Condemning the Unauthorized, Inappropriate, and Coerced Ordination of Catholic Bishops by the People's Republic of China

CONDEMNING THE UNAUTHORIZED, INAPPROPRIATE, AND COERCED ORDINATION OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS BY THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume, and I thank my good friend and colleague from Pennsylvania, as Mr. Lantos said, for authoring this very important resolution, but also for his very eloquent statement moments ago regarding the historical context of this resolution and the ongoing issue of religious persecution in China, meaning the lack of freedom there. I appreciate his focus on the Uniform Declaration of Human Rights which so clearly establishes the right of conscience and the right of all persons to practice their faith as they see fit.

As he so aptly pointed out, the Chinese have freely acceded to the Uniform Declaration, and to so many other human rights accords that have been promulgated by the U.N. Sometimes for international consumption and for PR purposes, and regrettably they do not live up to either the letter or the spirit of these agreements to which they have given their solemn word.

Madam Speaker, this resolution which condemns the People's Republic of China for its continued interference into the international efforts of the Catholic Church and its persecution of Catholics loyal to the Vatican is certainly a very timely resolution.

The state-controlled Catholic Church in China, which does not represent the majority of Chinese Catholics, continues to ignore the Vatican's wishes by consecrating new bishops without the consent of the Pope. In April and May of this year, the Chinese Government-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association of China conducted two unauthorized ordinations of priests to the office of bishop, and the unauthorized installation of another bishop, despite requests from the Vatican to delay these actions.

According to the Vatican, bishops and priests in China are subject to strong pressures and threats to take part in ordinations which have not been approved of by the Pope and are contrary to their faith. While I am saddened by these reports, I am not surprised. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that the China Government continues to systematically violate the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief and the testimonies of so many persecuted individuals. For example, Bishop Su of Baoding Province, is a gentle and kind man who I met in the 1990s. I point out to my colleagues that soon after our visit, he was rearrested on false charges, released and rearrested again. He spent 30 years of his life, this brave Catholic bishop, for loving God. Even today, we do not know about his whereabouts, although there have been sightings from time to time.

As my colleague pointed out, in defiance of the U.N. article 18 of the Uniform Declaration of Human Rights, the PRC continues to restrict religious activities to those not associated with the five officially sanctioned religious organizations. Men and women that attempt to practice their faith outside of these five approved religions, such as the more than 10 million Roman Catholics, face harassment, imprisonment, torture and death.

We have no wish to sanction the worshipers in the Catholic Patriotic Association in China; rather, we wish to offer our support to the Catholic population of China that is persecuted by its government for their faith. We condemn the Chinese Government's persecution of the Catholics and its refusal to permit a Vatican-sponsored Catholic church to operate legally in China. This is a great resolution, and I urge my colleagues to support it.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wolf).

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