Beijing's decision to ordain two bishops without papal consent shows that maintaining control over the Catholic Church in China is more important than restoring ties with the Vatican, analysts say.
The consecrations of priests Ma Yinglin (
China's officially atheist Communist Party rulers have long insisted on two conditions for resuming relations -- that the Vatican end diplomatic ties with Taiwan, its arch-rival, and does not interfere in its internal affairs.
Talks had appeared to gain momentum before this week's ordinations. Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen (
Richard Madsen, a China-Vatican relations expert at the University of California, San Diego, also pointed to the compromise reached between the Holy See and Beijing on the appointment of three bishops last year.
"The bishops appointed last year, including, very significantly, the bishop for Shanghai, were done with Vatican approval. These involve delicate informal discussions," Madsen said. "The fact that agreement could be reached, especially about the bishop for Shanghai, was a good sign that it would be possible for Beijing and the Vatican to reach a formal accommodation."
"If Beijing wanted to keep the negotiations moving forward, it wouldn't have now appointed bishops who are blatantly unacceptable to the Vatican. ... It is unclear to me that Beijing wants negotiations to go forward at this time," he said.
The biggest hurdle is Beijing's wish to retain authority over China's Roman Catholics and essentially over all religion in the country, China expert Dorian Malovic wrote in his book The Yellow Pope.
"The main issue for Beijing is to be able to build a new religious policy for the whole country, especially for the Catholics," Malovic wrote. "The establishment of diplomatic relations with the Vatican would automatically involve very deep reform of the role of the political structure that has been in place to control religion."
A majority of 79 bishops appointed by China are already indirectly recognized by the Vatican anyway, Malovic and other analysts said.
So the real issue is not how bishops are selected but who controls the Church, they said.
Some experts said the recent appointments could be an attempt by China's government-appointed agency in charge of Catholic affairs -- the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association -- to retain its power.
"I do not think it is correct to speak about Beijing here," said Benoit Vermander, a China-Vatican expert at the Ricci Institute in Taiwan. "Rather, we should speak about the Catholic Patriotic Association, which has its own agenda, namely defending its administrative position and its privileges within the regime. It is responsible for the appointment of bishops."
However, Beatrice Leung (梁潔芬), an expert at Taiwan's Wenzao Ursuline College, disagreed.
"If it's just Ma, then it could be a small move by the Patriotic Association, but it happened a second time, so the central authority must know," she said.
Liu Bainian (
"There are still 44 dioceses in mainland China without bishops. We can't wait until the end of negotiations to appoint bishops. It could take years," he said.
Liu refused to say whether any more bishops would be appointed without the Vatican's consent in the near future.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS