A TEN-YEAR-OLD CATHOLIC ASKS POPE FRANCIS ABOUT CHINA

A TEN-YEAR-OLD CATHOLIC ASKS POPE FRANCIS ABOUT CHINA

I saw this amazing piece in UCAN news and wanted to share it because, how many times in my blog and FB posts, have you heard me ask most of the same questions about the Vatican and China!

The writer is an adult but has been a Catholic for 10 years, thus calls himself “a 10-year-old Catholic.” It’s a brilliant piece!

Read on:

AN OPEN LETTER TO POPE FRANCIS FROM A YOUNG CATHOLIC – TEN QUESTIONS FROM A 10-YEAR-OLD CATHOLIC WHO FAILS TO UNDERSTAND THE VATICAN’S POLICY TOWARDS CHINA!

After introductory remarks by author Benedict Rogers*, he writes:

First, as a mere 10-year-old Catholic I approach this matter with all humility. I never came into the Catholic Church with the intention of getting into an argument with the Vatican, the Holy See, or the Holy Father. It breaks my heart to even raise these questions.

Second, I am not engaged in an anti-Pope Francis campaign. I was received into the Church 11 days after your election as pope, so I have grown up with you as a Catholic and I have always loved the emphasis you, Holy Father, place on mercy, justice, and focusing on the margins of the world.

Third, I respect — indeed, share — the love of China you, Holy Father, express and I join with you in your desire to change the relations between the Vatican and Beijing. I understand your passion to see the vision of the Jesuit missionary priest Matteo Ricci fulfilled. I do not doubt the nobility of your intentions in China policy — but I do question their wisdom.

So, in the spirit of a 10-year-old Catholic child, addressing the Holy Father with honesty, respect, innocence, and audacity, I have 10 key questions, which I hope you, the Holy Father, and the Vatican might answer: TO CONTINUE:  https://www.ucanews.com/news/an-open-letter-to-pope-francis-from-a-young-catholic/102417

*Benedict Rogers is the co-founder and Chief Executive of Hong Kong Watch, a senior analyst for East Asia at the international human rights organization CSW, and the co-founder and deputy chair of the U.K. Conservative Party Human Rights Commission. He became a Catholic in Myanmar in 2013 and is the author of From Burma To Rome: A Journey into the Catholic Church and The China Nexus: Thirty Years In and Around the Chinese Communist Party’s Tyranny. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.