Vatican’s China commission in progress

(March 22, 2010) The Commission on China, set up by Pope Benedict XVI, is holding its third plenary meeting in the Vatican from March 22-24. The Vatican announced the meeting on Saturday. It said the commission will “continue to deepen the theme of formation, so that in China, as in the rest of the world, the work of priests and consecrated persons may help the Church to incarnate the Gospel and give witness to it, even in the face of challenges raised by the evolution of social and cultural conditions.” The Pope set up the commission in 2007 to study questions of major importance for the Church on the mainland. “Formation” was one of the main topics at last year’s March 30-April 1 plenary meeting too. The commission had then devoted half of its time to discussing “the human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral formation of seminarians and consecrated persons, as well as the ongoing formation of priests in mainland China.” The Vatican did not say what other topics would be on its agenda this week. However, analysts think the commission will review the current situation of the Church on the mainland, including the nominations of bishops, and the fact that many dioceses are without a bishop today, while new ordinations are expected sometime this year. The commission, which has about 30 members, is chaired by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. It is composed of senior Vatican officials that have competence in this area, five Chinese bishops from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, and representatives of Religious orders that have a particular interest in China. On March 18, the Vatican announced that the Catechism of the Catholic Church in now accessible online in Chinese on the Vatican’s website. The Code of Canon Law and the main texts of the Second Vatican Council will also be put online in Chinese in the near future.