Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the
Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful
of the Catholic Church in the People's Republic of China
Pope Benedict XVI
Greeting
1. Dear Brother Bishops, dear priests, consecrated
persons and all the faithful of the Catholic Church in
China: “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have
heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love
which you have for all the saints, because of the hope
laid up for you in heaven ... We have not ceased to pray
for you, asking that you may be filled with the
knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully
pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be
strengthened with all power, according to his glorious
might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Col
1:3-5, 9-11).
These words of the Apostle Paul are highly
appropriate for expressing the sentiments that I, as the
Successor of Peter and universal Pastor of the Church,
feel towards you. You know well how much you are present
in my heart and in my daily prayer and how deep is the
relationship of communion that unites us spiritually.
Purpose of the Letter
2. I wish, therefore, to convey to all of you the
expression of my fraternal closeness. With intense joy I
acknowledge your faithfulness to Christ the Lord and to
the Church, a faithfulness that you have manifested
“sometimes at the price of grave sufferings,”[1]
since “it has been granted to you that for the sake of
Christ you should not only believe in him but also
suffer for his sake” (Phil 1:29). Nevertheless, some
important aspects of the ecclesial life of your country
give cause for concern.
Without claiming to deal with every detail
of the complex matters well known to you, I wish through
this letter to offer some guidelines concerning the life
of the Church and the task of evangelization in China,
in order to help you discover what the Lord and Master,
Jesus Christ, “the key, the centre and the purpose of
the whole of human history”[2]
wants from you.
FIRST PART
THE SITUATION OF THE CHURCH - THEOLOGICAL
ASPECTS
Globalization, modernity and atheism
3. As I turn my attention towards your People, which
has distinguished itself among the other peoples of Asia
for the splendour of its ancient civilization, with all
its experience of wisdom, philosophy, art and science, I
am pleased to note how, especially in recent times, it
has also moved decisively towards achieving significant
goals of socio-economic progress, attracting the
interest of the entire world.
As my venerable predecessor Pope John Paul
II once said, “The Catholic Church for her part regards
with respect this impressive thrust and far-sighted
planning, and with discretion offers her own
contribution in the promotion and defence of the human
person, and of the person's values, spirituality and
transcendent vocation. The Church has very much at heart
the values and objectives which are of primary
importance also to modern China: solidarity, peace,
social justice, the wise management of the phenomenon of
globalization.”[3]
The pressure to attain the desired and
necessary economic and social development and the search
for modernity are accompanied by two different and
contrasting phenomena, both of which should nonetheless
be evaluated with equal prudence and a positive
apostolic spirit. On the one hand, especially among the
young, one can detect a growing interest in the
spiritual and transcendent dimension of the human
person, with a consequent interest in religion,
particularly in Christianity. On the other hand, there
are signs, in China too, of the tendency towards
materialism and hedonism, which are spreading from the
big cities to the entire country.[4]
In this context, in which you are called to
live and work, I want to remind you of what Pope John
Paul II emphasized so strongly and vigorously: the new
evangelization demands the proclamation of the Gospel[5]
to modern man, with a keen awareness that, just as
during the first Christian millennium the Cross was
planted in Europe and during the second in the American
continent and in Africa, so during the third millennium
a great harvest of faith will be reaped in the vast and
vibrant Asian continent.[6]
“‘Duc in altum’ (Lk 5:4). These words ring
out for us today, and they invite us to remember the
past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm
and to look forward to the future with confidence:
‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for
ever' (Heb 13:8).”[7]
In China too the Church is called to be a witness of
Christ, to look forward with hope, and – in proclaiming
the Gospel – to measure up to the new challenges that
the Chinese People must face.
The word of God helps us, once again, to
discover the mysterious and profound meaning of the
Church’s path in the world. In fact “the subject of one
of the most important visions of the Book of Revelation
is [the] Lamb in the act of opening a scroll, previously
closed with seven seals that no one had been able to
break open. John is even shown in tears, for he finds no
one worthy of opening the scroll or reading it (cf. Rev
5:4). History remains indecipherable, incomprehensible.
No one can read it. Perhaps John's weeping before the
mystery of a history so obscure expresses the Asian
Churches' dismay at God's silence in the face of the
persecutions to which they were exposed at that time. It
is a dismay that can clearly mirror our consternation in
the face of the serious difficulties, misunderstandings
and hostility that the Church also suffers today in
various parts of the world. These are trials that the
Church does not of course deserve, just as Jesus himself
did not deserve his torture. However, they reveal both
the wickedness of man, when he abandons himself to the
promptings of evil, and also the superior ordering of
events on God's part.”[8]
Today, as in the past, to proclaim the
Gospel means to preach and bear witness to Jesus Christ,
crucified and risen, the new Man, conqueror of sin and
death. He enables human beings to enter into a new
dimension, where mercy and love shown even to enemies
can bear witness to the victory of the Cross over all
weakness and human wretchedness. In your country too,
the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen will be
possible to the extent that, with fidelity to the
Gospel, in communion with the Successor of the Apostle
Peter and with the universal Church, you are able to put
into practice the signs of love and unity (“even as I
have loved you, that you also love one another. By this
all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have
love for one another ... even as you, Father, are in me,
and I in you, that they also may be one in us, so that
the world may believe that you have sent me” – Jn
13:34-35; 17:21).
Willingness to engage in respectful and
constructive dialogue
4. As universal Pastor of the Church, I wish to
manifest sincere gratitude to the Lord for the
deeply-felt witness of faithfulness offered by the
Chinese Catholic community in truly difficult
circumstances. At the same time, I sense the urgent
need, as my deep and compelling duty and as an
expression of my paternal love, to confirm the faith of
Chinese Catholics and favour their unity with the means
proper to the Church.
I am also following with particular interest
the events of the entire Chinese People, whom I regard
with sincere admiration and sentiments of friendship, to
the point where I express the hope “that concrete forms
of communication and cooperation between the Holy See
and the People's Republic of China may soon be
established. Friendship is nourished by contacts, by a
sharing in the joy and sadness of different situations,
by solidarity and mutual assistance.”[9]
And pursuing this line of argument, my venerable
predecessor added: “It is no secret that the Holy See,
in the name of the whole Catholic Church and, I believe,
for the benefit of the whole human family, hopes for the
opening of some form of dialogue with the authorities of
the People's Republic of China. Once the
misunderstandings of the past have been overcome, such a
dialogue would make it possible for us to work together
for the good of the Chinese People and for peace in the
world.”[10]
I realize that the normalization of
relations with the People's Republic of China requires
time and presupposes the good will of both parties. For
its part, the Holy See always remains open to
negotiations, so necessary if the difficulties of the
present time are to be overcome.
This situation of misunderstandings and
incomprehension weighs heavily, serving the interests of
neither the Chinese authorities nor the Catholic Church
in China. As Pope John Paul II stated, recalling what
Father Matteo Ricci wrote from Beijing,[11]
“so too today the Catholic Church seeks no privilege
from China and its leaders, but solely the resumption of
dialogue, in order to build a relationship based upon
mutual respect and deeper understanding.”[12]
Let China rest assured that the Catholic Church
sincerely proposes to offer, once again, humble and
disinterested service in the areas of her competence,
for the good of Chinese Catholics and for the good of
all the inhabitants of the country.
As far as relations between the political
community and the Church in China are concerned, it is
worth calling to mind the enlightening teaching of the
Second Vatican Council, which states: “The Church, by
reason of her role and competence, is not identified
with any political community nor is she tied to any
political system. She is at once the sign and the
safeguard of the transcendental dimension of the human
person.” And the Council continues: “The political
community and the Church are autonomous and independent
of each other in their own fields. They are both at the
service of the personal and social vocation of the same
individuals, though under different titles. Their
service will be more efficient and beneficial to all if
both institutions develop better cooperation according
to the circumstances of place and time.”[13]
Likewise, therefore, the Catholic Church
which is in China does not have a mission to change the
structure or administration of the State; rather, her
mission is to proclaim Christ to men and women, as the
Saviour of the world, basing herself – in carrying out
her proper apostolate – on the power of God. As I
recalled in my Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, “The Church
cannot and must not take upon herself the political
battle to bring about the most just society possible.
She cannot and must not replace the State. Yet at the
same time she cannot and must not remain on the
sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her
part through rational argument and she has to reawaken
the spiritual energy without which justice, which always
demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper. A just
society must be the achievement of politics, not of the
Church. Yet the promotion of justice through efforts to
bring about openness of mind and will to the demands of
the common good is something which concerns the Church
deeply.”[14]
In the light of these unrenounceable
principles, the solution to existing problems cannot be
pursued via an ongoing conflict with the legitimate
civil authorities; at the same time, though, compliance
with those authorities is not acceptable when they
interfere unduly in matters regarding the faith and
discipline of the Church. The civil authorities are well
aware that the Church in her teaching invites the
faithful to be good citizens, respectful and active
contributors to the common good in their country, but it
is likewise clear that she asks the State to guarantee
to those same Catholic citizens the full exercise of
their faith, with respect for authentic religious
freedom.
Communion among particular Churches in the
universal Church
5. Beloved Catholic Church in China, you are a small
flock present and active within the vastness of an
immense People journeying through history. How stirring
and encouraging these words of Jesus are for you: “Fear
not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32)! “You are the salt
of the earth ... you are the light of the world”:
therefore “let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and give glory to your Father
who is in heaven” (Mt 5:13, 14, 16).
In the Catholic Church which is in China,
the universal Church is present, the Church of Christ,
which in the Creed we acknowledge to be one, holy,
catholic and apostolic, that is to say, the universal
community of the Lord's disciples.
As you know, the profound unity which binds
together the particular Churches found in China, and
which likewise places them in intimate communion with
all the other particular Churches throughout the world,
has its roots not only in the same faith and in a common
Baptism, but above all in the Eucharist and in the
episcopate.[15]
Likewise, the unity of the episcopate, of which “the
Roman Pontiff, as the Successor of Peter, is the
perpetual and visible source and foundation”,[16]
continues down the centuries through the apostolic
succession and is the foundation of the identity of the
Church in every age with the Church built by Christ on
Peter and on the other Apostles.[17]
Catholic doctrine teaches that the Bishop is
the visible source and foundation of unity in the
particular Church entrusted to his pastoral ministry.[18]
But in every particular Church, in order that she may be
fully Church, there must be present the supreme
authority of the Church, that is to say, the episcopal
College together with its Head, the Roman Pontiff, and
never apart from him. Therefore the ministry of the
Successor of Peter belongs to the essence of every
particular Church “from within”.[19]
Moreover, the communion of all the particular Churches
in the one Catholic Church, and hence the ordered
hierarchical communion of all the Bishops, successors of
the Apostles, with the Successor of Peter, are a
guarantee of the unity of the faith and life of all
Catholics. It is therefore indispensable, for the unity
of the Church in individual nations, that every Bishop
should be in communion with the other Bishops, and that
all should be in visible and concrete communion with the
Pope.
No one in the Church is a foreigner, but all
are citizens of the same People, members of the same
Mystical Body of Christ. The bond of sacramental
communion is the Eucharist, guaranteed by the ministry
of Bishops and priests.[20]
The whole of the Church which is in China is
called to live and to manifest this unity in a richer
spirituality of communion, so that, taking account of
the complex concrete situations in which the Catholic
community finds itself, she may also grow in a
harmonious hierarchical communion. Therefore, Pastors
and faithful are called to defend and to safeguard what
belongs to the doctrine and the tradition of the Church.
Tensions and divisions within the Church:
pardon and reconciliation
6. Addressing the whole Church in his Apostolic
Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, my venerable predecessor
Pope John Paul II, stated that an “important area in
which there has to be commitment and planning on the
part of the universal Church and the particular Churches
[is] the domain of communion (koinonia), which embodies
and reveals the very essence of the mystery of the
Church. Communion is the fruit and demonstration of that
love which springs from the heart of the Eternal Father
and is poured out upon us through the Spirit whom Jesus
gives us (cf. Rom 5:5), to make us all ‘one heart and
one soul’(Acts 4:32). It is in building this communion
of love that the Church appears as ‘sacrament’ as the
‘sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of
the unity of the human race’. The Lord’s words on this
point are too precise for us to diminish their import.
Many things are necessary for the Church's journey
through history, not least in this new century; but
without charity (agape) all will be in vain. It is again
the Apostle Paul who in his hymn to love reminds us:
even if we speak the tongues of men and of angels, and
if we have faith ‘to move mountains’, but are without
love, all will come to ‘nothing’ (cf. 1 Cor 13:2). Love
is truly the ‘heart’ of the Church.”[21]
These matters, which concern the very nature
of the universal Church, have a particular significance
for the Church which is in China. Indeed you are aware
of the problems that she is seeking to overcome – within
herself and in her relations with Chinese civil society
– tensions, divisions and recriminations.
In this regard, last year, while speaking of
the nascent Church, I had occasion to recall that “from
the start the community of the disciples has known not
only the joy of the Holy Spirit, the grace of truth and
love, but also trials that are constituted above all by
disagreements about the truths of faith, with the
consequent wounds to communion. Just as the fellowship
of love has existed since the outset and will continue
to the end (cf. 1 Jn 1:1ff.), so also, from the start,
division unfortunately arose. We should not be surprised
that it still exists today ... Thus, in the events of
the world but also in the weaknesses of the Church,
there is always a risk of losing faith, hence, also love
and brotherhood. Consequently it is a specific duty of
those who believe in the Church of love and want to live
in her to recognize this danger too.”[22]
The history of the Church teaches us, then,
that authentic communion is not expressed without
arduous efforts at reconciliation.[23]
Indeed, the purification of memory, the pardoning of
wrong-doers, the forgetting of injustices suffered and
the loving restoration to serenity of troubled hearts,
all to be accomplished in the name of Jesus crucified
and risen, can require moving beyond personal positions
or viewpoints, born of painful or difficult experiences.
These are urgent steps that must be taken if the bonds
of communion between the faithful and the Pastors of the
Church in China are to grow and be made visible.
For this reason, my venerable predecessor on
several occasions addressed to you an urgent invitation
to pardon and reconciliation. In this regard, I am
pleased to recall a passage from the message that he
sent you at the approach of the Holy Year 2000: “In your
preparation for the Great Jubilee, remember that in the
biblical tradition this moment always entailed the
obligation to forgive one another's debts, to make
satisfaction for injustices committed, and to be
reconciled with one's neighbour. You too have heard the
proclamation of the ‘great joy prepared for all
peoples’: the love and mercy of the Father, the
Redemption accomplished in Christ. To the extent that
you yourselves are ready to accept this joyful
proclamation, you will be able to pass it on, by your
lives, to the men and women around you. My ardent desire
is that you will respond to the interior promptings of
the Holy Spirit by forgiving one another whatever needs
to be forgiven, by drawing closer to one another, by
accepting one another and by breaking down all barriers
in order to overcome every possible cause of division.
Do not forget the words of Jesus at the Last Supper: ‘By
this all will know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another’ (Jn 13:35). I rejoiced when I
learned that you intend your most precious gift on the
occasion of the Great Jubilee to be unity among
yourselves and unity with the Successor of Peter. This
intention can only be a fruit of the Spirit who guides
the Church along the arduous paths of reconciliation and
unity.”[24]
We all realize that this journey cannot be
accomplished overnight, but be assured that the whole
Church will raise up an insistent prayer for you to this
end.
Keep in mind, moreover, that your path of
reconciliation is supported by the example and the
prayer of so many “witnesses of the faith” who have
suffered and have forgiven, offering their lives for the
future of the Catholic Church in China. Their very
existence represents a permanent blessing for you in the
presence of our Heavenly Father, and their memory will
not fail to produce abundant fruit.
Ecclesial communities and State agencies:
relationships to be lived in truth and charity.
7. A careful analysis of the aforementioned painful
situation of serious differences (cf. section 6 above),
involving the lay faithful and their Pastors, highlights
among the various causes the significant part played by
agencies that have been imposed as the principal
determinants of the life of the Catholic community.
Still today, in fact, recognition from these agencies is
the criterion for declaring a community, a person or a
religious place legal and therefore “official”. All this
has caused division both among the clergy and among the
lay faithful. It is a situation primarily dependent on
factors external to the Church, but it has seriously
conditioned her progress, giving rise also to
suspicions, mutual accusations and recriminations, and
it continues to be a weakness in the Church that causes
concern.
Regarding the delicate issue of the
relations to be maintained with the agencies of the
State, particular enlightenment can be found in the
invitation of the Second Vatican Council to follow the
words and modus operandi of Jesus Christ. He, indeed,
“did not wish to be a political Messiah who would
dominate by force[25]
but preferred to call himself the Son of Man who came to
serve, and ‘to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mk
10:45). He showed himself as the perfect Servant of God[26]
who‘will not break a bruised reed or quench a
smouldering wick’(Mt 12:20). He recognized civil
authority and its rights when he ordered tribute to be
paid to Caesar, but he gave clear warning that the
greater rights of God must be respected: ‘Render
therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God, the things that are God's’ (Mt 22:21). Finally, he
brought his revelation to perfection when he
accomplished on the Cross the work of redemption by
which he achieved salvation and true freedom for the
human race. For he bore witness to the truth[27]
but refused to use force to impose it on those who spoke
out against it. His Kingdom does not establish its
claims by force,[28]
but is established by bearing witness to and listening
to the truth and it grows by the love with which Christ,
lifted up on the Cross, draws people to himself (cf. Jn
12:32)”.[29]
Truth and charity are the two supporting
pillars of the life of the Christian community. For this
reason, I have observed that “the Church of love is also
the Church of truth, understood primarily as fidelity to
the Gospel entrusted by the Lord Jesus to his followers
... However, if the family of God's children is to live
in unity and peace, it needs someone to keep it in the
truth and guide it with wise and authoritative
discernment: this is what the ministry of the Apostles
is required to do. And here we come to an important
point. The Church is wholly of the Spirit but has a
structure, the apostolic succession, which is
responsible for guaranteeing that the Church endures in
the truth given by Christ, from whom the capacity to
love also comes ... The Apostles and their successors
are therefore the custodians and authoritative witnesses
of the deposit of truth consigned to the Church, and are
likewise the ministers of charity. These are two aspects
that go together ... Truth and love are the two faces of
the same gift that comes from God and, thanks to the
apostolic ministry, is safeguarded in the Church and
handed down to us, to our present time!”[30]
Therefore the Second Vatican Council
underlines that “those also have a claim on our respect
and charity who think and act differently from us in
social, political, and religious matters. In fact, the
more deeply, through courtesy and love, we come to
understand their ways of thinking, the more easily will
we be able to enter into dialogue with them”. But, as
the same Council admonishes us, “love and courtesy of
this kind should not, of course, make us indifferent to
truth and goodness.”[31]
Considering “Jesus' original plan”,[32]
it is clear that the claim of some entities, desired by
the State and extraneous to the structure of the Church,
to place themselves above the Bishops and to guide the
life of the ecclesial community, does not correspond to
Catholic doctrine, according to which the Church is
“apostolic”, as the Second Vatican Council underlined.
The Church is apostolic “in her origin because she has
been built on ‘the foundation of the Apostles’ (Eph
2:20). She is apostolic in her teaching which is the
same as that of the Apostles. She is apostolic by reason
of her structure insofar as she is taught, sanctified,
and guided until Christ returns by the Apostles through
their successors who are the Bishops in communion with
the Successor of Peter.”[33]
Therefore, in every individual particular Church, “it is
in the name of the Lord that the diocesan Bishop [and
only he] leads the flock entrusted to him, and he does
so as the proper, ordinary and immediate Pastor”;[34]
at a national level, moreover, only a legitimate
Episcopal Conference can formulate pastoral guidelines,
valid for the entire Catholic community of the country
concerned.[35]
Likewise, the declared purpose of the
afore-mentioned agencies to implement “the principles of
independence and autonomy, self-management and
democratic administration of the Church”[36]
is incompatible with Catholic doctrine, which from the
time of the ancient Creeds professes the Church to be
“one, holy, catholic and apostolic”.
In the light of the principles here
outlined, Pastors and lay faithful will recall that the
preaching of the Gospel, catechesis and charitable
activity, liturgical and cultic action, as well as all
pastoral choices, are uniquely the competence of the
Bishops together with their priests in the unbroken
continuity of the faith handed down by the Apostles in
the Sacred Scriptures and in Tradition, and therefore
they cannot be subject to any external interference.
Given this difficult situation, not a few
members of the Catholic community are asking whether
recognition from the civil authorities – necessary in
order to function publicly – somehow compromises
communion with the universal Church. I am fully aware
that this problem causes painful disquiet in the hearts
of Pastors and faithful. In this regard I maintain, in
the first place, that the requisite and courageous
safeguarding of the deposit of faith and of sacramental
and hierarchical communion is not of itself opposed to
dialogue with the authorities concerning those aspects
of the life of the ecclesial community that fall within
the civil sphere. There would not be any particular
difficulties with acceptance of the recognition granted
by civil authorities on condition that this does not
entail the denial of unrenounceable principles of faith
and of ecclesiastical communion. In not a few particular
instances, however, indeed almost always, in the process
of recognition the intervention of certain bodies
obliges the people involved to adopt attitudes, make
gestures and undertake commitments that are contrary to
the dictates of their conscience as Catholics. I
understand, therefore, how in such varied conditions and
circumstances it is difficult to determine the correct
choice to be made. For this reason the Holy See, after
restating the principles, leaves the decision to the
individual Bishop who, having consulted his
presbyterate, is better able to know the local
situation, to weigh the concrete possibilities of choice
and to evaluate the possible consequences within the
diocesan community. It could be that the final decision
does not obtain the consensus of all the priests and
faithful. I express the hope, however, that it will be
accepted, albeit with suffering, and that the unity of
the diocesan community with its own Pastor will be
maintained.
It would be good, finally, if Bishops and
priests, with truly pastoral hearts, were to take every
possible step to avoid giving rise to situations of
scandal, seizing opportunities to form the consciences
of the faithful, with particular attention to the
weakest: all this should be lived out in communion and
in fraternal understanding, avoiding judgements and
mutual condemnations. In this case too, it must be kept
in mind, especially where there is little room for
freedom, that in order to evaluate the morality of an
act it is necessary to devote particular care to
establishing the real intentions of the person
concerned, in addition to the objective shortcoming.
Every case, then, will have to be pondered individually,
taking account of the circumstances.
The Chinese Episcopate
8. In the Church – the People of God – only the
sacred ministers, duly ordained after sufficient
instruction and formation, may exercise the office of
“teaching, sanctifying and governing”. The lay faithful
may, with a canonical mission from the Bishop, perform
an ancillary ecclesial ministry of handing on the faith.
In recent years, for various reasons, you,
my Brother Bishops, have encountered difficulties, since
persons who are not “ordained”, and sometimes not even
baptized, control and take decisions concerning
important ecclesial questions, including the appointment
of Bishops, in the name of various State agencies.
Consequently, we have witnessed a demeaning of the
Petrine and episcopal ministries by virtue of a vision
of the Church according to which the Supreme Pontiff,
the Bishops and the priests risk becoming de facto
persons without office and without power. Yet in fact,
as stated earlier, the Petrine and episcopal ministries
are essential and integral elements of Catholic doctrine
on the sacramental structure of the Church. The nature
of the Church is a gift of the Lord Jesus, because “his
gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip
the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature
manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13).
Communion and unity – let me repeat (cf.
section 5 above) – are essential and integral elements
of the Catholic Church: therefore the proposal for a
Church that is “independent” of the Holy See, in the
religious sphere, is incompatible with Catholic
doctrine.
I am aware of the grave difficulties which
you have to address in the aforementioned situation in
order to remain faithful to Christ, to his Church and to
the Successor of Peter. Reminding you that – as Saint
Paul said (cf. Rom 8:35-39) – no difficulty can separate
us from the love of Christ, I am confident that you will
do everything possible, trusting in the Lord’s grace, to
safeguard unity and ecclesial communion even at the cost
of great sacrifices.
Many members of the Chinese episcopate who
have guided the Church in recent decades have offered
and continue to offer a shining testimony to their own
communities and to the universal Church. Once again, let
a heartfelt hymn of praise and thanksgiving be sung to
the “chief Shepherd” of the flock (1 Pet 5:4): in fact,
it must not be forgotten that many Bishops have
undergone persecution and have been impeded in the
exercise of their ministry, and some of them have made
the Church fruitful with the shedding of their blood.
Modern times and the consequent challenge of the new
evangelization highlight the role of the episcopal
ministry. As John Paul II said to the Pastors from every
part of the world who gathered in Rome for the
celebration of the Jubilee, “the Pastor is the first to
take responsibility for and to encourage the ecclesial
community, both in the requirement of communion and in
the missionary outreach. Regarding the relativism and
subjectivism which mar so much of contemporary culture,
Bishops are called to defend and promote the doctrinal
unity of their faithful. Concerned for every situation
in which the faith has been lost or is unknown, they
work with all their strength for evangelization,
preparing priests, religious and lay people for this
task and making the necessary resources available”.[37]
On the same occasion, my venerable
predecessor recalled that “the Bishop, a successor of
the Apostles, is someone for whom Christ is everything:
‘For to me to live is Christ ...’ (Phil 1:21). He must
bear witness to this in all his actions. The Second
Vatican Council teaches: ‘Bishops should devote
themselves to their apostolic office as witnesses of
Christ to all’ (Decree Christus Dominus, 11)”.[38]
Concerning episcopal service, then, I take
the opportunity to recall something I said recently:
“The Bishops are primarily responsible for building up
the Church as a family of God and a place of mutual help
and availability. To be able to carry out this mission,
you received with episcopal consecration three special
offices: the munus docendi, the munus sanctificandi and
the munus regendi, which all together constitute the
munus pascendi. In particular, the aim of the munus
regendi is growth in ecclesial communion, that is, in
building a community in agreement and listening to the
Apostles’ teaching, the breaking of bread, prayer and
fellowship. Closely linked to the offices of teaching
and of sanctifying, that of governing – the munus
regendi precisely – constitutes for the Bishop an
authentic act of love for God and for one's neighbour,
which is expressed in pastoral charity.”[39]
As in the rest of the world, in China too
the Church is governed by Bishops who, through episcopal
ordination conferred upon them by other validly ordained
Bishops, have received, together with the sanctifying
office, the offices of teaching and governing the people
entrusted to them in their respective particular
Churches, with a power that is conferred by God through
the grace of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The offices
of teaching and governing “however, by their very nature
can be exercised only in hierarchical communion with the
head and members of the college” of Bishops.[40]
In fact, as the Council went on to say, “a person is
made a member of the episcopal body in virtue of the
sacramental consecration and by hierarchical communion
with the head and members of the college.”[41]
Currently, all the Bishops of the Catholic
Church in China are sons of the Chinese People.
Notwithstanding many grave difficulties, the Catholic
Church in China, by a particular grace of the Holy
Spirit, has never been deprived of the ministry of
legitimate Pastors who have preserved the apostolic
succession intact. We must thank the Lord for this
constant presence, not without suffering, of Bishops who
have received episcopal ordination in conformity with
Catholic tradition, that is to say, in communion with
the Bishop of Rome, Successor of Peter, and at the hands
of validly and legitimately ordained Bishops in
observance of the rite of the Catholic Church.
Some of them, not wishing to be subjected to
undue control exercised over the life of the Church, and
eager to maintain total fidelity to the Successor of
Peter and to Catholic doctrine, have felt themselves
constrained to opt for clandestine consecration. The
clandestine condition is not a normal feature of the
Church's life, and history shows that Pastors and
faithful have recourse to it only amid suffering, in the
desire to maintain the integrity of their faith and to
resist interference from State agencies in matters
pertaining intimately to the Church's life. For this
reason the Holy See hopes that these legitimate Pastors
may be recognized as such by governmental authorities
for civil effects too – insofar as these are necessary –
and that all the faithful may be able to express their
faith freely in the social context in which they live.
Other Pastors, however, under the pressure
of particular circumstances, have consented to receive
episcopal ordination without the pontifical mandate, but
have subsequently asked to be received into communion
with the Successor of Peter and with their other
brothers in the episcopate. The Pope, considering the
sincerity of their sentiments and the complexity of the
situation, and taking into account the opinion of
neighbouring Bishops, by virtue of his proper
responsibility as universal Pastor of the Church, has
granted them the full and legitimate exercise of
episcopal jurisdiction. This initiative of the Pope
resulted from knowledge of the particular circumstances
of their ordination and from his profound pastoral
concern to favour the reestablishment of full communion.
Unfortunately, in most cases, priests and the faithful
have not been adequately informed that their Bishop has
been legitimized, and this has given rise to a number of
grave problems of conscience. What is more, some
legitimized Bishops have failed to provide any clear
signs to prove that they have been legitimized. For this
reason it is indispensable, for the spiritual good of
the diocesan communities concerned, that legitimation,
once it has occurred, is brought into the public domain
at the earliest opportunity, and that the legitimized
Bishops provide unequivocal and increasing signs of full
communion with the Successor of Peter.
Finally, there are certain Bishops – a very
small number of them – who have been ordained without
the Pontifical mandate and who have not asked for or
have not yet obtained, the necessary legitimation.
According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, they
are to be considered illegitimate, but validly ordained,
as long as it is certain that they have received
ordination from validly ordained Bishops and that the
Catholic rite of episcopal ordination has been
respected. Therefore, although not in communion with the
Pope, they exercise their ministry validly in the
administration of the sacraments, even if they do so
illegitimately. What great spiritual enrichment would
ensue for the Church in China if, the necessary
conditions having been established, these Pastors too
were to enter into communion with the Successor of Peter
and with the entire Catholic episcopate! Not only would
their episcopal ministry be legitimized, there would
also be an enrichment of their communion with the
priests and the faithful who consider the Church in
China part of the Catholic Church, united with the
Bishop of Rome and with all the other particular
Churches spread throughout the world.
In individual nations, all the legitimate
Bishops constitute an Episcopal Conference, governed
according to its own statutes, which by the norms of
canon law must be approved by the Apostolic See. Such an
Episcopal Conference expresses the fraternal communion
of all the Bishops of a nation and treats the doctrinal
and pastoral questions that are significant for the
entire Catholic community of the country without,
however, interfering in the exercise of the ordinary and
immediate power of each Bishop in his own diocese.
Moreover, every Episcopal Conference maintains opportune
and useful contacts with the civil authorities of the
place, partly in order to favour cooperation between the
Church and the State, but it is obvious that an
Episcopal Conference cannot be subjected to any civil
authority in questions of faith and of living according
to the faith (fides et mores, sacramental life), which
are exclusively the competence of the Church.
In the light of the principles expounded
above, the present College of Catholic Bishops of China[42]
cannot be recognized as an Episcopal Conference by the
Apostolic See: the “clandestine” Bishops, those not
recognized by the Government but in communion with the
Pope, are not part of it; it includes Bishops who are
still illegitimate, and it is governed by statutes that
contain elements incompatible with Catholic doctrine.
Appointment of Bishops
9. As all of you know, one of the most delicate
problems in relations between the Holy See and the
authorities of your country is the question of episcopal
appointments. On the one hand, it is understandable that
governmental authorities are attentive to the choice of
those who will carry out the important role of leading
and shepherding the local Catholic communities, given
the social implications which – in China as in the rest
of the world – this function has in the civil sphere as
well as the spiritual. On the other hand, the Holy See
follows the appointment of Bishops with special care
since this touches the very heart of the life of the
Church, inasmuch as the appointment of Bishops by the
Pope is the guarantee of the unity of the Church and of
hierarchical communion. For this reason the Code of
Canon Law (cf. c. 1382) lays down grave sanctions both
for the Bishop who freely confers episcopal ordination
without an apostolic mandate and for the one who
receives it: such an ordination in fact inflicts a
painful wound upon ecclesial communion and constitutes a
grave violation of canonical discipline.
The Pope, when he issues the apostolic
mandate for the ordination of a Bishop, exercises his
supreme spiritual authority: this authority and this
intervention remain within the strictly religious
sphere. It is not, therefore, a question of a political
authority, unduly asserting itself in the internal
affairs of a State and offending against its
sovereignty.
The appointment of Bishops for a particular
religious community is understood, also in international
documents, as a constitutive element of the full
exercise of the right to religious freedom.[43]
The Holy See would love to be completely free to appoint
Bishops;[44]
therefore, considering the recent particular
developments of the Church in China, I trust that an
accord can be reached with the Government so as to
resolve certain questions regarding the choice of
candidates for the episcopate, the publication of the
appointment of Bishops, and the recognition – concerning
civil effects where necessary – of the new Bishops on
the part of the civil authorities.
Finally, as to the choice of candidates for
the episcopate, while knowing your difficulties in this
regard, I would like to remind you that they should be
worthy priests, respected and loved by the faithful,
models of life in the faith, and that they should
possess a certain experience in the pastoral ministry,
so that they are equipped to address the burdensome
responsibility of a Pastor of the Church.[45]
Whenever it proves impossible within a diocese to find
suitable candidates to occupy the episcopal see, the
cooperation of Bishops in neighbouring dioceses can help
to identify suitable candidates.
SECOND PART
GUIDELINES FOR PASTORAL LIFE
Sacraments, governance of dioceses,
parishes
10. In recent times difficulties have emerged,
linked to individual initiatives taken by Pastors,
priests and lay faithful, who, moved by generous
pastoral zeal, have not always respected the tasks or
responsibilities of others.
In this regard, the Second Vatican Council
reminds us that, if on the one hand individual Bishops
“as members of the episcopal college and legitimate
successors of the Apostles, by Christ's arrangement and
decree [are] bound to be solicitous for the entire
Church”, on the other hand they “exercise their pastoral
office over the portion of the People of God assigned to
them, not over other Churches nor over the Church
universal.”[46]
Moreover, faced with certain problems that
have emerged in various diocesan communities during
recent years, I feel it incumbent upon me to recall the
canonical norm according to which every cleric must be
incardinated in a particular Church or in an Institute
of consecrated life and must exercise his own ministry
in communion with the diocesan Bishop. Only for good
reasons may a cleric exercise his ministry in another
diocese, but always with the prior agreement of the two
diocesan Bishops, that is, the Ordinary of the
particular Church in which he is incardinated and the
Ordinary of the particular Church for whose service he
is destined.[47]
In not a few situations, then, you have had
to consider the problem of concelebration of the
Eucharist. In this regard, I remind you that this
presupposes, as conditions, profession of the same faith
and hierarchical communion with the Pope and with the
universal Church. Therefore it is licit to concelebrate
with Bishops and with priests who are in communion with
the Pope, even if they are recognized by the civil
authorities and maintain a relationship with agencies
desired by the State and extraneous to the structure of
the Church, provided – as was said earlier (cf. section
7 above, paragraph 8) – that this recognition and this
relationship do not entail the denial of unrenounceable
principles of the faith and of ecclesiastical communion.
The lay faithful too, who are animated by a
sincere love for Christ and for the Church, must not
hesitate to participate in the Eucharist celebrated by
Bishops and by priests who are in full communion with
the Successor of Peter and are recognized by the civil
authorities. The same applies for all the other
sacraments.
Concerning Bishops whose consecrations took
place without the pontifical mandate, while respecting
the Catholic rite of episcopal ordination, the resulting
problems must always be resolved in the light of the
principles of Catholic doctrine. Their ordination – as I
have already said (cf. section 8 above, paragraph 12) –
is illegitimate but valid, just as priestly ordinations
conferred by them are valid, and sacraments administered
by such Bishops and priests are likewise valid.
Therefore the faithful, taking this into account, where
the eucharistic celebration and the other sacraments are
concerned, must, within the limits of the possible, seek
Bishops and priests who are in communion with the Pope:
nevertheless, where this cannot be achieved without
grave inconvenience, they may, for the sake of their
spiritual good, turn also to those who are not in
communion with the Pope.
I consider it opportune, finally, to point
out to you what canonical legislation provides in order
to help diocesan Bishops to carry out their respective
pastoral duty. Every diocesan Bishop is invited to make
use of indispensable instruments of communion and
cooperation within the diocesan Catholic community: the
diocesan curia, the presbyteral council, the college of
consultors, the diocesan pastoral council and the
diocesan finance council. These agencies express
communion, they favour the sharing of common
responsibilities and are of great assistance to the
Pastors, who can thus avail themselves of the fraternal
cooperation of priests, consecrated persons and lay
faithful.
The same is true of the various councils
that canon law provides for parishes: the parish
pastoral council and the parish finance council.
Both for dioceses and for parishes,
particular attention must be devoted to the Church's
temporal goods, moveable and immoveable, which must be
legally registered in the civil sphere in the name of
the diocese or parish and never in the name of
individual persons (that is, the Bishop, parish priest
or a group of the faithful). Meanwhile, the traditional
pastoral and missionary guideline that can be neatly
summarized in the principle: “nihil sine Episcopo”
retains all its validity.
From the analysis of the problems outlined
above, it emerges clearly that any real solution will be
rooted in the promotion of communion, which draws its
vigour and impetus, as from a source, from Christ, the
icon of the Father’s love. Charity, which is always
above everything (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-12), will be the force
and the criterion in pastoral work for the construction
of an ecclesial community capable of making the Risen
Christ present to modern man.
Ecclesiastical provinces
11. Numerous administrative changes have taken place
in the civil sphere during the last fifty years. This
has also involved various ecclesiastical
circumscriptions, which have been eliminated or
regrouped or have been modified in their territorial
configuration on the basis of the civil administrative
circumscriptions. In this regard, I wish to confirm that
the Holy See is prepared to address the entire question
of the circumscriptions and ecclesiastical provinces in
an open and constructive dialogue with the Chinese
Episcopate and – where opportune and helpful – with
governmental authorities.
Catholic communities
12. I am well aware that the diocesan and parochial
communities, spread over the vast Chinese territory,
demonstrate a particular liveliness of Christian life,
witness of faith and pastoral initiative. It is
consoling for me to note that, despite past and present
difficulties, the Bishops, priests, consecrated persons
and lay faithful have maintained a profound awareness of
being living members of the universal Church, in
communion of faith and life with all the Catholic
communities throughout the world. They know in their
hearts what it means to be Catholic. And it is precisely
from this Catholic heart that the commitment must
likewise issue forth to make manifest and effective,
both within individual communities and in relations
between different communities, that spirit of communion,
understanding and forgiveness which – as was said
earlier (cf. section 5 above, paragraph 4, and section
6) – is the visible seal of an authentic Christian life.
I am sure that the Spirit of Christ, just as he helped
the communities to keep the faith alive in time of
persecution, will today help all Catholics to grow in
unity.
As I have already observed (cf. section 2
above, paragraph 1, and section 4, paragraph 1), members
of Catholic communities in your country – especially
Bishops, priests and consecrated persons – are
unfortunately not yet allowed to live and to express
fully and visibly certain aspects of their belonging to
the Church and their hierarchical communion with the
Pope, since free contact with the Holy See and with
other Catholic communities in various countries is
ordinarily impeded. It is true that in recent years the
Church has enjoyed greater religious freedom than in the
past. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that grave
limitations remain that touch the heart of the faith and
that, to a certain degree, suffocate pastoral activity.
In this regard I renew my earnest wish (cf. section 4
above, paragraphs 2, 3, 4) that in the course of a
respectful and open dialogue between the Holy See and
the Chinese Bishops on the one hand, and the
governmental authorities on the other, the difficulties
mentioned may be overcome and thus a fruitful
understanding may be reached that will prove beneficial
to the Catholic community and to social cohesion.
The Priests
13. I would now like to address a special reflection
and an invitation to priests – especially those ordained
in recent years – who have undertaken the path of the
pastoral ministry with such generosity. It seems to me
that the current ecclesial and socio-political situation
renders ever more urgent the need to draw light and
strength from the well-springs of priestly spirituality,
which are God's love, the unconditional following of
Christ, passion for proclamation of the Gospel,
faithfulness to the Church and generous service of
neighbour.[48]
How can I fail to recall, in this regard, as an
encouragement for all, the shining examples of Bishops
and priests who, in the difficult years of the recent
past, have testified to an unfailing love for the
Church, even by the gift of their own lives for her and
for Christ?
My dear priests! You who bear “the burden of
the day and the scorching heat” (Mt 20:12), who have put
your hand to the plough and do not look back (cf. Lk
9:62): think of those places where the faithful are
waiting anxiously for a priest and where for many years,
feeling the lack of a priest, they have not ceased to
pray for one to arrive. I know that among you there are
confrères who have had to deal with difficult times and
situations, adopting positions that cannot always be
condoned from an ecclesial point of view and who,
despite everything, want to return to full communion
with the Church. In the spirit of that profound
reconciliation to which my venerable predecessor
repeatedly invited the Church in China,[49]
I turn now to the Bishops who are in communion with the
Successor of Peter, so that with a paternal spirit they
may evaluate these questions case by case and give a
just response to that desire, having recourse – if
necessary – to the Apostolic See. And, as a sign of this
desired reconciliation, I think that there is no gesture
more significant than that of renewing as a community –
on the occasion of the priestly day of Holy Thursday, as
happens in the universal Church, or on another occasion
that might be considered more opportune – the profession
of faith, as a witness to the full communion attained,
for the edification of the Holy People of God entrusted
to your pastoral care, and to the praise of the Most
Holy Trinity.
Furthermore, I realize that in China too, as
in the rest of the Church, the need for an adequate
ongoing formation of the clergy is emerging. Hence the
invitation, addressed to you Bishops as leaders of
ecclesial communities, to think especially of the young
clergy who are increasingly subject to new pastoral
challenges, linked to the demands of the task of
evangelizing a society as complex as present-day Chinese
society. Pope John Paul II reminded us of this: ongoing
formation of priests “is an intrinsic requirement of the
gift and sacramental ministry received; and it proves
necessary in every age. It is particularly urgent today,
not only because of rapid changes in the social and
cultural conditions of individuals and peoples among
whom priestly ministry is exercised, but also because of
that ‘new evangelization’ which constitutes the
essential and pressing task of the Church at the end of
the second millennium”.[50]
Vocations and religious formation
14. During the last fifty years, the Church in China
has never lacked an abundant flowering of vocations to
the priesthood and to consecrated life. For this we must
thank the Lord, because it is a sign of vitality and a
reason for hope. Moreover, in the course of the years,
many indigenous religious congregations have emerged:
Bishops and priests know from experience what an
indispensable contribution women religious make to
catechesis and to parish life in all its forms;
moreover, care for the most needy, offered in
cooperation with the local civil authorities, is an
expression of that charity and service of neighbour that
are the most credible witness of the power and vitality
of the Gospel of Jesus.
I am aware, however, that this flowering is
accompanied, today, by not a few difficulties. The need
therefore emerges both for more careful vocational
discernment on the part of Church leaders, and for more
in-depth education and instruction of aspirants to the
priesthood and religious life. Notwithstanding the
precariousness of the means available, for the future of
the Church in China it will be necessary to take steps
to ensure, on the one hand, particular attention in the
care of vocations and, on the other hand, a more solid
formation with regard to the human, spiritual,
philosophical-theological and pastoral aspects, to be
carried out in seminaries and religious institutes.
In this regard, the formation for celibacy
of candidates for the priesthood deserves particular
mention. It is important that they learn to live and to
esteem celibacy as a precious gift from God and as an
eminently eschatological sign which bears witness to an
undivided love for God and for his people, and
configures the priest to Jesus Christ, Head and
Bridegroom of the Church. This gift, in fact, in an
outstanding way “expresses the priest's service to the
Church in and with the Lord”[51]
and has a prophetic value for today's world.
As for the religious vocation, in the
present context of the Church in China it is necessary
that its two dimensions be seen ever more clearly:
namely, on the one hand, the witness of the charism of
total consecration to Christ through the vows of
chastity, poverty and obedience, and on the other hand,
the response to the demand to proclaim the Gospel in the
socio- historical circumstances of the country today.
The Lay Faithful and the Family
15. In the most difficult periods of the recent
history of the Catholic Church in China, the lay
faithful, both as individuals and families and as
members of spiritual and apostolic movements, have shown
total fidelity to the Gospel, even paying a personal
price for their faithfulness to Christ. My dear lay
people, you are called, today too, to incarnate the
Gospel in your lives and to bear witness to it by means
of generous and effective service for the good of the
people and for the development of the country: and you
will accomplish this mission by living as honest
citizens and by operating as active and responsible
co-workers in spreading the word of God to those around
you, in the country or in the city. You who in recent
times have been courageous witnesses of the faith, must
remain the hope of the Church for the future! This
demands from you an ever more engaged participation in
all areas of Church life, in communion with your
respective Pastors.
Since the future of humanity passes by way
of the family, I consider it indispensable and urgent
that lay people should promote family values and
safeguard the needs of the family. Lay people, whose
faith enables them to know God’s marvellous design for
the family, have an added reason to assume this concrete
and demanding task: the family in fact “is the normal
place where the young grow to personal and social
maturity. It is also the bearer of the heritage of
humanity itself, because through the family, life is
passed on from generation to generation. The family
occupies a very important place in Asian cultures; and,
as the Synod Fathers noted, family values like filial
respect, love and care for the aged and the sick, love
of children and harmony are held in high esteem in all
Asian cultures and religious traditions”.[52]
The above-mentioned values form part of the
relevant Chinese cultural context, but also in your land
there is no lack of forces that influence the family
negatively in various ways. Therefore the Church which
is in China, aware that the good of society and her own
good are profoundly linked to the good of the family,[53]
must have a keener and more urgent sense of her mission
to proclaim to all people God's design for marriage and
the family, ensuring the full vitality of each.[54]
Christian initiation of adults
16. The recent history of the Catholic Church in
China has seen a large number of adults coming to the
faith, thanks partly to the witness of the local
Christian community. You, Pastors, are called to devote
particular care to their Christian initiation via an
appropriate and serious period of catechumenate aimed at
helping them and preparing them to lead the life of
Jesus' disciples.
In this regard, I would mention that
evangelization is never purely intellectual
communication, but rather includes experience of life,
purification and transformation of the whole of
existence, and a journey in communion. Only in this way
is a proper relationship established between thought and
life.
Looking then to the past, it is
unfortunately the case that many adults have not always
been sufficiently initiated into the complete truth of
Christian life and have not even known the richness of
the renewal brought by the Second Vatican Council. It
therefore seems necessary and urgent to offer them a
solid and thorough Christian formation, in the shape of
a post-baptismal catechumenate.[55]
The Missionary Vocation
17. The Church, always and everywhere missionary, is
called to proclaim and to bear witness to the Gospel.
The Church in China must also sense in her heart the
missionary ardour of her Founder and Teacher.
Addressing young pilgrims on the Mount of
the Beatitudes in the Holy Year 2000, John Paul II said:
“At the moment of his Ascension, Jesus gave his
disciples a mission and this reassurance: ‘All power in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore,
and make disciples of all nations ... and behold, I am
with you always, until the end of the age’ (Mt
28:18-20). For two-thousand years Christ’s followers
have carried out this mission. Now, at the dawn of the
third millennium, it is your turn. It is your turn to go
out into the world to preach the message of the Ten
Commandments and the Beatitudes. When God speaks, he
speaks of things which have the greatest importance for
each person, for the people of the 21st century no less
than those of the first century. The Ten Commandments
and the Beatitudes speak of truth and goodness, of grace
and freedom: of all that is necessary to enter into
Christ’s Kingdom.”[56]
Now it is your turn, Chinese disciples of
the Lord, to be courageous apostles of that Kingdom. I
am sure that your response will be most generous.
CONCLUSION
Revocation of faculties and of pastoral
directives
18. Considering in the first place some positive
developments of the situation of the Church in China,
and in the second place the increased opportunities and
greater ease in communication, and finally the requests
sent to Rome by various Bishops and priests, I hereby
revoke all the faculties previously granted in order to
address particular pastoral necessities that emerged in
truly difficult times.
Let the same be applied to all directives of
a pastoral nature, past and recent. The doctrinal
principles that inspired them now find a new application
in the directives contained herein.
A day of prayer for the Church in China
19. Dear Pastors and all the faithful, the date 24
May could in the future become an occasion for the
Catholics of the whole world to be united in prayer with
the Church which is in China. This day is dedicated to
the liturgical memorial of Our Lady, Help of Christians,
who is venerated with great devotion at the Marian
Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai.
I would like that date to be kept by you as
a day of prayer for the Church in China. I encourage you
to celebrate it by renewing your communion of faith in
Jesus our Lord and of faithfulness to the Pope, and by
praying that the unity among you may become ever deeper
and more visible. I remind you, moreover, of the
commandment that Jesus gave us, to love our enemies and
to pray for those who persecute us, as well as the
invitation of the Apostle Saint Paul: “First of all,
then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions,
and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all
who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and
peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This
is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our
Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to
the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:1-4).
On that same day, the Catholics of the whole
world – in particular those who are of Chinese origin –
will demonstrate their fraternal solidarity and
solicitude for you, asking the Lord of history for the
gift of perseverance in witness, in the certainty that
your sufferings past and present for the Holy Name of
Jesus and your intrepid loyalty to his Vicar on earth
will be rewarded, even if at times everything can seem a
failure.
Final Greeting
At the conclusion of this Letter I pray that
you, dear Pastors of the Catholic Church which is in
China, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful,
may “rejoice, though now for a little while you may have
to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of
your faith, more precious than gold which though
perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and
glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1
Pet 1:6-7).
May Mary Most Holy, Mother of the Church and
Queen of China, who at the hour of the Cross patiently
awaited the morning of the Resurrection in the silence
of hope, accompany you with maternal solicitude and
intercede for all of you, together with Saint Joseph and
the countless Holy Martyrs of China.
I assure you of my constant prayers and,
with affectionate remembrance of the elderly, the sick,
the children and young people of your noble Nation, I
bless you from my heart.
Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on 27 May,
the Solemnity of Pentecost, in the year 2007, the third
of my Pontificate.
Endnote :
- Benedict XVI, Angelus of 26
December 2006: “With special spiritual closeness, I also think
of those Catholics who maintain their fidelity to the See of
Peter without ceding to compromises, sometimes at the price of
grave sufferings. The whole Church admires their example and
prays that they will have the strength to persevere, knowing
that their tribulations are the fount of victory, even if at
that moment they can seem a failure”. L'Osservatore Romano,
English edition, 3 January 2007, p. 12.
- Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Gaudium et Spes, 10.
- Message to the
participants of the International Convention “Matteo Ricci: for
a dialogue between China and the West” (24 October 2001), 4:
L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 31 October 2001, p.
3.
- Cf. John Paul II,
Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 7: AAS 92
(2000), 456.
- Cf. ibid., 19, 20: AAS
92 (2000), 477-482.
- Cf. Address to members of
the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (Manila, 15 January
1995), 11: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 25
January 1995, p. 6.
- John Paul II, Apostolic
Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 1:
AAS 93 (2001), 266.
- Benedict XVI, General
Audience (Wednesday 23 August 2006), L'Osservatore Romano,
English edition, 30 August 2006, p. 3.
- John Paul II, Message to
the participants of the International Convention “Matteo Ricci:
for a dialogue between China and the West” (24 October 2001), 6:
L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 31 October 2001, pp.
3-4.
- Ibid.
- Cf. Fonti Ricciane,
ed. Pasquale M. D'Elia, S.J., vol. 2, Rome 1949, no. 617, p.
152.
- Message to the
participants of the International Convention “Matteo Ricci: for
a dialogue between China and the West” (24
October 2001), 4: L'Osservatore Romano,
English edition, 31 October 2001, p. 3.
- Pastoral Constitution on
the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 76.
- Encyclical Letter
Deus Caritas Est (25 December 2005), 28: AAS 98
(2006), 240.Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral
Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et
Spes, 76.
- Cf. Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
Lumen Gentium, 26.
- Ibid., 23.
- Cf. Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic
Church on some aspects of the Church understood as Communion,
Communionis Notio (28 May 1992), 11-14: AAS 85 (1993),
844-847.
- Cf. Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
Lumen Gentium, 23.
- Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic
Church on some aspects of the Church understood as Communion,
Communionis Notio (28 May 1992), 13: AAS 85
(1993), 846.
- See also Benedict XVI,
Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis
(22 February 2007), 6: “The Church's faith is essentially a
eucharistic faith, and it is especially nourished at the table
of the Eucharist. Faith and the sacraments are two complementary
aspects of ecclesial life. Awakened by the preaching of God's
word, faith is nourished and grows in the grace-filled encounter
with the Risen Lord which takes place in the sacraments: ‘faith
is expressed in the rite, while the rite reinforces and
strengthens faith.’ For this reason, the Sacrament of the Altar
is always at the heart of the Church's life: ‘thanks to the
Eucharist, the Church is reborn ever anew!’ The more lively the
eucharistic faith of the People of God, the deeper is its
sharing in ecclesial life in steadfast commitment to the mission
entrusted by Christ to his disciples. The Church's very history
bears witness to this. Every great reform has in some way been
linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord’s eucharistic
presence among his people”.
- Apostolic Letter Novo
Millennio Ineunte
(6 January 2001), 42: AAS 93 (2001), 296. See also
Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est (25
December 2005), 12: “Divine activity now takes on dramatic form
when, in Jesus Christ, it is God himself who goes in search of
the ‘stray sheep’, a suffering and lost humanity. When Jesus
speaks in his parables of the shepherd who goes after the lost
sheep, of the woman who looks for the lost coin, of the father
who goes to meet and embrace his prodigal son, these are no mere
words: they constitute an explanation of his very being and
activity. His death on the Cross is the culmination of that
turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in
order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most
radical form”: AAS 98 (2006), 228.
- Benedict XVI, General
Audience (Wednesday 5 April 2006): L'Osservatore Romano,
English edition, 12 April 2006, p.11.
- The lived experience of
the ancient Church in time of persecution should be a source of
enlightenment for all, as should the teaching given on this
matter by the Church of Rome herself. Rome rejected the rigorist
positions of the Novatians and the Donatists, and appealed for a
generous attitude of pardon and reconciliation towards those who
had apostatized during the persecutions (the “lapsed”), and
wished to be readmitted to the communion of the Church.
- John Paul II, Message to
the Catholic community in China Alla Vigilia (8
December 1999), 6: L'Osservatore Romano, English
edition, 15 December 1999, p. 5.
- Cf. Mt 4:8-10; Jn 6:15.
- Cf. Is 42:1-4.
- Cf. Jn 18:37.
- Cf. Mt 26:51-53; Jn
18:36.
- Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, Declaration on Religious Liberty
Dignitatis Humanae, 11.
- Benedict XVI, General
Audience (Wednesday 5 April 2006): L'Osservatore Romano,
English edition, 12 April 2006, p.11.
- Second Vatican Ecumenical
Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World
Gaudium et Spes, 28.
- Benedict XVI, General
Audience (Wednesday 5 April 2006): L'Osservatore Romano,
English edition, 12 April 2006, p.11.
- Compendium of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 174. Cf. Catechism of
the Catholic Church, 857 and 869.
- John Paul II, Apostolic
Letter Apostolos Suos (21 May 1998), 10: AAS 90 (1998),
648.
- Cf. Code of Canon
Law, c. 447.
- Statutes of the
Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association(CCPA), 2004, art. 3.
- Homily for the Jubilee
of Bishops (8 October 2000), 5: AAS 93 (2001), 28. Cf. Second
Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Pastoral Office of
Bishops in the Church Christus Dominus, 6.
- Ibid.,27.
- Benedict XVI, Address to
new Bishops (21 September 2006): AAS 98 (2006), 696.
- Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
Lumen Gentium, 21. Cf. also Code of Canon Law,
c.375 § 2.
- Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Gentium, 22. Cf. also “Preliminary
Explanatory Note”, no.2.
- China Catholic
Bishops' College (CCBC).
- At the universal level,
see, for example, the provisions of art. 18, paragraph 1, of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16
December 1966 (“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of
thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include
freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice,
and freedom, either individually or in community with others and
in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
worship, observance, practice and teaching”) and the
interpretation, binding for Member States, given to it by the
Human Rights Committee of the United Nations in “General Comment
22” (paragraph 4) of 30 July 1993 (“the practice and teaching of
religion or belief includes acts integral to the conduct by
religious groups of their basic affairs, such as freedom to
choose their religious leaders, priests and teachers, the
freedom to establish seminaries or religious schools and the
freedom to prepare and distribute religious texts or
publications”).
At the regional level, then, see, for example,
the following commitments, assumed at the Vienna Meeting of the
Representatives of States participating in the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE): “In order to ensure
the freedom of the individual to profess and practise religion
or belief, the participating States will, inter alia ... respect
the right of these religious communities to ... organize
themselves according to their own hierarchical and institutional
structure ... select, appoint and replace their personnel in
accordance with their respective requirements and standards as
well as with any freely accepted arrangement between them and
their State…”(Concluding Document of 1989, Principle No.16 of
the Section ‘Questions relating to Security in Europe”).
Cf. also Second Vatican Ecumenical Council,
Declaration on Religious Liberty Dignitatis Humanae, 4.
- Cf. Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in
the Church Christus Dominus, 20.
- See, in this regard, the
relevant norms of the
Code of Canon Law (cf. c. 378).
- Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Gentium, 23.
- Cf. Code of Canon
Law, cc. 265-272.
- For a reflection on the
doctrine and spirituality of the priest and on the charism of
celibacy, I refer to my address to the Roman Curia (22 December
2006): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 3 January
2007, p.6.
- Cf. John Paul II,
Message to the Church which is in China on the Seventieth
Anniversary of the Ordination in Rome of the First Group of
Chinese Bishops and on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the
Institution of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy in China La
Memoria Liturgica (3 December 1996), 4: AAS 89
(1997), 256.
- Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992), 70:
AAS 84 (1992), 782.
- Ibid.,29: AAS 84 (1992),
704.
- John Paul II,
Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Ecclesia in Asia (6 November 1999), 46: AAS 92
(2000), 521. Cf. Benedict XVI, Address at Fifth World Meeting of
Families in Spain (Valencia, 8 July 2006): “The family is a
necessary good for peoples, an indispensable foundation for
society and a great and lifelong treasure for couples. It is a
unique good for children, who are meant to be the fruit of the
love, of the total and generous self-giving of their parents. To
proclaim the whole truth about the family based on marriage as a
domestic Church and a sanctuary of life, is a great
responsibility incumbent upon all ... Christ has shown us what
is always the supreme source of our life and thus of the lives
of families: ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another
as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay
down one's life for one's friends' (Jn 15:12-13). The love of
God himself has been poured out upon us in Baptism.
Consequently, families are called to experience this same kind
of love, for the Lord makes it possible for us, through our
human love, to be sensitive, loving and merciful like Christ”:
AAS 98 (2006), 591-592.
- Cf. Second Vatican
Ecumenical Council, Pasto- ral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 47.
- Cf. John Paul II,
Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (22 November
1981), 3: AAS 74 (1982), 84.
- As the Synod Fathers of
the Seventh Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops observed
(1-30 October 1987), in the formation of Christians “a
post-baptismal catechesis in the form of a catechumenate can
also be helpful by presenting again some elements from the Rite
of Christian Initiation of Adults with the purpose of allowing a
person to grasp and live the immense, extraordinary richness and
responsibility received at Baptism”: John Paul II, Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation Christifideles Laici (30 December
1988), 61: AAS 81 (1989), 514. Cf. Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 1230-1231.
- Homily on the Mount of
the Beatitudes (Israel, 24 March 2000), 5: L'Osservatore
Romano, English edition, 29 March 2000, p.9.
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