Catholic Patriotic Association Leaders Deny Bishops Permission to Attend Synod in Rome

A Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) spokesman said that the CPA had denied four Catholic bishops permission to attend the October 2 Synod of Bishops in Rome, according to a September 12 Xinhua report. The CPA is the government-approved organization of Catholic churches in China, and the mechanism by which the government and Communist Party control Catholic religious practice in China. A synod is an assembly of bishops called to discuss matters of faith, morals, or discipline. An invitation to the Synod of Bishops generally signifies respect and esteem for the bishop invited, as well as for his diocese and country.

The Holy See invited 36 bishops to participate in the synod, including the four bishops from the Chinese mainland and one bishop from both Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Holy See extended the invitations to the four mainland Chinese bishops in August, discussed the invitations with the Chinese government in early September, and publicly released the names of all the bishops invited to the Synod on September 8. The CPA spokesman said that the Holy See's invitation to the four bishops "shows no respect" for China's Catholics because the Holy See had communicated its invitation privately to the Chinese government and made the invitation public only after the government had refused it. But on September 16, Ye Xiaowen, Director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, characterized the Pope's invitation as "a friendly gesture still in the negotiating process," but also said that some of the bishops invited were too old or in ill health, and that he did not consider one to be a bishop.

Many experts on Christianity in China have interpreted the CPA spokesman's remarks as having reintroduced a harsh tone to the Chinese government's relationship with the Holy See, which seemed to have improved after the election of Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005. Bernardo Cervellera, who was once a missionary in China and currently edits AsiaNews, notes that the government has not been as harsh as the CPA, which he characterizes as being "still full of ideologically Stalinist characters and leftovers from the Cultural Revolution." Father Cervellera said he believes "the last word has not yet been said," holding out hope that President Hu Jintao or another high-ranking government official might overrule the CPA.

The four bishops invited to the Synod are Wei Jingyi, Li Jingfeng, Li Duan, and Jin Luxian (Wei is neither registered with the CPA nor recognized by the government; Li Jingfeng is not registered with the CPA but is recognized by the government; and Li Duan and Jin are registered with the CPA).