Catholics and human rights advocates are becoming increasingly concerned with the Pope’s strange position on anti-Christian attacks around the world.
He’s even cozied up to some of the most flagrant abusers of human rights.
Now, many are wondering why Pope Francis has remained steadfastly silent on the persecution against Christians in one particular country.
Traditional Catholics have a weird relationship with this current Pope.
Some even believe his papacy to be illegitimate, having been put into power by a cabal of socialist and communist Bishops who’ve infiltrated the Church.
While this may seem far-fetched, it would at least explain some of the current Pontiff’s more bizarre actions and his abject silence on arguably the worst human rights abusers in the world, Communist China.
A growing number of advocates and observers are loudly expressing their confusion and anger at the Pope for ignoring the ongoing persecution against Christians and other religious groups in China.
This silence is despite the Pope’s constant appeals to end such persecution in almost any other country. During his annual Christmas message last December, Pope Francis offered up prayers for various troubled regions around the world, specifically naming the Middle East, the Syrian people, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, the U.S., Venezuela, Ukraine, Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria.
But there was no mention of the violent persecution of Christians in China, the vicious crackdowns in Hong Kong, or the murders of Uighur Muslims.
In fact, the Pontiff has had nothing but praise for Communist China.
He even went so far as to claim that the Chinese government protects religious freedom and that its “churches are full.”
And in a shocking move to most Catholic observers worldwide, he reversed Church discipline to allow Chinese Catholic priests to enroll in the state-run ‘Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association’ which was set up under Chairman Mao as a “parallel” church to the church in Rome.
Francis’s continued efforts to cozy up to the CCP has earned him serious rebukes from his critics, like the former bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, who stated that Pope Francis is “killing” the Church in China.
Even the United States bishops have called on the faithful to pray for Chinese Christians and learn about the horrendous abuses occurring in China. And just this past June, the U.S. bishops published a harsh communiqué that called out the CCP for its grotesque violations of religious liberty.
“Under the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese citizens have limited religious freedom. Since 2013, religious persecution has intensified under a government campaign for the ‘Sinicization’ of religion — an effort to have religions conform to government-sanctioned interpretations of Chinese culture.”
“While the Vatican has reached a provisional agreement with China on the issue of episcopal appointments, reports of persecution by the Chinese government persist as underground churches are closed and their priests detained, crosses destroyed, bibles confiscated, and children under 18 forbidden from attending Mass and receiving religious instruction,” the bishops stated.
For those not familiar with the traditions within the Catholic Church, it’s highly unusual for American bishops to rebuke the Vatican in such fashion.
Even more unusual is for them to be more anti-communist than the Pope.
The times they are a changin’.