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Greater China

Mar 24, '14

SINOGRAPH

Obama oils China-Vatican links

By Francesco Sisci

BEIJING - In a way, his heart will be in China and his mind in
Rome. On March 27, when US President Barack Obama meets
Pope Francis at the Vatican, he will have wrapped up an important
European tour focusing on transatlantic ties and Russia's new
posturing in the world, especially in Ukraine, recently severed by
Moscow. By then, Obama will have met Chinese President Xi
Jinping in the Netherlands, while Obama's wife Michelle,
daughters, and mother-in-law (certainly his heart) will have just
finished a trip to China. It is proof of how important China is for
Obama, and possibly also evidence of how much China might
weigh on his meeting with the Pope.

Certainly, the Pope and Obama have plenty to discuss. There are

the bilateral issues: for years bishops and civil authorities in
America have been at loggerheads over ethical issues (abortion,
homosexuality) and judicial-economic issues (the statute of
limitations on allegations of sexual harassment by Catholic
priests). There are international issues on which the two do not
see eye to eye, including questions surrounding Russia, the
Middle East, and even Cuba. It all seems very unlike the time of
Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, committed allies (although
with different angles and priorities) in trying to bring down
communist oppression in the Soviet Empire.

The world is now different. Many countries at odds with America -
Russia and Syria, for instance - look to the Pope to find a different
approach, and the US internally has become split over the
Catholic Church, considered by some conservatives almost the
bastion of Western values and by some progressives as a drag on
liberty and modernity. Certainly, Pope Francis has moved the
yardstick on values, which are not at the forefront of his preaching,
but internationally on many hot-button issues there has been a

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growing distance between Rome and Washington.

On China, a priority for both leaders, it is not clear where things
stand.

Here the first question then is whether either in Holland with Xi and
Obama or in Beijing with Michelle, the Chinese or the Americans
will broach the subject of the Catholic Church and a possible thaw
in the bilateral relations. That is, will Obama convey some words
from China to the Pope, or will he or his wife mention the
Catholics in talks with the Chinese?

The Chinese have already spoken. With an article last week in the
English-language Global Times, [1] China signaled a more open
position. Yes, the article started out claiming that the Chinese
Patriotic Association does not want the Vatican to interfere in
bishop appointments (an old adage in the bilateral controversy
renewed as the recent passing of the old bishop of Shanghai
brings about the issue of the appointment of his successor), but
then it went on to give a positive assessment of Pope Francis.
Moreover, it said China and the Holy See do not have diplomatic
ties, but it left out the usual warning to Rome about cutting ties
with Taiwan.

Most importantly, it confirmed a crucial detail, revealed by the
Pope in a recent interview with Ferruccio De Bortoli at Il Corriere
della Sera. Pope Francis wrote to Xi at the time of his election,
and Xi replied with a letter. It is the first time China has ever
admitted publicly of an exchange of messages at the highest level
with the Holy See. This admission is groundbreaking, and
certainly far more important than a refrain about the bishops,
apparently delivered to satisfy a domestic constituency hostile to
warmer ties with Rome.

Moreover, China is very close to the heart of Vatican Secretary of
State Pietro Parolin. At the meeting of the two delegations
(besides Obama, US Secretary of State John Kerry and National
Security Advisor Susan E Rice will attend), Parolin will be the
man with the most experience with China, having dealt directly
with the issue for more than a decade as the Vatican's
undersecretary of state.

In other words, the Chinese are certainly part of the dialogue
between the US and the Holy See. Moreover, Beijing is certainly
paying great attention to the fact that Putin, Obama, and the
Queen of England all go to Rome to pay visits to the Pope, a sign
of the huge influence of the man in white. In a world where China
is very attentive to the exercise of soft power, Beijing can't ignore
the fact that Rome is in fact one of the greatest sources (if not the
greatest source) of soft power. Then can a rising China, growing
conscious of its role and carefully taking on greater
responsibilities in the world, be left out of a dialogue with the Holy
See? The cold-blooded reply is certainly no. Then can the issue of
appointing bishops (which is de facto almost solved) still be a
stumbling block in opening some form of ties with Rome?

The answers to these questions are hard for China because for
decades the Catholic issue has been internally both very thorny
and yet not very important issue. Chinese Catholics are bitterly
split, and will be hard to reconcile, yet they are a tiny minority of
less than 1% of the population. Then, simply why bother? But now
in Rome there is a Pope casting a new profile for the church and a
secretary of state, Parolin, who is highly appreciated on a
personal level by Beijing.

In this situation, in more than one way, Obama's visit to Rome
could bring the Pope closer to Beijing, and this perhaps, more
than all the divergences between the two leaders, could be the
most important element uniting them and might even be the
catalyst for the discussion.

Note:
1.

Catholic Patriotic Association Warns Vatican Not to Interfere

,

Global Times, March 19, 2014.

Francesco Sisci is a columnist for the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore.