Chinese Bishops’ Apostasy in Service to Communist Tyranny

China’s state-controlled “Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church” (BCCC) declared on February 4, 2026 that all clergy must submit to Communist Party regulations banning ministry outside government-approved venues. The BCCC – led by the “bishops” of Beijing and Shanghai – framed this as protecting “national and public interest,” directly enforcing Beijing’s suppression of underground Catholics. Hudson Institute’s Nina Shea demanded “Pope” Leo XIV summon these collaborators to Rome, noting their stance violates Vatican policy. This episode exposes the conciliar sect’s complicity in the destruction of Christ’s Church.

State Collusion as High Treason Against Divine Law

The BCCC’s demand that “religious groups must comply with relevant laws and regulations” constitutes formal apostasy. Quas primas (1925) dogmatically declares Christ’s universal kingship:

“Nations will be happy only when the citizens and the government obey…the sweet and saving reign of Our King” (Pius XI).

By subordinating sacramental life to atheist bureaucrats, these “bishops” commit formal heresy against the Social Reign of Christ the King.

China’s Regulation on Religious Affairs Article 40 – which they enforce – replaces canon law with Party dictates. This violates the Syllabus of Errors (1864), which condemns the propositions that:

“The Church ought to be separated from the State” (Error 55), and that “Ecclesiastical judges cannot decide temporal cases” (Error 31).

The Vatican-China Agreement as Betrayal of Martyrs

Shea’s appeal to the 2019 Vatican-China “provisional agreement” ignores its intrinsic evil. Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter correctly noted Beijing’s ecclesial structures are “incompatible with Catholic doctrine,” yet his successors legitimized them. The current “pope’s” refusal to abrogate this deal – while Chinese authorities imprison priests administering sacraments to underground flocks – confirms the conciliar sect’s apostasy.

“The Church has not the power of using force, nor has she any temporal power, direct or indirect” (Syllabus, Error 24).

However, she must resist state coercion against divine worship. The BCCC collaborators commit scandalum magnatum by urging Catholics to accept sacrilegious restrictions. Where Pius XI taught that “The State is happy not by one means, and man by another” (Quas primas), these hirelings make the Church a department of communist tyranny.

Silence on Martyrdom as Dogmatic Indifferentism

The BCCC statement omits any reference to:

  1. Martyrdom as the supreme witness (cf. Acts 5:29)
  2. The supernatural grace of sacraments
  3. Eternal judgment for persecutors

This naturalistic language reveals modernism’s essence: reducing religion to social management. Pius X’s Lamentabili condemned the proposition that:

“Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God” (Error 20).

When “bishops” describe faith as complying with registration schemes rather than confessing Christ before lions, they deny revelation itself.

Conciliar Sect’s Structural Apostasy

Shea’s shock at BCCC obedience to Beijing ignores the conciliar sect’s identical surrender to secularism globally. The Second Vatican Council’s Dignitatis humanae enshrined religious liberty – enabling China’s claim that Catholic resistance constitutes criminal “foreign influence.” As the Syllabus condemns the idea that:

“Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which…he shall consider true” (Error 15),

so the post-conciliar “popes” laid the groundwork for today’s persecution. The “provisional agreement” Leo XIV refuses to publish undoubtedly continues this betrayal.

True shepherds follow St. Thomas More: “I die the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” These Beijing collaborators are Judas-bishops who crucify Christ’s mystical body for communist silver. Until the conciliar sect is swept away and true hierarchy restored, such outrages will multiply. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat!

Source:
China’s Catholic bishops back worship limits, prompting call for Vatican action   (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 11.02.2026