Former Cardinal: Reconciliation With Beijing Would 'Betray Christ'

Former Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen said a reconciliation between Beijing and the Vatican would be "betraying Jesus Christ," per a report in The Guardian.

Zen has said the agreement, if made, would give "the impression of freedom" and that bishops would just be "preaching obedience to Communist authority."

Under Pope Francis, the Catholic Church has made inroads with China to end a longstanding dispute on the ordination of bishops. China's Communist Party has opposed Rome's right to ordain bishops which has, in turn, formed a divide between the Catholic Church in China – there are underground churchgoers who maintain allegiance to the pope in Rome and those that follow the state-sanctioned Catholic hierarchy.

But Chinese president Xi Jinping and Pope Francis have started communicating. 

"Maybe the Pope is a little naive, he doesn't have the background to know the Communists in China," Zen said according to The Guardian. "The pope used to know the persecuted Communists [in Latin America], but he may not know the Communist persecutors who have killed hundreds of thousands."

Zen, 84, thinks the Vatican needs to be weary.

"You cannot go into negotiations with the mentality 'we want to sign an agreement at any cost', then you are surrendering yourself, you are betraying yourself, you are betraying Jesus Christ," Zen told The Guardian.

"If you cannot get a good deal, an acceptable deal, then the Vatican should walk away and maybe try again later," he added. "Could the church negotiate with Hitler? Could it negotiate with Stalin? No."

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