President Xi Jinping of China and Pope Francis have quite a lot in common
By T.P. | BEIJING
MORE than once here at Analects, we have noted amusing if inconsequential parallels between the leaders of China and the leaders of the Catholic church. Last year, we had some fun with a headline implying that the Vatican has nothing up on China’s Politburo when it comes to arcane ways of choosing new leaders and ritualistic ways of announcing them.
We returned to the theme in March, when by sheer coincidence the wafting of white smoke in Rome, heralding the selection of a new pope, occurred within hours of the formal election in China of a new president. It seemed only fitting then to throw in a mention of the near match in numbers between China’s population of 1.3 billion and the worldwide total of 1.2 billion Catholics.
But now that Pope Francis and Xi Jinping have had time to settle in at their respective helms, it turns out there are rather more substantial comparisons to add to the superficial ones. Any China-watcher who pays attention to recent news from the Vatican cannot help but notice them.
Take for example the pope’s decision this week to suspend a German bishop who was accused of spending millions of dollars on renovations to his residence and other church buildings. These included a $20,000 bathtub, a palatial fitness room and a garden. Making an example of the errant bishop would be in keeping with the papacy's renewed emphasis on humility, modesty and simple living.
Under Mr Xi, the party disciplinarians have begun cracking down on the lavish lifestyles of Chinese officials. Fancy banquets and frivolous junkets are out. Party members should be frugal, and “resolutely curb hedonism and extravagance”.
The party has also ordered a five-year ban on new government buildings, with the acknowledgement that “glitzy structures” built at great expense have “tainted the image” of the party and “stirred vehemnet public disapproval”. Officials have taken to publicly criticising themselves and their colleaguesfor failing to live up to the party's virtuous standards.
Pope Francis and Mr Xi both claim to stand for the cause of transparency. So far the pope seems to have done more about it, ordering a clean-up at the secretive and scandal-ridden Vatican bank, which this month published its accounts for the first time in its 125-year history. But China in its own way is experimenting with measures aimed at increasing transparency. There are pilot schemes under way that would require officials to disclose their personal assets.
With all they seem to have in common, it is a pity that Mr Xi and Pope Francis are unable to get together for a chat. But since China and the Holy See do not enjoy official relations, that will have to wait. Hopes of progress have been raised, though, by the pope’s recent appointment of Pietro Parolin as the Vatican’s new prime minister. The move is being seen as part of the pope’s overall effort at reform. It is notable too that Archbishop Parolin has been closely involved in the church's delicate business of trying to repair its relationship with China.
The obstacles are significant. The church is not happy with China’s treatment of its own Catholics, an estimated 12m, many of whom worship at underground churches for want of an official church that recognises the primacy of the pope. China worries that letting its people participate in a foreign church's hierarchy will undermine control, unity and loyalty. As if that were not enough, they are also sharp divisions over Taiwan, which the Vatican affords diplomatic relations. In the unlikely event that Mr Xi and Pope Francis do happen to meet, they’d be well advised to follow the old saw about behaving at a nice dinner party: don’t discuss religion, or politics.
