ROME. Pope Francis rejected the label “undemocratic” to describe China’s communist regime, insisting that the issue was too complex to allow such characterizations.
“I cannot agree that China is not democratic; Speaking to reporters on Thursday’s return flight from Kazakhstan to Rome, the Pope said, “I’m not going to do that because it’s a complex country. “Of course, there are things that are undemocratic to us, it’s true.”
“Labeling is hard and I’m not ready to do it as an experience, so instead I try to keep the conversation going,” she says.
“It takes a century to understand China, and we don’t live in a century,” said the Pope. “The Chinese mind is a rich mind, and when it gets a little sick it loses its wealth; It could be wrong.”
We chose the path of dialogue to understand, we are open to dialogue,” he said.
“The Vatican-China bilateral commission is working well, slowly, because China’s pace is slow, they have eternity to continue: people with infinite patience,” said Francis, in part citing the 2018 Sino-Vatican agreement. About the appointment of bishops in the country, which should be updated next month.
“The Chinese mentality is not easy to understand, but it has to be respected, I always respect that,” he said. “And here in the Vatican there is a well-functioning dialogue commission led by Cardinal Parolin, and he is now the person who knows the most about China and speaks to the Chinese people.”
“This is a slow process, but steps are being made all the time,” he added, reaffirming his unwavering belief in the power of dialogue.
“China has different cultures, it’s a giant and it’s a big thing to understand China,” said the Pope. “But you must be patient; It takes a lot of time but we need to have a dialogue, I try to avoid tagging.”
The Pope objected to the private question of the arrest and imminent trial of Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former Bishop of Hong Kong, and whether this was a violation of religious freedom.
Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun and Pope Francis (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images)
“I think Cardinal Zen will go to trial one day,” he said. “And he says what he feels, and you can see there are some limitations here.”
Francis has often expressed a desire to visit China, most recently telling reporters on Tuesday as he flew to Kazakhstan, “I’m always ready to go to China.”
Source: Breitbart
