Climate Alarmism and the Chinese Government: Is the Pope Backing the Wrong Horses? 

It would be understandable if Pope Francis wanted to have the Catholic Church associated in people’s minds with issues other than paedophilia, but one wonders whether he has selected the best ones. He has tended towards the political left and populism, so it should come as no surprise that he is something of a climate alarmist. For example, according to the United Nations Climate Change website, on 14 June 2015 he called on

the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to join the fight against climate change. In a papal encyclical letter, Pope Francis declared that the science of climate change is clear and that the Catholic Church views climate change as a moral issue that must be addressed in order to protect the Earth and everyone on it.

He felt this was necessary to “lift the planet’s most vulnerable populations, protect development, and spur responsible growth”. This sounds like climate alarmism to me.

Then there is his relationship with China. On 22 September 2018 Rome and Beijing signed an agreement allowing the Chinese government a role in the selection of bishops in China. One wonders what criteria communist Chinese officials might employ: knowledge of theology? Moral purity? Or perhaps willingness to be manipulated? This in a country where government officials are tearing down crosses from churches.

According to Wikpedia:

In 2018, Argentine Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, declared that "those who are best implementing the social doctrine of the Church are the Chinese." Matthew Schmitz replied that this statement was "not mere naivete" but also exemplified "the way in which defenses of the "common good" sometimes slip into apologias for authoritarianism". Cardinal Joseph Zen described the Vatican-China agreement, intended to normalize the situation of China's Catholics, as a steps towards the "annihilation" of the Catholic Church in China.

The recent launch of a Chinese edition of Civiltà Cattolica was defended by its editor, Antonio Spadaro, a close confidant of Francis, as follows:  

There was an objection that such a choice was being made right now, in the middle of the pandemic, where are discordant and conflicting voices and very strong tensions regarding China. I’d say it was maybe the worst possible moment, and therefore the best moment. This is the time when challenges have to be accepted and bridges have to be built.

However, the Catholic online journal Crux sees it differently:

Probably the main take-away is that no matter [what] people may think, the Vatican is moving full-steam ahead in its courtship of Beijing, with the ultimate prize remaining full diplomatic relations, a secure legal standing for the church, and partnerships on the global stage.

When the whole world is lining up against China for its handling of the corona virus pandemic, and with China reacting with hypersensitive abuse, threats and sabre rattling, one wonders whether this is indeed the best time to be seen to be siding with the Chinese government.

Harry Wiren