The Pillar Catholic portal (Nov. 5, 2026) reports that at a conference in Rome commemorating the centenary of the first Chinese-born bishops, “Archbishop” Joseph Li Shan of Beijing and “Cardinal” Stephen Chow of Hong Kong extolled the Communist policy of sinicization as a realization of synodality, declaring the Party’s totalitarian control over religion a “guarantee” of evangelization. “Cardinal” Pietro Parolin, architect of the 2018 Vatican-China capitulation, admitted the agreement is “imperfect” but insisted the “path is open.” This spectacle manifests the definitive apostasy of the conciliar sect: it has enthroned the Communist Party as the vicar of Christ in China, rendering unto Caesar not only what is Caesar’s, but what belongs exclusively to God.
The “Sinicization” Heresy: Rendering Unto Mao What Belongs to Christ
The very term sinicization, as defined by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), demands the submission of the Church’s hierarchy and doctrine to “socialist values” and “the spirit of patriotism” — i.e., to the atheistic, materialist ideology of the Party. “Archbishop” Li Shan brazenly asserts that the Party’s regulations “fully guarantee the Church’s normal evangelization and pastoral care.” This is a lie of diabolical proportions. The CCP’s 2025 regulations ban foreign nationals from common worship with Chinese citizens, mandate that all liturgies occur only in state-sanctioned venues presided over by state-authorized ministers, and require affirmation of “national independence” from the Holy See. This is not “guaranteeing evangelization”; it is the legal extinction of the Catholic Church’s visibility and autonomy, replacing the Ecclesia una, sancta, catholica et apostolica with a state-controlled religious association — the very definition of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, a schismatic entity founded on the principle of independenza, autonomia, autogestione (independence, autonomy, self-administration) which Pius XII condemned in Ad Apostolorum Principis (1958) as a “wicked scheme” to establish a national church separated from the Roman Pontiff.
Li Shan’s historical revisionism — claiming the 1924 Shanghai Council “rejected reliance on Western political power” and thus prefigured Communist sinicization — is a falsification of history serving the father of lies. The 1924 Council sought indigenization of the clergy (a legitimate missionary goal articulated by Benedict XV in Maximum Illud, 1919), not subjugation to an atheist totalitarian regime. To equate the two is to blaspheme the Holy Ghost’s guidance of the Church’s missionary tradition.
Quas Primas Violated: The Public Reign of Christ Denied
Pius XI, in Quas Primas (1925), teaches infallibly that Christ’s Kingship extends over all nations and temporal societies: “His reign encompasses not only Catholic nations… but also all non-Christians, so that truly the whole human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ” (n. 28). He condemns laicism — “the denial of Christ the Lord’s reign over all nations” — as the “plague that poisons human society.” The Syllabus of Errors (1864) condemns as error: “The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church” (prop. 55); “The civil law prevails [over ecclesiastical law] in case of conflict” (prop. 42); “The State… is endowed with a certain right not circumscribed by any limits” (prop. 39).
“Cardinal” Chow explicitly confirms the totalitarian essence of sinicization: “For President Xi, all religions in China should be aligned with Chinese politics and culture, and that’s the only way to keep religion in China stable.” He admits it is “about aligning [religion] with the Chinese Communist Party’s ideology, socialist values and the spirit of patriotism.” This is the formal, public abjuration of Christ’s Kingship in favor of the rex temporalis — the Communist Party. By calling this “inculturation” and comparing it to “synodality”, these men commit theological fraud. Inculturation (per Gaudium et Spes 58, a conciliar novelty) means the Gospel transforming a culture; here, the culture (Communist ideology) annihilates the Gospel. Synodality (the conciliar sect’s new ecclesiology) means democratization of doctrine and authority — condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili Sane Exitu (prop. 53, 54, 55): “The organic structure of the Church is subject to change… Dogmas, sacraments, and hierarchy… are merely modes of explanation and stages in the evolution of Christian consciousness.”
The “Imperfect Agreement”: Parolin’s Cynical Confession of Bad Faith
“Cardinal” Parolin’s admission — “All agreements are imperfect… But the path is open… let us go forward, trying to perfect what is imperfect” — reveals the Machiavellian core of the conciliar sect’s diplomacy. The 2018 “Provisional Agreement” (renewed 2022, 2024) surrendered the ius divinum of episcopal appointment to an atheist state, betraying the underground Church — true confessors of the faith — into the hands of the schismatic Patriotic Association. This violates Canon 188.4 (1917 Code): “Every office becomes vacant… if the cleric publicly defects from the Catholic faith.” By recognizing bishops appointed by the CCP, the conciliar sect formally cooperates in schism and heresy. Parolin’s “imperfect” is a euphemism for intrinsically evil; one cannot “perfect” a pact with the devil.
The Theological Bankruptcy of “Dual Loyalty”
Chow’s mantra — “Being loyal to our government and being loyal to our faith” — is the voice of the Antichrist’s forerunner. Our Lord teaches: “No man can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). The CCP demands absolute allegiance; its “patriotism” is idolatry of the state. The Syllabus condemns: “It is lawful to refuse obedience to legitimate princes, and even to rebel against them” (prop. 63) — but here the “princes” are illegitimate usurpers of God’s rights. The true Chinese bishops and faithful, following the example of the early Christians who fled Nestorius (as documented in the Defense of Sedevacantism file: St. Cyril of Alexandria recounts how “almost all the monasteries… did not join him” before any papal sentence), have already judged this regime by separating from it. The “Cardinal” of Hong Kong, whose predecessor Cardinal Zen was arrested for “collusion with foreign powers” (i.e., fidelity to the Holy See), now preaches capitulation as virtue.
Symptomatic Level: The Conciliar Sect’s Structural Apostasy
This conference at the Urbaniana University (run by the “Dicastery for Evangelization”) is the conciliar sect’s official ratification of its new religion: homo oeconomicus servus Partii. The vocabulary — “synodality,” “interculturality,” “co-construction,” “mutual influencing” — is the Newspeak of the New Advent, masking the substitution of the City of God for the City of Man. St. Pius X condemned the Modernist principle: “Truth changes with man, because it develops with him, in him, and through him” (Lamentabili, prop. 58). Here, “truth” is whatever the CCP permits; “faith” is whatever “synodal dialogue” produces. The silence on the supernatural — no mention of grace, sacraments, salvation, martyrdom, the Four Last Things — is the gravest accusation. These are not shepherds; they are hirelings who have sold the flock to the wolf (John 10:12-13).
The Sedevacantist Imperative: No Communion with the Usurpers
The Defense of Sedevacantism file establishes that a manifest heretic loses office ipso facto (Bellarmine, De Romano Pontifice; Wernz-Vidal; Canon 188.4; Cum ex Apostolatus Officio). The line of “popes” from John XXIII onward has publicly defected from the Catholic faith by teaching religious liberty, false ecumenism, collegiality, and now formal collaboration with Communist totalitarianism. “Cardinal” Parolin, “Archbishop” Li Shan, “Cardinal” Chow — these are not Catholic prelates but functionaries of the abomination of desolation occupying the Vatican. The true Church of Christ endures in the catacombs of China, in the faithful who reject the “Patriotic Association,” who recognize no “bishop” appointed by the Party, who keep the Traditional Latin Mass and the unbroken Tradition. As Pius XI declared: “Peace is only possible in the Kingdom of Christ” (Quas Primas). The conciliar sect’s “peace” with Beijing is the peace of Judas: thirty pieces of silver for the betrayal of the King.
Source:
Chinese bishops praise sinicization as synodality at conference in Rome (pillarcatholic.com)
Date: 05.11.2026