Card Parolin News Today

AsiaNews’s editorial director looks at the conferences that marked a hundred years since the Council of Shanghai. While acknowledging past mistakes, he insists that most missionaries were committed to the good of the Chinese people. The nationalism of the European powers of that time cannot be used to hide China’s nationalism today. When will a Second Chinese Council, free from political interference, be able to speak about the challenges of evangelisation in this land?

On the same day that Pope Francis praised Mongolian culture and traditions, the authorities in China’s Inner Mongolia region, where a fifth of the population is Mongolian, described them as “historical nihilism” in the name of sinicisation. The words Francis addressed to the Chinese people in Ulaanbaatar were banned in China, with no coverage in official media.

For Father Criveller, PIME missionary and China expert, by appointing Shen Bin as bishop of Shanghai, the pope shows that he cares for the people of God and we are with him. But Card Parolin’s interview clearly indicates that the Holy See is disappointed by the situation. It is hard to imagine that Chinese authorities, who are bent on nationalising religions, would stop acting unilaterally.