BEIJING, Sep. 26, 00 (CWNews.com) - Officials of Communist China's government-controlled «Patriotic» Catholic church on Tuesday criticized Pope John Paul II's plan to canonize 120 Chinese martyrs on October 1.
While for Catholics that date is the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, patron of missionaries, China marks October 1 as an official holiday commemorating the beginning of the Communist state. The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in illegal, underground churches following only bishops appointed by the Pope.
The statement from the CCPA said the Vatican's canonization of 120 pre-Communist martyrs «ignores the sovereignty of the Chinese Catholic Church.» The CCPA called the timing «an open insult» to China because the day «marks the Chinese people's getting rid of imperialist and colonialist aggression and pillage.»
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi told a regular press conference that most of the 120 were aligned with the forces of imperialism and colonialism, and deserved to die. «(They) were executed for the violation of Chinese law during the invasion of colonialism and imperialism against China, or were killed for the bullying of the Chinese people during the Opium War or the invasion of the eight allied forces against China.» he said.
The Vatican rejected the claims and accusations, saying the 120--some of whom are the first native-born Chinese saints--were chosen for their lives of heroic virtue. (See today's Vatican Update for more on the Vatican response.)
Meanwhile, China on Tuesday also released new rules governing the religious activity of foreigners, restricting their right to worship to «lawfully registered sites» and stipulating that religious articles can only be brought into the country for personal use and must not be «detrimental to Chinese national security and the public interests of Chinese society.»
«Aliens may not establish religious organizations, institute religious offices, set up sites for religious activities, run religious institutions or hold religious classes in any names or forms,» the regulation says.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs