Pope's letter to Catholics in China

(30 June, 2007) The long-awaited letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Catholics of China was released on Saturday in the Vatican. While expressing his love for the catholic community in the vast Asian nation, the Holy Father, in his letter, invited them to unite under the successor of Peter and urged Beijing to restore diplomatic ties and permit religious freedom.
A statement by the Vatican Press office said that the letter is not a political document, nor, much less, an indictment of the government authorities, although it does not ignore the well-known difficulties which the Church in China must daily tackle. China forced its Catholics to cut ties with the Pope of Rome in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power. Worship is allowed only in the government-controlled churches, which appoint their own priests and bishops. Millions of Chinese, however, belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome. In his letter to Chinese Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI deals with some of these eminently religious questions. He acknowledges that in “recent years the Church in China has enjoyed greater religious freedom than in the past” but it cannot be denied that grave limitations remain that touch the heart of the faith and that, to a certain degree, suffocate pastoral activity." Although the Vatican estimates there are only between 8 and 12 million Catholics in China, the Pope expressed hope that it would prove fertile ground for evangelisation in the future.
Tensions have repeatedly flared over the appointment of bishops. China refuses to allow the Vatican to appoint them, saying this would be interference in its internal affairs. But the Pope said the ability to appoint bishops is a fundamental part of the ability to fully "exercise ... the right of religious freedom". He also said bishops appointed without Church approval were "illegitimate". Despite China's actions, the Pope said that all but "a very small number" of the bishops in China had sought the Pope's blessing. Many, he said, had secretly received a "clandestine consecration." Significantly, the Pope reached out to those bishops who were not yet in communion with the Roman Catholic Church saying that as long as they were ordained by other bishops who had Vatican approval, they could exercise their ministry validly, even if they were "illegitimate". He expressed hope they would come into full communion with the Church. The Pope declared himself fully available and open to a serene and constructive dialogue with Chinese authorities in order to find a solution to the various problems concerning the Catholic community, and to reach the desired normalization of relations between the Holy See and the Government of mainland China, in the certainty that Catholics, by freely professing their faith and by giving generous witness of life, will contribute also, as good citizens, to the good of the Chinese people.