Chinese Bishops at Vatican Meeting Invite Pope to Make Landmark Visit

The New York Times ^ | 10/16/18 | Reuters

[marshmallow]

VATICAN CITY — Two Catholic bishops from China who for the first time were allowed by the Beijing government to attend a Vatican meeting have invited Pope Francis to visit their country, a Catholic newspaper said on Tuesday.

Joseph Guo Jincai and John Baptist Yang Xiaoting attended the first two weeks of a meeting of bishops from around the world, known as a synod, and saw the pope daily.

Their presence was the first concrete sign of a thaw between the Holy See and Beijing following a landmark agreement last month on the naming of bishops in the communist country.

"While we were here, we invited Pope Francis to come to China," Guo said in an interview with Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops conference.

"We are waiting for him," Guo said.

The deal, which was in the making for more than 10 years and signed on Sept. 22, gives the Vatican a long-sought say in the choice of bishops in China, though critics have labeled it a sellout to the Communist government.

China's approximately 12 million Catholics have been split between an underground Church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.

[marshmallow]

Bergoglio's 30 pieces of silver for throwing the Underground Church under the bus; an invitation to ride triumphantly into Beijing, going where no Pope has gone before amidst widespread "hosannas" from the secular media and cries of "peacemaker".

[ebb tide]

Ping

Guo has close ties to the government because he was ordained into the Catholic Patriotic Association without papal permission and had been excommunicated by the Vatican.

[ebb tide]

More than before: persecution continues in Wenzhou, Henan, Hubei after the China-Holy See agreement

[Unam Sanctam]

Ironic that these bishops are attending a synod on youth when China’s new religion regulations prevent children from participating in any religious activities...

[heterosupremacist]

"... he was ordained into the Catholic Patriotic Association without papal permission and had been excommunicated by the Vatican?" Wait a minute, Guo was 'ordained' without papal permission and had been excommunicated by the Vatican. So logically speaking, since he was not ordained in communion with the Holy See, his pseudo-ordination is invalid and illicit. In my less than humble opinion. 8O)