Pope Francis has begun his Apostolic Visit to Kazakhstan, with interreligious dialogue at the forefront of the trip. The Pope is attending the seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and will close the two-day Congress on Wednesday. But perhaps less should be made of the visit itself than a potential meeting with leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Xi Jinping, who is also present in the Central Asian state.
At the moment, a meeting between the two leaders looks unlikely but <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-pope-faustian-pact/">that doesn’t mean the Faustian Pact will not continue</a>. The Pope – who <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/exclusive-pope-hopes-china-deal-bishops-will-be-renewed-soon-2022-07-05/">hopes</a> the 2018 deal between the Vatican and the CCP, once renewed in 2020, will be renewed once more – has now <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pope-arrives-kazakhstan-says-always-ready-china-visit-2022-09-13/">said</a> he is willing to go to China at any time. As first reported by <em>Reuters</em>, when asked if he might meet Xi in Kazakhstan, the Pope said he didn’t “have any news about that”. Asked if he was ready to go to China, Francis responded: “I am always ready to go to China”.
To be fair, this could mean a visit to aid China’s beleaguered Christian minority, of whom anywhere between 20 and 50 million have experienced persecution in recent years, with a 2020 report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China finding that Chinese Catholics suffered “increasing persecution” after the 2018 deal was signed. The deal failed to stop catechism classes being banned or clerics being imprisoned, if not tortured. Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, for instance, who has been in jail on and off since 2007.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Joseph Zen – <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/is-cardinal-zen-a-bargaining-chip-for-beijing-in-vatican-deal/">set to be put on trial shortly in Hong Kong</a> - has previously <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/cardinal-zen-parolin-is-manipulating-the-holy-father-on-china-deal/">said</a> he thinks Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who has been pivotal to the deal, is “manipulating” the Pope and may be acting out of “vainglory”, according to an interview with <em>New Bloom Magazine</em>. As James Jay Carafano and Stefano Graziosi <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/08/the-vatican-should-abandon-its-agreement-with-beijing/">asked</a> pointedly in <em>National Review</em>: “How can the global leader of the Catholic Church even contemplate doing business with such a murderous regime?”
Back in Kazakhstan, Francis spoke of “the senseless and tragic war that broke out with the invasion of Ukraine”, sharp words in a country traditionally allied to Moscow. The Pope also spoke of the need to ease Cold War-style confrontations, saying “now is the time to stop intensifying rivalries and reinforcing opposing blocs”, which could be interpreted as words of capitulation and a far cry from the position taken by St. Pope John Paul II in eastern Europe in the 1980s.
One notable absence from the conference will indeed be Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. It had been hoped the Pope would speak to Kirill as a way of easing tensions. Now, however, the attention turns to a potential meeting with Xi. The Vatican should realise that instead of outreach, a snub of the CCP leader would actually send a more powerful message, especially given that Vatican City State remains the only European country to recognise Taiwan.
The Holy See – not encumbered by economic considerations – should use its clout to send that message and, at the very least, attach conditions such as the release of clergy to the renewal of the 2018 deal (if not scrap it altogether). Turning the other cheek for oneself is one thing but throwing your Christian brothers and sisters under the bus is something entirely different. The Pope can reverse his approach to China but the time to do is now.
