Rome Newsroom, Oct 25, 2022 / 07:50 am
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has defended the Vatican’s decision to renew its provisional agreement with China on the appointment of bishops.
The Filipino cardinal, considered a contender to become the Catholic Church’s first Asian pope, said that the Holy See signed the agreement “to safeguard the valid apostolic succession and the sacramental nature of the Catholic Church in China.”
“And this can reassure, comfort, and enliven baptized Catholics in China,” Tagle said in an interview published on Oct. 22 on the Vatican’s official media channels.
When asked in the interview for his response to critics of the agreement who say that the Holy See’s dealings with Beijing have led to the Vatican’s silence on the sufferings and problems of Chinese Catholics, Tagle said: