It did not take a crystal ball, but only common sense, to see that the papal apology to China last October for the unspecified sins of dead missionaries would have no good effect on the diabolical Jiang regime. This column has already noted how the papal apology - no doubt scripted by Cardinal Sodano, the great "interpreter" of Fatima - was immediately followed by the destruction of China’s last remaining true Catholic diocese, and various other forms of stepped-up persecution of the Church - more arrests of bishops and priests, and so forth.

        And now this, from Zenit.org’s report of March 5, 2002, citing Reuters: "Premier Zhu Rongji [President Jiang’s chief henchman] called for stronger controls on religion in China, underscoring a bid to stifle groups deemed a threat to Communist Party rule."

        Zenit further reports that "Just one day after the United States denounced an intensified crackdown on some religious groups in China, Zhu called today for stronger management of religious affairs and urged religious groups to adapt to socialist society. Zhu also defended the ongoing crackdown on groups such as Falun Gong, branded a cult in 1999 after thousands of followers staged a mass protest around the Beijing leadership compound. ‘We must continue to fight Falun Gong and other cults,’ Zhu told a gathering of 3,000 legislators at the annual two-week session of China’s parliament."

        But that does not mean there will not be "religious liberty" in China. There will indeed be religious liberty - communist style. As Zenit notes: "Zhu’s comments reiterated the policy of granting freedom to religious groups under direct Communist Party control while clamping down on those considered dangerous to party control."

        So, you can be a Catholic in China, so long as you submit to Communist Party control. That it is, you must be a good communist Catholic, or you will go to communist jail.

        Meanwhile, according to Zenit: "U.S. President George W. Bush, during his visit last month, called on Beijing to expand religious freedoms. He also urged Chinese President Jiang Zemin to talk to the Vatican and the Dalai Lama."

        But where is Cardinal Sodano and his band of diplomatic wizards? Why have they not publicly called upon China to stop its persecution of the Catholic Church? Why, instead, do they have the Pope apologize to the blood-drenched Jiang regime?

        I have said it before, and I say it again: Cardinal Sodano, your de facto governance of the Church is a disaster. Stop mixing politics with the sacred. Fight evil, and give it no quarter. Tell the truth about Fatima. Or else resign. Just resign - for the good of the Church, and the good of humanity, for you are a threat to them both.