Complicated
In the comments below Denis asked about the relationship between the Catholic Church in China and the Church of Rome. Complicated.
Despite that the Holy See and the People's Republic of China have no formal ties, and that the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association is the central authority here for the appointing of bishops, there remains in some instances a deep connection back to Rome. Very often "official" bishops are secretly recognized by Rome, sometimes a man that is known openly as a priest is actually a bishop and the man is who openly his bishop is actually a priest under that secret bishop. There are seminarians from the PRC even studying in Rome.
There is a lot of talk about the Underground Church, a movement championed in the US by the Cardinal Kung Foundation. There are certainly heroic people involved in trying to hold on to the Truth. But there is one thing about the Underground Church movement that makes me uneasy. I have never heard of this happening withing the Underground Catholic Church, but some of the Underground Protestant movements have really been nothing more than cults, at times involving their adherents in gang warfare. I can't find it, but I am pretty sure I blogged about a recent case that has gone to trial where the leader of one underground church had his followers convinced their mission was to murder the leader of a rival church. Right now, if I were approached by someone saying they were from the Catholic Church but underderground, I would be completely cautious, possibly avoid them, because how am I to know if they really are or if they aren't?
This is why normalising the relations between the Holy See and China is so important.
Despite that the Holy See and the People's Republic of China have no formal ties, and that the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association is the central authority here for the appointing of bishops, there remains in some instances a deep connection back to Rome. Very often "official" bishops are secretly recognized by Rome, sometimes a man that is known openly as a priest is actually a bishop and the man is who openly his bishop is actually a priest under that secret bishop. There are seminarians from the PRC even studying in Rome.
There is a lot of talk about the Underground Church, a movement championed in the US by the Cardinal Kung Foundation. There are certainly heroic people involved in trying to hold on to the Truth. But there is one thing about the Underground Church movement that makes me uneasy. I have never heard of this happening withing the Underground Catholic Church, but some of the Underground Protestant movements have really been nothing more than cults, at times involving their adherents in gang warfare. I can't find it, but I am pretty sure I blogged about a recent case that has gone to trial where the leader of one underground church had his followers convinced their mission was to murder the leader of a rival church. Right now, if I were approached by someone saying they were from the Catholic Church but underderground, I would be completely cautious, possibly avoid them, because how am I to know if they really are or if they aren't?
This is why normalising the relations between the Holy See and China is so important.
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