Will you please sign on to the sentiment expressed
in this open letter to Cardinal Zen for the faithful of the underground Church
being persecuted in China?
“Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:10); “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated me before you. If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (Jn. 15:18-19).
These divine words of Our Lord Jesus Christ express our admiration for the sole Catholic Church in China—today under the Communist boot—of which His Eminence Cardinal Joseph Zen is a distinguished member and spokesman.
In fact, the Catholic world was shocked by the recent visit to China of a Vatican delegation led by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli. While there, on behalf of Pope Francis, he asked the legitimate shepherds of the dioceses of Shantou and Mindong to hand over their dioceses and flocks to illegitimate bishops appointed by the communist government and separated from the Holy See.
Also, after visiting that country crushed by a ruthless dictatorship, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, Archbishop Sánchez Sorondo, stated: “At this moment, the Chinese are those who best implement the social doctrine of the Church…. The Chinese seek the common good, subordinate things to the general good.”
He did not say a word about the religious persecution that communists inflict on our brethren in the Faith—on imprisoned bishops, priests, and faithful—or on the systematic and universal violation of the fundamental rights of man, created in the image and likeness of God.
The current drama of Chinese Catholics is also that of all faithful wishing to persevere in the face of the Communist Leviathan. Yesterday and today, pressured by the Holy See’s diplomacy to accept an iniquitous agreement with the communist regime, they face an excruciating problem of conscience: Is it licit to say no to the Vatican Ostpolitik and to continue resisting communism even unto martyrdom if necessary?
The solution to this perplexity was enunciated by the eminent Brazilian Catholic leader Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, founder of the Brazilian Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, and inspirer of TFPs and related entities around the world. A 1974 document titled “The Vatican Policy of Détente with Communist Governments – Should the TFPs Stand Down? Or Should They Resist?” was disseminated all over the world.
The said document shows that for Catholics of all times it is not only licit but even a duty, to imitate Saint Paul’s attitude of resistance toward Saint Peter, the first Pope:
“Since Saint Peter, the first Pope, had taken disciplinary measures to sustain some practices from the old Synagogue in Catholic worship. Saint Paul saw in this a grave risk of doctrinal confusion and harm for the faithful. He then stood up against Saint Peter and ‘resisted him to the face’ (Gal. 2: 11). In this zealous and inspired action of the Apostle of the Gentiles, Saint Peter did not see an act of rebellion, but rather one of union and fraternal love. Knowing well in what he was infallible and in what he was not, Saint Peter submitted to the arguments of Saint Paul. The Saints are models for Catholics. Accordingly, in the sense in which Saint Paul resisted, our state is one of resistance.”
Accordingly, the Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira Institute, its co-signing autonomous sister-organizations around the world, and the thousands of individual Catholics signing on to this message of moral support addressed to Cardinal Zen and our persecuted and heroic Catholic brethren in China’s “underground Church,” hereby,
- Express to His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Zen, to the whole hierarchy, clergy and faithful of the Church in China their admiration and moral solidarity at this time when it is urgent to build resistance to the communist Moloch and the Vatican’s Ostpolitik. The bishops and priests of the persecuted underground Church in China who are now resisting stand before the world as living symbols of the “good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep.”
- Affirm that they draw strength and invincible hope from the epic example of the martyrs persevering in China. Their Catholic souls acclaim these noble victims: Tu gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorificentia populi nostri (Judith 15:10). These martyrs are the glory of the Church, the joy of the faithful, the honor of those who continue the sacrosanct struggle.
- Raise their prayers to Our Lady, Empress of China, so that She may, with motherly care, help and encourage her Chinese children to remain faithful despite these cruel and hostile circumstances.
Please click here for the full text of the letter.
Autonomous sister TFPs and like-minded organizations
who have signed on to the letter of support
• The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family,
and Property–TFP
• Canadian Society for the Defence of Christian Civilization (Canada)
• Sociedad Colombiana Tradición y Acción (Colombia)
• Asociación Acción Familia (Chile)
• Associazione Tradizione Famiglia e Proprietà – TFP (Italy)
• Tradición y Acción (Spain)
• Instytut Edukacji Spolecznej i Religijnej im. Ks. Piotra Skargi (Poland)
• Asociación Civil Fátima La Gran Esperanza (Argentina)
• Tradition, Family, Property Association (United Kingdom)
• Sociedad Paraguaya de Defensa de la Tradición, Familia y Propiedad — TFP (Paraguay)
• Tradición y Acción por un Uruguay Auténtico, Cristiano y Fuerte (Uruguay)
• Centro Cultural Cruzada (Colombia)
• Australian TFP (Australia)
• Fédération Pro Europa Christiana (Belgium)
• Sociedad Ecuatoriana Tradición y Acción (Ecuador)
• Société Française pour la Défense de la Tradition, Famille, Propriété – TFP (France)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Schutz von Tradition, Familie und Privateigentum (Germany)
• Irish Society for Christian Civilisation (Ireland)
• The Philippine Crusade for the Defense of Christian Civilization (Philippines)
• Cubanos Desterrados (Cubans in Exile)
• Österreichische Gesellschaft zum Schutz von Tradition, Familie und Privateigentum – TFP (Austria)
• Krikščioniškosios Kultūros Gynimo Asociacija (Lithuania)
• Tradición y Acción por un Perú Mayor (Peru)
• Instituto Santo Condestável (Portugal)
• Young South Africans for a Christian Civilisation (Y.S.A.C.C.) (South Africa)
• Family Action South Africa (South Africa)
• Jornada de Cultura Hispanoamericana por la Civilización Cristiana y la Familia (Argentina)