tradizionale devozione al Sacro Cuore di Gesù. Da Pechino a Shanghai, dalle diocesi dell’Hebei a quelle dello Jiangxi, le celebrazioni moltitudinarie sono iniziate con la festa liturgica della Visitazione di Maria, il 31 maggio.
A Shijiazhuang, nella provincia di Hebei, migliaia di cattolici si sono ritrovati la sera di sabato presso la cattedrale, dedicata a Maria Immacolata, e hanno percorso le strade intorno alla chiesa con le candele accese, recitando Rosario
(The Pillar. LUKE COPPEN).
In a May 30 column in the Sunday Examiner, the Diocese of Hong Kong’s weekly newspaper, Chow reflected on what he called “the life-sapping event that took place 35 years ago in the capital city.” On June 4, 1989, Chinese communist authorities sent troops to crack down on pro-democracy protesters occupying Tiananmen Square in Beijing, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The massacre is known as the June Fourth Incident in China, where discussion of the event is heavily censored. Chow did not use the words “Tiananmen Square” or “massacre” in the column, referring only to the “event” 35 years ago. “What happened 35 years ago has left a deep wound in parts of our psyche, though it has been buried and scarred over,” wrote Chow, who was named Bishop of Hong Kong in 2021. “Yet, it remains a sore spot that requires proper attention for healing. And I am praying for that closure to happen.” “Having said that, I understand that we must not wait but to move on. A healthy life should not be stuck in a dark space of unending sorrows and resentment.”
(UCA News).
They met in China and discussed history of Catholicism, growth of Church and faith practices on both sides of Taiwan Strait
Catholic bishops and scholars from mainland China and Taiwan joined a seminar on inculturation and cooperation amid political tensions between the two nations.
Some 100 people, including priests, academics and other lay people joined the seminar at the Diocese of Xiamen in Fujian province in southeast China, Fides new agency reported on May 29.
Themed “Walking together in love, hand in hand,” the May 22-25 seminar sought to forge better ties between Churches in mainland China and Taiwan.
(Agenzia Fides).
“Camminare insieme nell’amore, mano nella mano”: è titolo del Seminario sull’inculturazione svolto congiuntamente da Vescovi e studiosi della Chiesa di Taiwan e della Chiesa della Cina continentale.
(Catholic Church in China)
On the afternoon of May 28, Rev. Jerry Pillay, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), and his delegation visited the Chinese Catholic “One Association and One Group”. Rev. Lin Manhong, Vice President and General Secretary of the China Christian Council, and others accompanied them. Bishop Shen Bin, Chairman of the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Father Yang Yu, Secretary General of the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and Chen Jianming, Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, warmly received them and held a discussion.
Bishop Shen Bin, on behalf of the Chinese Catholic “One Association and One Group”, welcomed the visit of General Secretary Jerry Pillay and his delegation, and introduced the basic situation of Catholicism in my country. He welcomed the delegation to have the opportunity to travel around the country and gain a deeper understanding of the development of the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church in China.
(The Pillar. ED. CONDON).
Chinese Catholics can be their country’s best citizens, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in a speech Tuesday at a conference in Rome. Parolin, the Holy See’s foreign minister and the architect of the controversial Vatican-China deal on the appointment of bishops, used the example of a 19th century papal envoy to China to outline a vision for Church-state relations and enculturation for the local Church. Key to a flourishing Church in China, according to Parolin, is making the local Church “missionary” but not foreign, and stripping back the Holy See’s engagement with the government to the level of ecclesiastical affairs only. While indicating that the Vatican-China deal was almost sure to be renewed later this year, the cardinal also repeated the Holy See’s ambition for a permanent presence on the mainland, with a dedicated Vatican envoy in China. But, Parolin stressed, that envoy would have to be a purely pastoral presence, shorn of the diplomatic role of Vatican’s global emissaries. The cardinal’s speech, given May 21 at a conference hosted by the Pontifical Urban University in Rome titled “100 years since the Concilium Sinense: Between the Past and the Present” offered an interesting view of the roadmap being pursued by the Vatican in China.
(La Croix International. Dorian Malovic).
In China, 12 million Chinese Catholics remain a prime target of the Communist Party. Six years after the agreement between the Vatican and Beijing, Catholics, both official and underground, feel abandoned as the situation has “deteriorated” under President Xi Jinping.
(CRUX. Elise Ann Allen).
At a high-profile conference in Rome this week, top Vatican officials reaffirmed that the Church does not pose a threat to China’s sovereignty and acknowledged that foreign missionaries made past “errors” in evangelization, while also stressing the importance of unity with Rome. Likewise, members of China’s state-backed Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA) lamented what they said was a “colonialist” mentality among western foreign missionaries in the past who, they said, had a sense of “superiority” and attempted to erase Chinese culture, refusing to involve local clergy in leadership. The conference held Tuesday and titled, “100 years since the Concilium Sinense: Between history and present,” commemorated the centenary of the 1924 Council of Shanghai and marked an unprecedented coming together of top officials from the Vatican and mainland China. Not only did Pope Francis send a video message to the event, but Vatican Secretary of State Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Filippino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, also gave keynote speeches.
(Reuters. By Mei Mei Chu and Ben Blanchard).
BEIJING/TAIPEI, (Reuters) – China is willing to work with the Vatican to improve ties, a Chinese foreign ministry official said on Wednesday following remarks from the Holy See’s top diplomat that it wanted to open an office in Beijing. Relations between the Vatican and China’s Communist Party leadership have historically been fraught and it does not have diplomatic relations with Beijing, only Taiwan. Indeed, it is one of only a dozen countries to maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, which has watched nervously as Pope Francis seeks to improve ties with China.
The Vatican would like to establish a permanent office in China, its top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said on Tuesday, in what would be a significant upgrade of relations. “We are willing to work together with the Vatican to promote the continuous improvement of China-Vatican relations,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing. He added that the two sides have maintained “deep communication on bilateral relations and international hot issues.”
(NICOLE WINFIELD. AP).
The Vatican made another big overture to China on Tuesday, reaffirming the Catholic Church poses no threat to Beijing’s sovereignty and admitting that Western missionaries had made “errors” in past centuries in their zeal to convert the Chinese faithful.
The Vatican hosted the head of China’s bishops conference for an unprecedented, high-level commemoration of a landmark 1924 meeting in Shanghai that affirmed the need for foreign missionaries in China to give way to local church leaders.
The presence of Shanghai Bishop Joseph Shen Bin alongside the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, at the Pontifical Urbaniana University was in itself noteworthy. It marked the first time in memory that a mainland bishop has been allowed by Beijing to participate in a public Vatican event as the keynote speaker.
It was also significant given the controversy over Shen’s 2023 appointment. Pope Francis in July was forced to recognize China’s unilateral appointment of Shen as bishop of Shanghai. The appointment seemingly violated the Holy See’s 2018 accord with Beijing over bishop appointments.
(L’Osservatore Romano. Salvatore Cernuzio).
«Il Papa è capo spirituale di tutti i cattolici del mondo, a qualunque Nazione appartengano; ma questa obbedienza al Papa non solo non nuoce all’amore che ciascuno deve al proprio Paese, ma lo purifica e lo ravviva». Sono impregnate di attualità le parole che l’arcivescovo Celso Costantini, primo delegato apostolico in Cina, annotava oltre cent’anni fa a proposito dell’unità tra il Papa e tutti i cattolici sparsi nel mondo, «qualunque fosse la loro appartenenza nazionale», chiarendo come «proprio tale comunione fosse la migliore garanzia di una fede sottratta agli interessi politici esterni e saldamente ancorata nella cultura e nella società locali». È lo stesso Costantini che svolse una instancabile opera, non scevra da difficoltà, lungaggini e resistenze, affinché il Vangelo di Cristo si radicasse in terra cinese e fosse compatibile con la società e la cultura locale. Lo stesso Costantini che fu organizzatore e promotore del Concilium Sinense, il primo e finora unico Sinodo della Chiesa cattolica in Cina, del quale sono stati celebrati oggi, 21 maggio, i cent’anni in un importante convegno internazionale promosso dalla Pontificia Università Urbaniana, in collaborazione con Agenzia Fides e Commissione Pastorale per la Cina, che ha visto tra i protagonisti della sessione mattutina il cardinale segretario di Stato Pietro Parolin.
(CNA. Courtney Mares).
Cardinal Stephen Chow recently visited three Catholic dioceses in mainland China, one year after the bishop of Hong Kong’s first historic trip to Beijing.
Chow led a 10-person delegation of Catholics from Hong Kong to the southern Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shantou, and Shenzhen in April in his second official visit to China since becoming bishop of Hong Kong.
“We brought our people to have an encounter … where we share common concerns, for example, youth ministry, catechism, marriage and family,” Chow said in a video interview published May 5.
Here is a look at some of the Catholic communities Chow visited: