In a further blow to Pope Francis’ secret Sino-Vatican concordat, China is enforcing new draconian laws compelling clergy to “practice the core values of communism” and pro-mote the “sinicization of religion” — under threat of criminal sanctions.
The Measures for the Administration of Religious Clergy, issued by the Communist Party of China’s (CCP) State Bureau of Religious Affairs (SBRA), came into force on May 1 — creating an “Orwellian system of surveillance” and tightening the noose on “the already strict control on all clergy.”
The 52 articles under the measures cover the five approved religions of Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam and Taoism. However, the Catholic Church has been singled out for special sanctions on the issue of episcopal appointments.
Article 16 stipulates that “Catholic bishops shall be approved and ordained by the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China” (BCCCC) with the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), and BCCCC shall file a record of the ordination within 20 days to the SBRA.
Former Taiwanese bishop Andrew Tsien explains the objectives of the CPCA are “to substitute it for the true Roman Catholic Church” and, in the long term “to eliminate religion in order to achieve a pure materialistic and autocra-tic society.” The BCCC is the CCP-aligned episcopal organization.
The measure on Catholic bishops also requires “a copy of the bishop’s household registration booklet and a copy of the resident ID card” and “a statement on the democratic election of the bishop issued by the Catholic organization of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the central government.”