NEW YORK (NY)
The New York Post
December 10, 2019
By Chad Pecknold
Speaking before a Chinese Communist body recently, Bishop John Fang Xingyao said: “Love for the homeland must be greater than love for the Church.” That was quite a reversal from the spirit of Saint Thomas More, who declared himself “the king’s good servant but God’s first” — just before Henry VIII had him beheaded in 1535.
Statements like Fang’s are vindicating those who have raised alarm about the Holy See’s 2018 deal with the Beijing regime.
When the Communists took power in China in 1949, they tried to expel Catholics, but many remained. By 1957, the new regime created a state-run “Catholic” church that was loyal to the Communist Party and rejected the authority of the Holy See. This drove underground many Catholics, who didn’t want to betray the successor of Saint Peter. Thus, for decades, China has lived with two Catholic churches, one above ground, the other below.
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