CHINA Baoding, Bishop An threatens to suspend the sacraments for those who do not register

In the diocese of Hebei, the official bishop publishes a pastoral letter in which he claims to have concelebrated in recent months with 30 priests who until yesterday were from the ‘underground’ community. He instrumentalizes the Pastoral Guide published by the Vatican in 2019 to force them to join the Patriotic Association. A local source comments: “There is unprecedented pressure on the clergy in a Church that has always resisted. Confusion reigns in the communities.”

Milan () – On July 15, the official Bishop of Baoding, Mons. Francis An Shuxin, published a “Pastoral Letter on Civil Registration of Clergy in Baoding Diocese.” In the text, he reports that more than 30 priests have concelebrated with him in recent months. And he cites the Sino-Vatican Agreement of 2018, the Pastoral Guide on the Civil Registry of Clergy in China (June 2019) and other papal statements to encourage all clergy to officially register and all the faithful of the diocese to accept clergy registered, to foster the unity of the diocese. And he threatened: otherwise, the sacraments will be suspended. In addition, he stressed that the special privileges granted by the Holy See in June 1978 to unregistered clerics had been abolished, so the civil authorities will treat offenders in accordance with the law and regulations.

At the time of its enactment, the Pastoral Guide on Clergy Civil Registration in China it had attracted some attention especially in Fujian. According to some, it was addressed to her (“the diocese of Mindong is the ‘testing ground’ of the Sino-Vatican Agreement”, it was said), but not to the Chinese Church in general, since it was published without any signature. However, this year has been in the spotlight, especially in the Hebei region, as government authorities intend to carry out an unprecedented “forced transformation” of unofficial clergy in the area. This was especially the case in Baoding in March and April.

A commentator from China writes: “Besides the unofficial clergy’s personal freedoms being totally curtailed (with supervision and imprisonment) and the abuse of Chinese authorities exerting physical and mental pressure for their ‘transformation’, another important means has been the use of the Pastoral Guide of the Holy See as a threat. Thus, this document has become the most powerful weapon of the government to “transform” the underground clergy under the banner of the Vatican”.

The instrumentalization of the Pastoral Guide has provoked many reactions. Some scholars have published articles in which it is analyzed and refuted from a theological and pastoral perspective, pointing out its ambiguity and ignorance of the Chinese authorities’ way of acting. Others have tried to clarify its objective meaning, but have emphasized the abuse that the Chinese authorities have made of it, especially by not respecting the freedom of conscience that the Guide highlights.

“This time,” writes the Chinese commentator, “under unprecedented pressure, the Pastoral Guide played a ‘decisive’ role.” Baoding priests, for example, known for decades for their loyalty, signed in just two or three months what they previously considered “contrary” to their faith and shared the Eucharist with Bishop An, who had already joined the Patriotic Association.Therefore, some say that pastoral guidance is a very powerful weapon in the hands of the government, since that even the faithful Baoding Church has collapsed en masse. But the pain does not end there. Many priests had never seen this document and when the government authorities read it to them, they signed it accepting the conditions, following the spirit of the Pastoral Guide. They thought that this was the will of the Holy See. But this did not allay the confusion and scruples of their conscience. Some priests suffered a nervous breakdown after signing; others repented and later left. they felt very sorry. Other priests, after becoming officers, were rejected by their own parishioners and had to return home and isolate themselves. The consequence is that unprecedented chaos has been created in the Baoding Diocese,” the testimony concludes.