The Catholic Weekly 14 June 2020

15 14, June, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au WORLD In brief Appeal to be reviewed Pope sets up fund THE TEXAS Supreme Court agreed on 5 June to review an appeal by the Diocese of Lubbock over a former deacon’s defa- mation lawsuit against it. The action sought more than A$1.5 million in damages, claiming the diocese had falsely in- cluded the former deacon in its published list lof clergy with credible alle- gations of sexual abuse of minors. The diocese said it was using the Catholic Church’s religious defi- nition of a minor, which includes individuals over age 18 who lack the men- tal faculties of an adult. It said the deacon faced an allegation regarding a woman “known to have a history of mental and emotional problems.” WITH SO many people left unemployed or in a precarious position be- cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis launched a fund aimed specifically at helping people in Rome strug- gling economically in the wake of the crisis. “This fund is meant to be a sign that can urge people of goodwill to offer a concrete gesture of in- clusion, especially toward those who are seeking comfort, hope and a rec- ognition of their rights” and dignity as workers, wrote the pope, who is the bishop of Rome. He announced he had made an initial allocation of 1 million euro ($1.12 million) to the Rome di- ocesan Caritas. - CNS WITH THE Vatican’s inter- im deal with the Chinese gov- ernment due to expire in Sep- tember, an archbishop who helped to negotiate the agree- ment said this week that he believes it should be renewed for one or two more years. Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli was instrumental in the negotiation and signing of the 2018 agreement between the Holy See and China that reg- ularised the country’s govern- ment-appointed bishops who had been out of communion with Rome. “The deal is an interim deal, which expires, as you said, in September of this year. We have to find a formu- la. We have to see what to do after this deadline. I think we should probably reconfirm it for one or two years,” Arch- bishop Claudio Maria Celli said in an Italian television interview on 7 June. “However, the Holy See has not yet made a decision in this regard, a decision that will then be communicated to the Chinese authorities,” he added. After the Vatican signed the interim agreement with Chinese Communist Party authorities on the appoint- ment of bishops in September 2018, Chinese government persecution of Catholics con- tinued with the demolition of churches and crosses and the continuing detention of un- derground clergy. “It is undeniable that they are still situations that still re- quire a journey,” Archbishop Celli said in an interview with Tgcom24 television program Stanze Vaticane . The arch- ¾ ¾ Courtney Mares/CNA. ‘Renew China deal’ Despite increased persecution in China, negotiator calls for agreement’s renewal A man waves China’s flag as Pope Francis leads his general audience in St Peter’s Square at theVatican in 2019. PHOTO: CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING bishop, a long-serving Vati- can diplomat who was presi- dent of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 2007 to 2016, spoke of the “need for respect” and for “mutual understanding” between the Catholic Church and China. “It will not be easy. The Holy See still wants to con- tinue on this step. We want to move forward and we want to reach a normality in which a Chinese Catholic can express all of his fidelity to the Gospel and also with respect for his being Chinese,” Archbishop Celli said. “I always say, I use a very simple expression, that the Catholic Church in China must be fully Chinese, but it must also be fully Catholic,” he added. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a key figure in the Vatican’s ongo- ing negotiations with China, has compared the Catholic missionary practice of “incul- turation” to the Chinese gov- ernment’s term, “sinicisation.” The cardinal said in 2019 that inculturation and sincisation can be “complementary” and “can open avenues for dia- logue.” Since coming to power in 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has mandated the “sinicisation” of all religions in China, a move which the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called “a far-reaching strategy to con- trol, govern, and manipulate all aspects of faith into a so- cialist mold infused with ‘Chi- nese characteristics.’’’ The Chinese government is in the midst of implementing a five-year “sinicisation plan” for Islam, a religion that has faced increased persecution in the country with at least 800,000 Uyghur Muslims held in internment camps. Catholic acceptance of the “sinicisation” program has been a much-discussed topic following the signing of the 2018 agreement between the Vatican and China. Most recently a state-affil- iated Chinese Catholic Patri- otic Association in Zhejiang province issued a statement requiring “patriotism” to be added to the celebration of the liturgy as a condition for churches reopening. In a video announcing the pope’s prayer intention for March as a prayer for “the unity of Christians in Chi- na,” Pope Francis said: “The Church wants Chinese Chris- tians to be truly Christians, and to be good citizens.” Pope Francis also add- ed this line to his prayer on 24 May entrusting China to Mary. The pope added “and good citizens” to the end of his pre- pared petition that Chinese Catholics may be “joyful wit- nesses and promoters of char- ity and fraternal hope.” The terms of the 2018 inter- im agreement have not been released, however Pope Fran- cis gave some insight into the process that led to its signing in an interview on 25 Septem- ber 2018, two days after the agreement was signed. “You know that when you make a peace agreement or a negotiation, both sides lose something,” Pope Francis said. “This is the law. Both sides. And you move ahead.” Lebanese crisis threatens schools LEBANON’S LONG-RUN- NING economic crisis is tak- ing a heavy toll on the coun- try’s prestigious private education sector. Father Boutros Azar, who heads the General Secretariat of Catholic schools, raised the alarm in an open letter on 4 June to Lebanese President Michel Aoun. The priest blamed the problemon “state negligence” of the nation’s crucial private education sector, which in- cludes Catholic schools. According to Fr Azar, “What emerges today from the Fed- eration of Private Schools of Lebanon and from the Gen- eral Secretariat of Catholic Schools confirms that we are facing a general challenge for the private education sector, which provides schooling to over two-thirds of pupils in Lebanon (710 thousand stu- dents, compared to 260 thou- sand in public education).” He said the closure is “a ¾ ¾ Robin Gomes major national loss” which ex- acerbates the country’s ailing situation. Speaking to Lebanon’s French-language daily news- paper, L’Orient-Le Jour (LOJ), Fr Azar explained “state negligence” referring to law 46/2018, which revised the salary scale of the public sec- tor employees, depriving pri- vate educational institutions, even the largest ones. For the past five years, the government has not paid the partially subsidised schools. For medium and small-sized schools, he said, there is no choice left except to close or make drastic cuts in teachers’ salaries. Even before Covid-19, Leb- anon was going through the worst economic crisis in its history, which triggered large- scale anti-government pro- tests last year. Today, nearly half the country’s six million people are living below the poverty line. In April, protesters torched a string of banks. The coun- try’s banking system is seen as complicit in what many regard as the plunder of the country by their own political elite. Fr Azar said he cannot un- derstand state bias against private schools, saying they are doing a service to the pub- lic for which they should be subsidized. Lebanon’s currency has lost nearly 60 per cent of its value against the dollar, and, in a country that relies on im- ports, that has led to rampant inflation. Hundreds, if not thousands of businesses, have gone bust, and more than a third of the population is un- employed. Fr Azar said that the closure of schools following demon- strations in October is now followed by the coronavirus closure. Parents have asked for a reduction in school fees in proportion to the number of closed days, which is ap- proximately 40 per cent of the school year. In his letter, Fr Azar pointed out that with this forced clo- sure, hundreds of thousands of students of private schools will seek a place in public schools. Tens of thousands of teachers, employees and workers will lose their jobs, he said. Some institutes - such as those headed by the Marists - continued to pay their wag- es in full to their employees, while others halved the sal- aries of their teaching and non-teaching staff. Even the prestigious Jes- uit-run Notre Dame de Jam- hour College, regarded as a premium institution, has fall- en a victim of this situation. It has taken the extreme measure of writing to its for- mer pupils in the US, Europe and in the Middle East, ap- pealing for support. - CNS Demonstrators shout slogans during an anti-government protest in Nabatieh, Lebanon, in 2019. PHOTO: CNS/AZIZ TAHER, REUTERS 31 enter Church ON LAST Sunday’s feast of the Holy Trinity, the Archdiocese of Ho Chi Minh City bestowed the sacrament of baptism onto 31 brothers and sis- ters in Notre Dame cathe- dral, Ho Chi Minh City, in a Mass led by Archbish- op Nguyen Nang. “After a long journey, you receive the baptism. It is not you who sought God, it is God who has sought you for a long time,” the Archbish- op said according to Asi- aNews. “For four months, you studied the cate- chism, learning about Ca- tholicism, participating in the Christian community. Today, we are very happy to welcome you into the family of the Church.”