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A joint open letter expressing profound dismay at the Vatican’s provisional agreement with Beijing has been sent to Pope Francis by a group of English Catholics.
The letter criticises the Vatican for allowing the atheist Chinese government to have a role in choosing bishops at a time of increasing oppression by the Beijing government.
“The Chinese authorities have also continued to harass, detain or hold indefinitely and incommunicado certain leading Catholic clergy, including Bishops Guo and Shao in the last year,” the letter says.
In the time since the letter was signed, the Chinese government has destroyed two Marian shrines, the letter says.
“All this illustrates the ominous precedent for the Sino-Vatican treaty: the Concordats with European totalitarian regimes in the early 20th century,” it says.
“Cardinal Zen has accused the Vatican of delivering its flock into the mouths of wolves.
“History’s judgement may be much harsher than that.”
A copy of the letter was published in the Catholic Herald.
The signatories include journalist Joanna Bogle; scholar and Professor David Paton and Dr. Joseph Shaw; apologist Peter D. Williams; Irish pro-life activist and former Member of European Parliament Kathy Sinnott; clerics Fr. David Palmer and Deacon Nick Donnelly; and Member of Parliament Sir David Amess.
Source
- Catholic Herald
- LifeSite
- Image:wsj.com
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