August 6, 2007VOL. 45, NO. 14Oakland, CA

Pope’s letter seeks rapport
among Chinese Catholics

A Chinese Catholic holds a prayer book during services at the Church of the Savior -- known to local Catholics as Beitang or North Church-- in Beijing. CNS PHOTO/CLARO CORTES IV/REUTERS

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a groundbreaking letter to Chinese Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI established new guidelines to favor cooperation between clandestine Catholic communities and those officially registered with the government.

The papal letter strongly criticized the limits placed by the Chinese government on the Church’s activities. But on several key issues, including the appointment of bishops, it invited civil authorities to a fresh and serious dialogue.

The 55-page letter, published by the Vatican June 30, was accompanied by a Vatican Press Office commentary that reiterated the Vatican’s willingness to move its nunciature from Taiwan to Beijing, as soon as diplomatic relations are established with China.

The letter was posted on the Vatican’s Web site in several languages, including traditional and modern Chinese, and had been sent earlier to Chinese authorities as a courtesy.

Throughout the text, the pope expressed his appreciation for the suffering of Chinese Catholics under communism. He said their devotion to the faith and their loyalty to the pope “will be rewarded, even if at times everything can seem a failure.”

Although the Church in China enjoys greater religious freedom today than in the past, the pope said, “it cannot be denied that grave limitations remain that touch the heart of the faith and that, to a certain degree, suffocate pastoral activity.”

He asked for more direct contacts between Church and state officials to resolve the problems and declared: “The Holy See always remains open to negotiations, so necessary if the difficulties of the present time are to be overcome.”

The letter contained important directives aimed at bridging the gap between Catholic communities that have registered with the Chinese authorities – and therefore operate under certain official limits – and Catholic communities that have practiced the faith in a more clandestine fashion, professing full loyalty to the pope.

More specifically, the pope formally revoked special faculties and pastoral directives that were established previously for the Church in China. Vatican sources said that move effectively rescinded a 1988 Vatican advisory that had rejected the government-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and regarded some of its members as non-Catholics.

The pope criticized the Chinese government’s interference in several areas of Church activity and said its insistence on registering Church communities and declaring them “official” had divided the Church and given rise to suspicions, mutual accusations and recriminations.

But he effectively opened the door to registration with the government by bishops and Catholic communities, saying this was acceptable as long as it does not compromise principles of the faith and church communion.

On the other hand, the pope said, such registration has required some church leaders to adopt attitudes and perform actions that are contrary to their consciences as Catholics. Because the correct decision is difficult to determine and depends on local circumstances, the choice should be made by the individual bishop, he said.

Whatever the bishop decides, the pope added, Catholic faithful should try to maintain unity with their pastor. Rebuilding internal church unity, he said, may require Catholics to put aside “personal positions or viewpoints born of painful or difficult experiences.”

Examining the specific problem of concelebrated Masses, the pope said it was licit to concelebrate with bishops and priests who are registered with the Chinese government, as long as they are in communion with the pope and as long as their relationship with the government does not entail a denial of essential principles of faith and church communion.

The lay faithful in China must not hesitate to participate in these concelebrated Masses and in all the other sacraments carried out by such bishops or priests, he said.

Whenever possible, he said, Catholics in China should seek out ordained ministers who are in communion with the pope for the sacraments.
But when this cannot be done without grave inconvenience, Catholics may turn to those not in communion with the pope, for the sake of their own spiritual welfare, he said.

While showing flexibility on a practical pastoral level, the pope was firm on the principle of non-interference by the state in Church affairs.

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