The Holy See on Friday instructed Catholic clergy in China to profess loyalty to Catholic doctrine when signing a document, required by a new Chinese law, which obliges them to accept the principle of a state-sanctioned Catholic church that does not recognize supreme papal authority to appoint bishops.
China’s estimated 12 million Catholics are split between those belonging to the official church and an underground church loyal to the pope.
Friday’s guidelines said that many Catholic pastors are “deeply disturbed” by China’s insistence that bishops and priests civilly register to carry out pastoral duties and that some had asked the Holy See to indicate a “concrete” approach to their situation.
However, the Vatican guidelines also recognize that some of the clergy loyal to the pontiff do not want to register at all, saying: “The Holy See does not intend to force anyone’s conscience.”
“On the other hand, it considers that the experience of being clandestine is not a normal feature of the church’s life and that history has shown that pastors and faithful have recourse to it only amid suffering, in the desire to maintain the integrity of their faith,” it said.
The guidelines spell out how priests and bishops can register while making plain their loyalty to the Vatican doctrine.
According to the Vatican, the registration almost always requires declaring “acceptance, among other things, of the principle of independence, autonomy and self-administration” of the church in China.
The Vatican instructed clergy to specify in writing, or, when that is not possible, orally, preferably before a witness, that despite registering, they remain “faithful to the principles of Catholic doctrine.”
Some Roman Catholic prelates have criticized Pope Francis’ drive to resolve the Chinese situation in general. They say that strict loyalty to Rome, even at the price of imprisonment and other persecution, is the only proper approach.
In past decades, many bishops and priests were imprisoned for years by Chinese authorities in retaliation for their unwavering support for the Vatican.
However, the guidelines stressed recent “consolidated dialogue” between Beijing and the Vatican.
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