Papal Letter Does Not Encourage Underground Clergy To 'Surface'
Jul 06, 2007
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong told a press conference July 5 that Pope Benedict XVI's letter to the Catholics in China did not ask the "underground" Church to "surface."
HONG KONG (UCAN, July 6, 2007) -- The pope's letter "certainly does not encourage" them to "come out," the prelate said. The underground clergy could make such a move only if the authorities do not attach any conditions, he added.
The decision to surface is a complicated choice, he continued. The cardinal explained that "indeed almost always" in the procedure of recognition, underground clergy are forced to violate Church discipline by joining the Catholic Patriotic Association and concelebrating Mass with the illegitimate bishops ordained without a papal mandate.
Cardinal Zen added that he believes the pope has an open attitude about whether they come out or not.
The press conference at the Catholic Diocese Centre, next to the cathedral, was called to answer the many media inquiries about the June 30 papal letter and the Hong Kong situation.
As the local Church leader called on mainland Catholics to "understand accurately" the pope's letter, he said the Church in Hong Kong, while not mentioned in the letter, will continue to play its role as a bridge Church and help mainland Catholics understand the text.
Concerning Beijing's reaction to the letter, the cardinal said he is glad the initial response is mild, in contrast to the authorities call for mainland bishops to stand against the Holy See during the canonization row in 2000. That year, on Oct. 1, China's National Day, the Vatican canonized 120 Chinese martyrs.
Nevertheless, he thinks the Chinese government is worried about the letter, citing reports that it has warned or closed down some Catholic websites that carried the text or even related news.
By July 6, UCA News found three such websites, run by "underground" Catholics, that still had the full official Chinese text, which ran 19,763 characters including the footnotes. Local public security bureaus closed three other popular sites that carried the papal letter and related news.
One of the key issues addressed in the letter is the appointment of bishops.
On July 5, Wen Wei Po, a pro-Beijing daily in Hong Kong, reported that the dioceses of Guangzhou, Guizhou, Hubei (Yichang) and Ningxia have already elected bishops and are now waiting for the approval of the government-approved bishops' conference. Once this is given, the ordinations will be held within three months, according to Church custom, it quoted an unnamed "authoritative person" as saying.
The person went on to say that the pope in his letter urged "pardon and reconciliation" within the Church. The person also claimed the pope encouraged the underground community to seek recognition by governmental authorities in order to further evangelization work of the China Church.
"Actually, we have been working on pushing forward the underground community to turn 'above ground' to acquire lawful identity. As long as they do not act in violation of laws, they can live normal religious life," the person said.
However, the Chinese daily also quoted the person as saying that Beijing authorities do not accept the "unrealistic" papal letter.
The "authoritative person" summarized that the letter had no surprises for either the open or underground Church communities, had few new things to say and "repeated the hackneyed tune" on fundamental issues.
The pope's letter intentionally avoided the Taiwan issue and did not consider current conditions in China when it addressed the issue of bishops' appointments, the unnamed person was quoted as saying.
Since such an attitude is quite rigid and lacks flexibility, the person continued, it is not likely to have the effect the Vatican might hope for, and might even create more complications and barriers in future dialogue between China and the Vatican.
The person stressed that the Church in China will ordain its bishops according to the actual needs of the local dioceses and will not deliberately speed up or slow down the process.
Papal Letter Does Not Encourage Underground Clergy To 'Surface'