It is a matter of regret to me that the police were placed in a position which led them to take the action they did. They should not have been placed in this position. The office of the Archbishop will continue to provide all Catholic parishes and other agencies with very clear advice as to their obligations to act in compliance with the government’s directives.”
– The Archbishop of Perth, Timothy Costelloe
You could be forgiven for thinking, at first glance, that was a directive from the Vatican to Chinese Catholics:
Catholic dioceses across China hosted celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this year, while pilgrimages to China’s national Marian shrine were forbidden.
“Every community, every diocese has done congresses, performances, theaters, and even pilgrimages to the places of the Communist Party history,” Fr. Bernardo Cervellera, a missionary priest and journalist who closely covered the Church in China for the past two decades as editor-in-chief of AsiaNews, told CNA.
Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing hosted a watch party at the bishop’s residence for President Xi Jinping’s July 1 speech marking the CCP centennial. Forty priests and Church members attended a symposium in Jiangxi province to study how to “implement the spirit” of Xi’s speech. And Catholics in Hubei held a flag-raising ceremony and celebration of the Party, according to the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association website.
“But they are forbidden to go on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Sheshan, which is the national sanctuary for Our Lady in China,” the priest said.
For Cervellera, the situation exemplifies the challenges currently facing Catholic communities living under the eye of the CCP.
Three years after the Vatican China deal
In the nearly three years since the Holy See entered into an agreement with Chinese authorities in September 2018, the situation on the ground has been very different for underground Catholics than for those under the leadership of the government-approved Patriotic Association.
For the underground Catholic community, life has been “very harsh,” Cervellera explained.
“We have seen some convents of sisters destroyed, churches closed. We have seen priests chased from their parishes and also some seminarians forbidden to study theology … and also bishops who are arrested or in whole house arrest, 24 hours a day,” he said.
Government-approved Catholic churches, on the other hand, have comparatively more freedom of worship, but face other challenges, including pressure from the government to censor parts of Catholic teaching, while including Chinese nationalism and love for the party into the preaching.
Catholic priests who minister in China legally are required to sign a paper in which they promise to support the Communist Party in China. They are only allowed to minister in recognized places of worship in which minors under the age of 18 are not allowed to enter.
“And above all, they have to praise the glory of the Communist Party,” Cervellera said…..
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248676/catholics-in-china-told-to-celebrate-communist-party-and-forgo-marian-pilgrimage
Genuflecting to authoritarianism.
I don’t mean to excuse the cowardice of the Archbishop, but this action by the police reflects the lack of respect within the police and the government for the Church, leadership and laity. This will only get worse if we don’t make a fuss.
Exactly Dover. A mate of mine said even in East Timor and Afghanistan if they were in no danger this was one line he would never cross. Weapons in a place of worship if people were worshipping were a no go even if invited. Always outside the church. Optics were the biggest risk factors in his eyes.
However in modern Australia where the Church has been replaced by the state IMO will not raise a ripple, regrettably.
The prelate is treacherous.
The Archbishop should have told the government and the police what they could do with their “directive”.
Utterly outrageous behaviour from the authorities that would never have been carried out in a mosque.
Dover, it seems that the church leaders have aligned themselves with the civic leaders such that the violations are not seen as such by the prelatures. Again, treachery, and not just by the police and government. The fuss will need to be on two fronts.
Sorry Archbishop
You should have stopped after the bit about the sacred nature of the mass.
And I agree with Dover.
Christianity has all but died under this fakedemic.
Not a single cleric has been heard in two years except the communist pope, who looks like he got his 30 pieces.
Modernity has slowly eradicated organised religions’ role as a bulwark against state intrusion into morality, instead positioning itself as just another public service department, with staff and a budget to protect
Police responded to a report from a member of the public of people not wearing masks inside a church
It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the ‘report’ has to have come from a member of the congregation, once the Mass was underway. What did Jesus say about a neck, a millstone and the sea? Some assembly may be required.
Prompt action from the filth, too. I’m sure they respond to thefts and break-ins with equal celerity.
Echos of the old pre reformation anti-church propaganda about fat comfortable clerics when I see and hear many of these people.
Too comfortable with their current arrangement with the state and out of control godless society. Material comfort and an easy life has been elevated to the highest possible goal on earth in churches.
That goes for all. Fair weather priests and “pastors” who came up in a golden age and now can’t rock the boat.
Also the now infamous photo is the real physical reality of all the retarded “Romans 13” cowardice that so many “pastors” and priests have been hiding behind for two years.
And no, it was not a congregant who dobbed.
Nor an outside observer of the occasion.
It was a planned incursion, and not of the minor sort. In other words, look at what we can and will do.
I agree with Franx.
Yes, I think Franx is right too. And the cop wouldn’t have interrupted the Mass without first seeking, or more to the point, being told to interrupt the Mass, from a high ranking officer, that would have got it from the Police Commissioner with the approval or orders of McGowan.
Unless the laity also cause a stir-up, the politics of this will not change and will only get worse.
Why did the priest not order the little maoist state servant to sit down or leave?
We’re a loooooong way from:
Oh no, not the threat of heckaloody fine! Too much to bear!
It mutually reinforcing, stix. A robust laity would give backbone to the parish priest and to the bishops. And vice versa.
It’s not even the threat of a “fine” that is the issue per se. It’s no exaggeration to say that most Australians, including most Christians, are infinitely more afraid of the policeman – in this case a proxy for the authority and the media class, thinking poorly of them, than they are of the fine, or even god himself.
I literally had someone say his reason for going to “get tested” is that he didn’t want to end up as a story on The Project – you know, the whole “covidiot” branding threat.
I’m calling it Bad Little Boy Syndrome. Australia is a great big primary school and most adults are childish and don’t want to be a Bad Little Boy in the eyes of their always judgmental, always ready to pounce teachers and principals and the system (police, politicians, media daily stream).
If it were a midweek mass most parishioners would have been retirees, not the sort to challenge police and further desecrate the church.
On the other hand Australia once again made international news for the wrong reasons.
The only places I’m aware that have had church invasions are Canada and Australia.
New Zealand needs to get with the party.
Remember a Greek orthodox parish in Western suburbs of Melbourne got fined for too many people at a feast day, also a Christian group in Sydney.
It’s just shameful