Filum Romanum - A Thread for the Catholic Church

Pennsylvania lawmakers consider expanding the statute of limitations for the priests involved in the recent sexual abuse scandal, given the fact only 2 of the 301 are able to be prosecuted.

After clinching a historic deal, the Vatican and China are involved in fresh negotiations over the fate of "underground" bishops who remained faithful to the pope for decades despite pressure from Beijing, sources say.

The Vatican hopes the negotiations following Saturday's deal — seen as paving the way for rapprochement between the Catholic Church and Beijing — will lead China to soften its approach to those who swore allegiance to the pontiff for decades.

A Vatican source and a Chinese priest told AFP the Holy See could win concessions by the end of the year, though the details of any agreement reached would remain classified.

After a decades-long impasse over who presides over the now roughly 12 million-strong Catholic faithful, Saturday's pact saw Pope Francis recognise seven clergy ordained by Beijing.

The clergy were the final seven to gain recognition from Rome after some 70 other members of the Patriotic Catholic Association (PCA), created by the Chinese government to administer the church, were recognised over the past two decades.

Analysts largely described the deal as a win for Beijing.

China has been waging a broad religious crackdown, with "illegal" churches raided or bulldozed and worshippers harassed, and the underground clergy wants safeguards. Some 20 percent of its bishops are over 90 years old.

- Greater freedoms -

"China has not changed its position on freedom of religion," but the goal is to try to "give more space" to Catholic believers, a Vatican source told AFP.

Saturday's deal "is not very satisfactory" as it stands, "but it is the only one we could get now" he said, predicting that it will be "revised in the next few years".

The accord did not include the 40 or so bishops directly nominated by the Holy See, who belong to China's underground church and have never been recognised by the Communist regime.

The Vatican wants Beijing to protect their rights. It has already been assured by China that they will be not be forced into the PCA.

"Two or three" of them have won acceptance from Beijing so far, and Francis' negotiators hope to get the government to recognise another dozen before December, the source said.

The PCA's statute says its aim is to create an "independent church" — an expression that would appear to rule out the Vatican's oversight. But the Holy See could accept it if it is reinterpreted to mean political independence.

- Trusted observers -

Under the new deal, Francis will have the final say on naming bishops.

"Each nomination will have to be debated. Getting final agreement will be complicated. It will be important to have trusted observers in China," admitted the Vatican source.

A Chinese priest, who previously worked in an underground church in China and returned to Rome last year, confirmed to AFP that negotiations on the recognition of underground bishops by Beijing were underway.

He said that a final agreement that doesn't mention or recognise them would be a severe blow.

"For us priests, we will unconditionally accept the agreement, even if in our hearts we feel terrible. But we will follow whatever is finalised."

Underground bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi in China told the Vatican Insider website this week that a failure to win concessions on the matter from Beijing "could provoke a negative reaction... (and) be used against the pope".

Two Chinese Catholic bishops are to take part for the first time from Wednesday in a synod, or advisory body meeting, with peers at the Vatican, the Holy See said.

"The Holy Father had invited Chinese bishops in the past but they were never able to come," said Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, who is to preside the synod of bishops on "Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment" from October 3-28.

The meeting of more than 300 church officials, outside experts and youth delegates will take place in the shadow of an existential crisis faced by the church owing to cases of widespread sexual abuse of minors by clergy and lay officials in several countries.

On September 22 meanwhile, the Vatican and China reached a provisional agreement under which Pope Francis recognised seven clergy initially ordained by Beijing without the Vatican's approval.

The accord could pave the way for the normalisation of ties between the Catholic Church and the world's most populous country.

One of those recognised, Bishop Joseph Guo Jincai, is to attend the October synod along with Bishop John Baptist Yang Xiaotin, another member of the Patriotic Catholic Association (PCA), a body created by the Chinese government to administer the church.

They will join discussions on how to encourage young people to make the church their vocation, an official theme that could take a back seat to issues raised last March during a pre-synodal meeting of more than 300 youths in Rome along with 15,000 others online that were presented to church leaders.

"We want to say, especially to the hierarchy of the Church, that they should be a transparent, welcoming, honest, inviting, communicative, accessible, joyful and interactive community," a statement issued at the end of their meeting said.

"The Church should be sincere in admitting its past and present wrongs," they added.

- 'Bothersome or even irritating' -

Pope Francis acknowledged those concerns last week when he told young Christians in Estonia that many "are outraged by sexual and economic scandals that are not met with clear condemnation."

The pontiff conceded that many also find the Church's presence "bothersome or even irritating".

He has called a meeting next February of senior Church leaders from around the world to take up the question of child protection.

Scandals in Australia, Europe, and North and South America have involved widespread claims of abuse — and cover-ups — by clergymen and lay members with one Vatican archbishop describing it as the church's "own 9/11".

Germany's Catholic Church released last month a damning report showing that in Germany alone, almost 3,700 minors were assaulted between 1946 and 2014.

During their pre-synodal meeting, the Catholic youths also urged Church leaders to "speak in practical terms about controversial subjects such as homosexuality and gender issues," which they were "already freely discussing without taboo".

They noted in addition that young women regretted "a lack of leading female role models within the Church."

A handful of women were to take part in the synod of bishops as official observers.