It was my plan to comment today on the moral aspects of the fall of the socialist prime minister, Willy Brandt. However there has come into my hands a document of such importance on the resistance of Catholics to the policy of rapprochement of the Holy Father Paul VI with the communist regimes, that I could not fail to bring it to the knowledge of our readers. What we have are declarations of His Eminence Cardinal Yu Pin, Archbishop of Nanking, now rector of the Catholic University of Taipei (Formosa). They were published in the bulletin, «the Herald of Freedom», of February 15, 1974, in a dispatch of the «Religious News Service».
The Cardinal declared to that agency that he did not take seriously the rumors according to which there were supposed to be negotiations under way between the Vatican and the communist regime in Peking. He added that «the Catholics of China certainly are not sympathetic to that type of attitude» and that the Vatican should not hope that Communist China would modify its antireligious attitude, «not even for propaganda purposes».
«We do not like to be pacified by others» — added Monsignor Yu Pin. «That is called opportunism. We wish to remain faithful to the perennial values of international justice … The Vatican may act in a different way, but we will not be very much shaken at that. I think that it is an illusion to hope that a dialog with Peking will help the Christians on the continent (Chinese mainland)… The Vatican is not getting anything for the Christians of Eastern Europe… if the Vatican cannot protect religion, it does not have much reason to continue in the matter… We wish to remain faithful to our mandate, but we are victims of communist repression. Under such a rapprochement (of the Vatican with Communist China), we would lose our liberty. As Chinese, we have to fight for our liberty.»
To these lucid and vigorous observations, which called to mind the «resistance to his face» of Saint Paul to Saint Peter (Galatians II, II) the Prelate added the following observation: «There is an underground Church in China. The Church in China will survive, like the first Christians survived in the catacombs. And this could signify a veritable Christian renascence for the Chinese».
The Cardinal also defended the right to «fight with arms» against «oppression», and concluded with this thrilling phrase: «I would organize a real army, if I could, to defend the Church.»
I cite these words of the Chinese Prelate, not only on account of the authority of the one who pronounced them, but also to emphasize a noteworthy coincidence.
Monsignor Yu Pin has before him a panorama fundamentally different from that which is usually before our eyes. The Archbishop of Nanking has his attention especially concentrated on China, which is encloistered by a «Bambu Curtain». Nevertheless, the way the Chinese Cardinal considers the present policy of the Vatican toward the communists regimes coincides with the analysis made by the Cardinal-martyr, Monsignor Mindszenty, of the same policy in relation to the regimes behind the Iron Curtain. And may we add — it also agrees with the evaluation which the TFP made of the line of conduct of the Vatican in relation to the Chile of Allende, the Cuba of Fidel Castro, etc., in its recent declaration «The Vatican’s policy of distention with the communist governments; The question for the TFP: To take no stand or to resist?»
(TFP Newsletter, June 1974)
