A bishop is being harassed by the authorities arrested, bullied by officials, barred from Masses, told to leave his own home. He is, in fact, an auxiliary bishop, and the ordinary of his diocese is giving him little support.

What then is Cardinal Luis Tagle going to do about it?

The bishop is Vincent Guo Xijin, who used to be the bishop of Mindong (Fujian). He was an underground bishop who refused to join the Chinese patriotic association, controlled by the communist party. When the Holy See signed its provisional and still wholly secret agreement with Beijing in September 2018, Pope Francis agreed to lift the excommunications of several patriotic bishops who had been consecrated without papal approval.

One such state-appointed bishop was Vincent Zhan Silu. His excommunication was lifted and in a further gesture of goodwill Pope Francis personally asked Bishop Guo to resign as Bishop of Mindong so that Bishop Zhan could take his place. Guo, in turn, would become the auxiliary bishop to Zhan.

It was among the most dramatic of the known concessions that the Vatican has made to the Chinese communists. The underground bishop faithful to Rome would be demoted to serve under the patriotic bishop loyal to Beijing who was previously excommunicated.

Beijing, detecting weakness in Romes agreement to such conditions, has spent more than a year putting pressure on Bishop Guo. In April, he was told he could not concelebrate the Chrism Mass. The government officials said in clarity that they do not recognize me as a bishop, Guo told ucanews.com. In November, Asia News reported that he had been taken to Bishop Zhans chancery, from which he went on the run. Most recently, he has been told to leave his church, supposedly because of fire safety.

Bishop Guos offence is that he refuses to join the patriotic association. That was not required by the Holy See-China agreement, but China is now insisting upon it. Hence the punishment of Guo and the humiliation of the Holy See, which is left defending an agreement that Beijing has no apparent intention of honouring. And Bishop Zhan, the ordinary of the diocese, has made no public protest.

All of this is now on the desk of Cardinal Tagle, new prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (Propaganda Fidei). Propaganda, as it is known, is responsible for the Church in China, as it is for all mission territories. When it came time to demote Bishop Guo, the request came from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state, and Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Tagles predecessor.

In March 2019, on a visit to Hong Kong and Macau, Cardinal Filoni characterised the provisional agreement as an invitation to trust: There is above all the need to rebuild trust, perhaps the most difficult aspect, toward ecclesiastical and civil authorities entrusted with religious matters, as well as between the so-called official and unofficial ecclesial currents. It is not about establishing who wins or who loses, who is right or wrong.

That brought a blistering response from Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, and the leading critic of the Holy See-China agreement. The incredible thing is the invitation to trust the government, Zen said. Is information on recent oppression measures missing from our superiors in the Vatican?

Those superiors would be Cardinals Parolin and Filoni, whom Zen accuses of badly advising Pope Francis.

Zen has been harshly critical about a succession of cardinal prefects of Propaganda, including Cardinal Filonis immediate two predecessors Cardinals Ivan Dias (2006-2011) and Cresenzio Sepe (2001-2006). He accuses them of being too easily fooled and too easily outmaneuvered.

Will Tagle be different? True, the architect of the deal, Cardinal Parolin, remains. But the prefect of Propaganda is powerful enough to stand up to the Holy Sees top diplomat if he wishes. Cardinal Filoni was never going to do that as he is a career diplomat himself. As were Cardinals Dias and Sepe before him.

Its been 20 years since Propaganda did not have a diplomat as prefect. Cardinal Josef Tomko, the tough-minded Slovak, served from 1985 to 2001. He was a confidant of St John Paul II, and neither Slav had any illusions about the trustworthiness of communists.

Cardinal Tagle is not a diplomat, and he does not have the typical diplomats Achilles heel the desire to seek agreement and accommodation with tyrants. Indeed, he has just spent several years as a leading bishop in the Philippines, where the hierarchy has not been shy about challenging their tyrannical president Rodrigo Duterte. Tagle has not been schooled since his early priesthood in the fine art of keeping his mouth shut.

And unlike anyone since Tomko, he is personally close to the Holy Father. His profile is truly global, meaning that he has a voice loud enough to be heard.

So what will he do about the loyal bishop who suffers while his successor and superior sleeps comfortably in his bed?

Cardinal Tagle knows what it is to see his people suffer under tyrants. As a young priest he watched his predecessor as archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jaime Sin, rally the nation behind the People Power revolution that toppled Ferdinand Marcos.

Tagle, who was appointed on the feast of Immaculate Conception, will arrive in Rome in these weeks. The China file will be waiting on his desk.

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Cardinal Tagle could change the Vatican's tune on China - Catholic Herald Online