Pope Francis has apparently abandoned the basic principles of the religion he leads, and has endangered the cause of religious freedom not only for the Catholic Church but for all other religions as well.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) , The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and other sources report that an agreement has been reached between the Vatican and China regarding Beijing’s appointment of bishops.
According to WSJ’s Francis X. Rocca (reporting from Rome) and Eva Dou (reporting from Beijing) “China and the Vatican are set to sign a landmark agreement later this month ending a long struggle between Beijing’s Communist rulers and the pope over who chooses the leaders of Catholicism in the world’s most populous country, according to two people familiar with the matter. The controversial deal would include the first official recognition by Beijing that the pope is the head of the Catholic Church in China. In return, Pope Francis would formally recognize seven excommunicated Chinese bishops who were appointed by the Communist government without Vatican approval.”
Even a superficial analysis indicates that in return for enhancing his personal authority, Pope Francis has surrendered a key tenant of his church, that Roman Catholic prelates be appointed solely through the church.
Surrendering to Beijing’s demands to have the right to appoint bishops has in the past been severely criticized by some Church leaders, particularly in Asia. The Catholic Herald reports that “ Cardinal Joseph Zen, the most senior Chinese Catholic, has said a possible deal between China and the Vatican would ‘betray Jesus Christ’.
In a past interview with The Guardian, Cardinal Zen stated “Maybe the Pope is a little naive, he doesn’t have the background to know the Communists in China… he may not know the Communist persecutors who have killed hundreds of thousands. Chinese Catholics are free to go to mass and attend government-sanctioned churches, but barred from proselytizing. The state-controlled China Catholic Patriotic Association controls the church and appoints bishops, currently without any input from the Vatican. An “underground” Catholic church exists, with some estimates saying it is larger than the official one, and its members and clergy have faced persecution by authorities. Protestant Christians also face similar challenges…”
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That disturbing act is not an isolated one. The Pontiff has also broken with his predecessors in his apparent endorsement of “liberation theology,” which basically replaces the spiritual mission of Catholicism with a political one, and one allied with Marxism. The Catholic Herald reported in June that the Pope had praised the founder of liberation theology, Father Gustavo Gutierrez. Liberation theology became prominent in South America several decades ago. Pope Benedict XVI believed that the movement was overly political and emphasized Communism, a creed which has been overtly hostile to religion.
Commentator Wayne Allyn Root has written that “This pope neither seems to understand, nor care that his views on issues…often put him in bed with atheists and socialists, who don’t believe in God, mock religion and think the Bible is a work of fiction. He crusades for social justice, yet chose to embrace the Castro brothers – evil murderers who have imprisoned, tortured and murdered generations of Cubans for expressing their opinions and questioning the authority of a tyrant…He chose not to visit or even be seen with Cubans imprisoned because of their political views.”
It is not inappropriate to inquire about Pope Francis’ core principles. Christianity’s founder, Jesus Christ himself, intensely avoided involvement in the turbulent politics of his era despite extraordinary temptation to do so. His birth nation and its people were deeply oppressed by their Roman overlords, and as Christ gained fame, some urged him to involve himself in that struggle. But he chose a deeper course, and stayed true to his spiritual mission, an example Pope Francis has discarded.
Catholicism’s forays into earthly politics, power, and financial concerns led at times to its straying from its spiritual mission, and the splintering of Christianity itself. One cannot help but wonder why Pope Francis believes it is appropriate to ignore both the Christ he claims to represent, and the history of how straying from spiritual concerns has damaged the Christian faith over the centuries.
Photo: The Vatican (Pixabay)