THE PROVISIONAL AGREEMENT on the appointment of bishops in China, signed on 22 September 2018 between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China, looks likely to get another term. Over the last couple of months, the Chinese Church communities have debated and speculated on whether or not the agreement should be renewed.
Weeks ahead of the renewal, the Vatican secretary of state, Pietro Cardinal Parolin, expressed the intention to renew it, while “maintaining the agreement as provisional, so as to further verify its usefulness for the Church in China.” This is the argument for the continuity of the agreement: “to verify its usefulness for the Church in China.”
Setting arguments aside, one must acknowledge the fact that the deal has caused confusion and distrust in the minds of many on account of two aspects: the Vatican’s apparent refusal to listen to the dissenting voices and keeping the contents of the deal secret. Although the deal has very little to boast about from its two years of existence, one must acknowledge that it is first of its kind between Vatican and the Chinese government and this might need more time to build mutual trust and confidence.
It would be too ambitious to expect overnight results, but care must be taken to keep open the windows for dialogue. But, if the attempt is to engage the Chinese government in dialogue, it is argued that the Church should also engage in dialogue with critics of the deal within the Church. Dialogue must be with everyone that does not exclude anyone.
In the heat of arguments for and against the issues that confront the Church today, one could easily slip into the danger of being pejorative. One can delude oneself as acting in defence of God and the Church. The passion narrative of the gospels according to Mathew and John presents the poignant scene of the arrest of Jesus (cf. Matthew 26:51 and John 18:10) and the classic example of Peter’s error of judgement. The disciples realised that the master was being taken and Peter wanted to defend the Son of God! What stupid audacity! “Simon Peter had a sword…” But the response of Jesus was conclusive: “…for he who holds on the sword will perish by the sword.”
The greatest preaching Jesus does in the Bible is done on the Cross, defenceless and helpless. We believe in a defenceless Christ or someone who chose not to defend oneself and our Church is a defenceless Church.
Faith in the Risen Christ is the foundation of the Church (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20) and it should remain a community of faith. Are we running short of FAITH today? Anecdotes from the Acts of the Apostles and other records of the early Church speak of a Church that survived centuries of witch-hunts and persecution by the Jews as well as the mighty Roman Empire.
The catacombs of Rome testify to hundreds of thousands of Christians who preferred to give up their lives in witness to their faith in Christ. Empires and principalities have disappeared into oblivion but the Church lives on because it is the body of the Christ and it cannot be destroyed.
Can faith alone remedy the oppression and agonies to which bishops, priests and faithful are being subjected? Perhaps we stand aghast like Peter and his friends in Gethsemane, helpless and defenceless. But then comes the response of Jesus: “Do you not know that I could call on my Father and he would at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). Jose
