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Vatican advances recognition of Chinese CPA

The May 24, 2018 issue of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, published on its front page a photo-spread of Sheshan Sanctuary, above left, one of the main churches held by the Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA), the Chinese organization controlled by the communist government.

At the end of a general audience Pope Francis directed these words to the Chinese pilgrims who were present there:

Tomorrow, May 24, is the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary "Help of Christians," specially venerated at the Sanctuary of Sheshan, near Shanghai, China.

This occurrence invites us to be spiritually united to all the Catholic faithful who live in China. We pray for them to Our Lady so that they can live the faith with generosity and serenity, and know how to make concrete gestures of fraternity and reconciliation in full communion with the successor of Peter.

Dear disciples of the Lord in China, the Universal Church prays with you and for you so that, even in the face of difficulties, you can continue to conform yourselves to the will of God. Our Lady will never fail to give you her help and will take care of you with her maternal love. (L'Osservatore Romano, May 24, 2018, p. 8)

When we analyze the words we placed in bold, we see that Francis is telling Catholics of the heroic Chinese Underground Church who do not accept the CPA to "fraternally reconcile" with it and "spiritually unite" to it. He himself gives an example of this union by accepting that CPA Marian sanctuary as perfectly valid. He presents the abandonment of decades of fidelity to the Faith as a manifestation of "generosity" and of obedience to "the will of God" to which all must conform.

It is an act of betrayal that places our brothers and sisters of the Underground Church in a terrible crisis: They resisted the communist government because they wanted to be faithful to the Catholic Faith and the Pope. Now, the conciliar Popes are telling them to give up that fight and merge with the government-controlled organization.

These words are the follow-up of another still more expressive gesture made by Francis. On May 14, 2018, he received a group of CPA bishops in an official visit at the Vatican, honoring them as if they were the true representatives of all Chinese Catholics, see first and second rows below.

These are words and acts that are making the recognition of the communist CPA a consummate fact. So, we have the "merciful" Francis, in the manner of a despot, imposing by way of the facts the acceptance of Communism on the faithful Chinese Catholics.

By the fruits we know the tree...

Francis greeting Chinese communist Bishops, and L'Osservatore Romano issues praising accord between Communism and the Church

Photos from a L'Osservatore Romano

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Posted May 27, 2018

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