THE GOVERNMENT IN China has promulgated the new, Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy, set to come into effect from May 1, covering the clergy of all five authorised religions in the country: Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam.
The new measures, adapted from the 2018 Regulation on Religious Affairs, were promulgated on January 8 as State Administration of Religious Affairs Order No. 15. An English translation of the Chinese original text appears on bitterwinter.org.
“Catholic bishops are approved and consecrated by the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC),” according to article XVI of the measures, which does not mention the 2018 Sino-Vatican agreement on bishop appointments which was renewed for another two-year term in 2020.
The article states that the BCCCC, and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, neither of which is recognised by the Holy See, should report the consecration of bishop to the State Administration of Religious Affairs with 20 days of the event.
The new regulations seem to indirectly assert that the election of Catholic bishops will be done by the state-approved system under the Chinese Communist Party’s direction and the Vatican and Pope Francis appear have no role in it.
One of the documents to be submitted to the State Administration of Religious Affairs for the record of electing a bishop is “a statement issued by the Catholic community … on the democratic election of the bishop.” The “Catholic community” could be from a province, autonomous region or municipality functioning directly under the central government, the article says.
The new regulations seem to indirectly assert that the election of Catholic bishops will be done by the state-approved system under the Chinese Communist Party’s direction and the Vatican and Pope Francis appear have no role in it.
“Religious clergy should love the motherland, support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, support the socialist system, abide by the constitution, laws, regulations and rules, and practice the core values of socialism,” article III of the regulations, says.
Clergy should also “adhere to the principle of independent and self-administered religion in China, adhere to the direction of the Sinicisation of religion in China, operate to maintain national unity, national unity, religious harmony and social stability,” it says.
However, Catholic insiders say that under the new regulations, clergy who are not registered with the state could be arrested and jailed if they perform any clerical office. Hundreds of Catholic clergy with the unofficial Church have refused to register with the state-approved database because they are unwilling to obey atheistic dictates in the services of the Church.
Since the Sino-Vatican deal, the Vatican has approved seven Beijing-appointed bishops, while the state-sanctioned Church has approved and installed at least five Vatican-appointed bishops.
A Church observer said the new regulations are a legal tool to intensify the crackdown on clergy with the unofficial Church. UCAN
