I went to talk once given by a reasonable man about the possible advantages of negotiating with Communists on something or another. Impressive speech. Really. During Q&A, a woman stood up (I knew her to have been a teenager in Hungary during the Crushing) and she said, "Excellent speech, Sir, but you have overlooked one thing. We are talking about Communists here. COMMUNISTS. They are inveterate liars.... The rest of your talk was very nice."
Edward Peters | Homepage | 04.30.06 - 11:36 pm | #

are there bishops in the Chinese 'state sanctioned catholic church' with valid holy orders? or is this elevation to status of bishop just a sham of an actually Catholic sacrament by a group of state appointed pretenders?
Adam D | Homepage | 05.01.06 - 12:02 am | #

Wow, Now I think taht I should join them. B---sh-t!
Well, maybe they are not Catholic. Ok Guys, Please, pray for us.
Jin | Homepage | 05.01.06 - 8:18 pm | #

Adam D:

Depends how you define "valid." Many of the original bishops in the Patriotic Church were originally Roman Catholic bishops properly concecrated. But, all betrayed the true church. Some were more than likely instruments of the Chinese Roman Catholic church's downfall actually turning in loyal holdouts in the clergy and laity. So, sure, valid succession, but, in the spirit of Judas. Thousands upon thousands of Catholics went to their deaths or were imprisoned for decades for their loyalty to Rome.

As I've said, my wife's family survived the insanity of the suppression of the Church in China, but not without members of her family imprisoned or tortured. Any deal with the Communists is a deal with the Devil. Always look for the lies and twisted deceit of the Evil One.

I'm pretty sure this was an act to send a message to Rome and to the Bishop of Hong Kong, that the Party is very much in charge, and any deal will be on their terms, not the Vaticans. Reunification is not their objective, so they don't care, their objective is the control and crushing of potential descent. And if they can use the carrot of reunification to embarass Rome, So much the better!

Jin, I'll keep you and the rest of faithful of the true church in my prayers. God Bless and be safe!
CPT Tom | Homepage | 05.03.06 - 12:38 pm | #