Online text: “The Sino-Vatican Faith Diplomacy”, by Professor Juyan Zhang

See this online text:

• “The Sino-Vatican Faith Diplomacy: Mapping the Factors Affecting Bilateral Relations”, by Professor Juyan Zhang, Ph.D., April 2017 (Los Angeles: Figueroa Press, 2017). Available at ResearchGate.net.

See also the texts listed on the page “Selected commentaries on the China-Vatican Agreement“, as well as these other texts on the confidential agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic:

• “Sino-­Vatican Relations: A Conflict Transformation Perspective”, by Kaitlin Austermiller. Master’s Thesis, China and International Relations, Aalborg University and University of International Relations, 20 May 2013. Available in pdf format at Aalborg Universitet Project Library.
• “True Catholic and Authentic Chinese: The Theologico-Political Polemic in China”, by Wing Kwan Anselm Lam, International Journal of China Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2 (December 2020): pp. 257-276. Available in pdf format at the Institute China Studies University of Malaysia.
• ‘The Vatican Accord with China: Riding the Dragon’: Testimony Before the Congressional-Executive Committee on China, November 28, 2018, by Thomas F. Farr, Available in pdf format at the  Congressional-Executive Committee on China.

See the texts listed on the page “Online text: Letter to Catholics in China, by Pope Benedict XVI” and these other texts on Catholic Christians in China:

• Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 2020. Available in pdf format at the US Department of Justice.
• “China: the Country Has Changed, Religious Policy Has Not”, by Gianni Criveller (2012). Presented at the Conference Seed of the Church: Telling the Story of Today’s Christian Martyrs, University of Notre Dame, South Bend IN, November 4-6, 2012. Available in PDF format (on this page) at the Institute for Church Life.
• “China’s Modern Martyrs: From Mao to Now”, by Anthony E. Clark (2014). May be read online in 4 parts at the Catholic World Report: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Also available in pdf format at Whitworth Digital Commons under the citation History Faculty Scholarship, Paper 37 (2014): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
• “Homily to Chinese Catholics at a Mass Celebrated for the Catholics of China in the Church of the Queen of the Angels and Queen of Martyrs”, by Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin-Mei, Rome, June 30, 1991. Available in pdf format on this page of the Cardinal Kung Foundation.
• Submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (seeking the release of Bishop James Su Zhimin and Bishop Cui Tai). Available in pdf format at Christian Persecution News.

On the Memorial of the Martyr Saints of China in the Revised Roman Rite. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project.

Selected commentaries on the China-Vatican Agreement

In addition to the texts listed on the post “Online text: Letter to Catholics in China, by Pope Benedict XVI“, see these related texts:

Texts critical of the secret agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Holy See

• “China and Catholicism, An Unhappy Marriage”, by Michael Sainsbury, The Interpreter, 14 Oct 2019 (Lowy Institute, 2020).
• For Love of My People I Will Not Remain Silent: On the Situation of the Church in China, by Joseph Cardinal Zen (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2019). The ebook and printed book may be purchased on this page of Ignatius Press, and at Amazon.

Texts supporting the secret agreement between the People’s Republic of China and the Holy See

• “The Impact of the Finalization of the China-Holy See Deal in 2018 to the Catholic Community in China”, by Hengshi An, Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, Volume 435 (2020): pp. 603-607. Available at ResearchGate, uploaded by Hengshi An.
• “People’s Republic of China and the Holy See: A Long History of Agreements and Disagreements”, by Anna Carletti, translated by Bruno Gomes Guimarães. Available in pdf format at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.

Texts recounting historical and ongoing persecution/attacks:

• China’s War on Christianity and Other Religious Faiths: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, Second Session, September 27, 2018 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2018). Available in pdf format at the U.S. House of Representatives Document Repository.
• Cyber Threat Analysis: China: Chinese State-Sponsored Group ‘Reddelta’ Targets the Vatican and Catholic Organizations: CTA-CN-2020-0728 (Insikt Group: 2020). Available in pdf format at Recorded Future.
• Outlaw: One Priest in the Underground Church, by Theresa Marie Moreau (Chang Hua: September 8^th Editorial Board [2006?]). Available in pdf format on this page of Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church. The text as printed on Crisis Magazine, pages 32 – 38 (2005) may be read online on this page of Catholic Culture.org.

On the Feast of Pope St. Zacharias in the Maronite church; and the Memorial of Saint Francis Diaz and Companions (calendar of China) and the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians, Turin (calendar of the Society of St. Francis de Sales) in the Latin church. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project.

“Now many “underground” Catholics are in despair. Encouraged by the Church in Rome to join official congregations they are instead, according to a number of Chinese clerics, turning towards the Protestants or simply stepping back and worshiping in their own homes.” (Michael Sainsbury, “China and Catholicism, An Unhappy Marriage”)

“The Church of Silence will never understand the kind of diplomacy which would make it possible for the atheists to rejoice over the fact that the Vatican itself disagrees with those priests and laity who are struggling and suffering for the Fai[t]h. In return for diplomatic concessoins [sic], the atheistic government can promise much, sign the most beautiful treaties, but these will remain a dead letter, like the Declaration of Human Rights, which the atheistic government signed.” (Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, No. 10)

“Your nation now faces probably the hardest ordeal of its history. Do not lose heart. Injustice, wrong and crime will never be transformed into justice, right and blessings merely by the fact that a long interval has elapsed. Have confidence, pray and renew yourselves spiritually and your country and your nation will be restored to freedom and dignity. Do not hate; the more and better we pray for our persecutors, the sooner will their hearts be converted to what we pray for.” (Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, Letter to the Lithuanian People, 1975)

Online text: Letter to Catholics in China, by Pope Benedict XVI

See this online text:

• Letter to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China, by Pope Benedict XVI, 27 May 2007. Available at the Holy See.
  • An “Explanatory Note: Letter of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics, 27 May 2007” (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2007) is available at the Holy See and on this page through the Focus: China page of Sandro Magister’s former website.
  • A “Compendium of the Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China”, which reproduces the letter in question-and-answer format, is available in pdf format at the Holy See.
• For a Chinese Catholic perspective on the letter, see:
  • “Cardinal Zen on Pope’s China Letter”, by Cardinal Joseph Zen Zi-kiun, 1 July 2007, at Catholic Culture.
  • “Card. Zen: It is time to put into effect the Popes Letter to China’s Catholics, whatever the cost”, 16 June 2009, at AsiaNews.
  • “Card. Zen: Do not manipulate Pope Benedict XVI’s Letter”, by Cardinal Zen, 6 February 2018 at AsiaNews.
  • “A decade on from Pope Benedict’s letter to Chinese Catholics”, 17 February 2018, at the Sunday Examiner.

For those studying the current debate and developments concerning Church-State relations in China, the news and analyses listed below may be relevant. [N.B., Please note that the inclusion of any article in the list, in which various sides of the debate are represented, does not necessarily imply agreement or endorsement.]

• “Msgr. Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou freed after 7 months”, 4 January 2018 at AsiaNews.
• “The Vatican asks legitimate bishops to step aside in favour of illegitimate ones”, by John Baptist Lin, 22 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Underground Church as a pawn in China’s political game, a thorn in the side of the Holy See”, 25 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Vatican, Eager for China Ties, Asks ‘Underground’ Bishops to Step Aside”, 29 January 2018, at the New York Times.
• “Pope ‘prefers to avoid support for dissident clergymen’ says former Hong Kong cardinal after Vatican asks Chinese bishops to stand down”, 29 January 2018 at South China Morning Post
• “Zen on the bishops of Shantou and Mindong” by Cardinal Zen, 29 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Explaining why the Vatican seems so eager for a deal with China” by John L. Allen Jr., 30 January 2018 at Crux.
• “Vatican denies rift between pope, collaborators on China” by Charles Collins, 30 January 2018 at Crux.
• “Vatican and China: Cardinal Zen’s intervention raises some very uncomfortable questions”, by Michael Davis, 30 January 2018, at Catholic Herald.
• “Parolin, ‘Why we are in dialogue with China’”, 31 January 2018 at La Stampa.
• “Parolin: No person can claim to be “exclusive interpreter” for Chinese Catholics“, 31 January 2018 at Crux.
• “Celebrations as Msgr. Shao Zhumin returns to Wenzhou (Video)”. 31 January 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Vatican rebukes retired Hong Kong cardinal after remarks on ‘selling out’ of Chinese Catholics”, 31 January 2018 at South China Morning Post.
• “The tears of Chinese bishops. A portrait of Msgr. Zhuang, bishop of Shantou” by Padre Pietro, 2 February 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Chinese Bishops Illegitimate, Official, Clandestine… Which Ones Francis Is Rewarding and Which He Is Not”, by Sandro Magister, 5 February 2018 at Settimo Cielo.
• “Zen: ‘The Vatican Secretary of State Is Wrong’”, by Sandro Magister, 6 February 2018 at Settimo Cielo.
• “‘China is the best implementer of Catholic social doctrine,’ says Vatican bishop”, 6 February 2018 at Catholic Herald.
• “Cardinal Zen accuses Vatican of ‘caging’ loyal Catholics in China”, by Charles Collins, 6 February 2018 at Crux.
• “Sanchez Sorondo in Wonderland”, by Bernardo Cervellera, 7 February 2018, at AsiaNews.it.
• “China expert: Vatican official “naive” for saying China “best implementer” of Church’s social doctrine”, by Charles Collins, 7 February 2018 at Crux.
• “Worries Rise as Pope and China Edge Closer to Deal on Bishops”, 9 February 2018, at the New York Times.
• “The future of the Sino-Vatican dialogue from an ecclesiological point of view”, by John Cardinal Tong, 10 February 2018 at the Sunday Examiner. [N.B., Although the article merits reading for its prudential/policy argument, readers are cautioned concerning some statements that may be problematic, namely:
  • The article’s claim that, unlike “the freedom for the pope to appoint bishops”, “lack of the ways to spread the faith” will not “cause great harm to the nature of the Catholic Church”, which appears to disregard the essential and divinely ordained character of the missionary mandate of the Church qua Church (cf. Matthew xxviii, 19-20, and Redemporis missio, 46); and
  • Its assertion that “the moral principle of the Church teaches us to choose the lesser of two evils”, which may have meant merely that we may “tolerate a lesser moral evil in order to avoid a greater evil or in order to promote a greater good” (Veritatis splendor, 80, italics supplied; cf. Matthew xvii, 24-26 and S.T., 1a 1ae, q.96, a.2), but whose unhappy formulation is inconsistent with the norm that we may not do evil even as a means to achieving good (cf. Romans iii, 8 and Veritatis splendor, 80.]
• “Holy See-China accord in the offing but at what cost?”, 10 February 2018 at Sunday Examiner.
• “Chinese Church preparing to celebrate 60th anniversary of ‘independent’ episcopal ordinations”, by Li Zhao, 10 February 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “The China Invented by Bishop Sánchez Sorondo. His Diary From Half a Century Ago Has Been Discovered”, by Sandro Magister, 10 February 2018 at Settimo Cielo.
• “In praise of China’s outspoken cardinal”, by Fr. Raymond De Souza, 11 February 2018, at Catholic Herald.
• “Catholic Bishop Says He’s Willing to Step Down for Vatican Deal With Beijing“, 11 February 2018, at the New York Times.
• “Hong Kong Catholics to the bishops of the world: Stop the possible agreement between China and the Holy See“, 12 February 2018, at AsiaNews.
• “Zen: I still don’t understand why they are in dialogue with China” by Joseph Cardinal Zen, 13 February 2018, at AsiaNews.it.
• “Vatican deal with China moves closer“, 13 February 2018 at Catholic News Asia.
• “Cardinal Zen to Pope on China: ‘You’re Putting Wolves Before Your Flock,’ Will ‘Make a Massacre’”, 14 February 2018, at CNS News.
• “Breaking the trust”, by Francesco Sisci and Francesco Strazzari, 15 February 2018, at Catholic News Asia.
• “Beijing-Vatican deal not normal: Zen rebuts Kelly”, 16 February 2018, at Catholic News Asia.
• “Chinese Catholics will not gain freedom from a Vatican-China deal”, 16 February 2018, at Catholic News Asia.
• “Cardinal Zen: I Fear the Vatican’s Ostpolitik With Communist China”, 17 February 2017, at the National Catholic Register.

On the Memorial of Saint Martin Wu Xuesheng and Companions in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (calendar of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

“If, after all, you should have to suffer in the cause of right, yours is a blessed lot. Do not be afraid or disturbed at their threats; enthrone Christ as Lord in your hearts. If anyone asks you to give an account of the hope which you cherish, be ready at all times to answer for it, but courteously and with due reverence. What matters is that you should have a clear conscience; so the defamers of your holy life in Christ will be disappointed in their calumny. It may be God’s will that we should suffer for doing right; better that, than for doing wrong.” (I Peter iii, 14-17)

Online text: “China: the Country Has Changed, Religious Policy Has Not”, by Gianni Criveller

See this online text:

• “China: the Country Has Changed, Religious Policy Has Not”, by Gianni Criveller (2012). Presented at the Conference Seed of the Church: Telling the Story of Today’s Christian Martyrs, University of Notre Dame, South Bend IN, November 4-6, 2012. Available in PDF format (on this page) at the Institute for Church Life.

On the Memorial of Saint Joseph Zhang Dapeng in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (calendar of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan); and in remembrance of Cardinal Kung (Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei), faithful Christian and staunch patriot, who passed away on 12 March 2000. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

O God, our refuge and our strength, look down with mercy upon the people who cry to Thee; and by the intercession of the glorious and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Saint Joseph her spouse, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy mercy and goodness hear our prayers for the conversion of sinners, and for the liberty and exaltation of the Holy Mother the Church. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. (From Sancta Missa)

Free ebook: The Catholic Church in China from 1860 to 1907, by Rev. Bertram Wolferstan, S.J.

See this legally free ebook:

• The Catholic Church in China from 1860 to 1907, by Rev. Bertram Wolferstan, S.J. (London, Edinburgh: Sands & Company; St. Louis, Mo.: B. Herder, 1909). Available in multiple formats at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a second copy at Internet Archive.

On the Memorial of St. Francis Diaz and Companions, Martyr Saints of China, in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite (calendar of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan). For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject).

O God, our refuge and our strength, look down with mercy upon the people who cry to Thee; and by the intercession of the glorious and immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Saint Joseph her spouse, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy mercy and goodness hear our prayers for the conversion of sinners, and for the liberty and exaltation of the Holy Mother the Church. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. (From Sancta Missa)

Free ebook: “Catholic Mission Fields in Japan, Korea, Manchuria, China, Indo-China, and the Philippines”, by James A. Walsh

See this legally free ebook:

• Observations in the Orient: The Account of a Journey to Catholic Mission Fields in Japan, Korea, Manchuria, China, Indo-China, and the Philippines, by Rev. James A. Walsh (Ossining, New York: Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, 1919). With Imprimatur. Available in various formats at Internet Archive and Open Library, with a 2^nd copy at Internet Archive and Open Library and a 3^rd copy at Internet Archive and Open Library.

On the Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon and Paul Chong Hasang and Companions in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject). Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints!

Online text: “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for Their Faith 2011-2013”

See this online text:

• Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians Oppressed for Their Faith 2011-2013, compiled and edited by John Pontifex and John Newton, with additional research by Raquel Martín and William Lo. Foreword by Patriarch Gregorios III of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church (Sutton, Suurey: Aid to the Church in Need, 2013). 190 pages. Available in PDF format on this page of Aid to the Church in Need. With a summary on this page.

On the Feast of the Praises of St. John the Baptizer in the Maronite church, and the Synaxis of St. John the Baptist in the Catholic churches of the Byzantine Rite. For other ebooks on the oppression of Christians, particularly Christians of the one true Church, see our page “Anti-Catholic Persecution“. For other legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject). Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints!

Free ebook: “Witnesses of the Faith in the Orient: Dominican Martyrs of Japan, China, and Vietnam”

See this legally free ebook:

• Witnesses of the Faith in the Orient: Dominican Martyrs of Japan, China, and Vietnam, 2^nd edition, by a team of Dominican Fathers under the direction of Ceferino Puebla Pedrosa, O.P., translated by Sister Maria Maez, O.P., revised and updated by George G. Christian, O.P. (Hong Kong: Provincial Secretariat of Missions, Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, 1989, 2006). Available in PDF format on this page of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, USA.

On the Memorial of the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs, St. Thomas De and Companions. For more legally free ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title) and the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject). Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints!

Free ebook: The New Glories of the Catholic Church, translated by the London Oratorians

See this legally free ebook:

• The New Glories of the Catholic Church, translated from the Italian by the Fathers of the London Oratory, at the Request of, and with a Preface by, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster [Nicholas Patrick Cardinal Wiseman] (London, Dublin, Derby: Richardson and Son, 1859). Available at Internet Archive and Open Library. [N.B., This work recounts the lives of the martyrs who suffered from the persecutions in East Asia and Oceania, especially in Korea, but also in China and modern Vietnam.]

Posted in observance of the Memorial of the Korean Martyrs, Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, Saint Paul Chong Hasang, and Companions, in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints!

For other legally free ebooks, please access the Title Index and Subject Index.

Free ebook: Saints Augustine Zhao Rong & Companions: Martyrs of China, by George G. Christian

See this legally free ebook:

• Ss. Augustine Zhao Rong & Companions: Martyrs of China (Booklet), compiled and edited by George G. Christian, O.P. (August 2005). Available in PDF format at the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

In observance of the Memorial of Saints Augustine Zhao Rong & Companions in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite.