What's Come of the Pope's Letter to China?

22-08-2008

Theologians Assess Document After a Year

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
Two high-ranking theologians said Benedict XVI's letter to Chinese
Catholics, more than a year after its release, has outlined key points
for reconciliation in China.

With the world's focus on Beijing
for the Olympic games, L'Osservatore Romano talked about the May 27,
2007, papal letter with Dominican Father Wojciech Giertych, Pontifical
Household theologian, and Salesian Father Savio Hon Tai-Fai, a member
of the International Theological Commission.

Both priests
highlighted the importance of the letter in pointing out possible and
specific ways to encourage the reconciliation of the national and
underground Church in China, though they agree that the process will
take time.

In China, the government permits religious practice
only with recognized personnel and in places registered with the
Religious Affairs Office and under the control of the Patriotic
Association.

This explains the difference affirmed between the
"national" or "official" Church, and the faithful who oppose such
control and who wish to obey the Pope directly. The latter constitute
the non-official, or underground, Church.

Morality

For
Polish Father Giertych, one of the essential points of the letter is
the consideration on the morality of human acts when freedom is
lacking.

"In his message to the Church in China, the Holy
Father attempted to address both those who have heroically resisted the
persecutions and continued their clandestine existence, absolutely
excluding any contact with the Chinese civil authorities, as well as
those who, despite having made too many compromises, have tried to take
advantage of the meager space, measured out carefully, which the
political authorities offered," Father Giertych said.

"It is
difficult to assess from the outside the thin line that exists between
a cowardly retreat from a prophetic stand and prudence to keep what can
be saved in face of oppression," he added. "The Holy Father has invited
both groups, without condemning anyone, to overcome their lack of
mutual trust and build the unity of the Body of Christ on the basis of
forgiveness, and reconciliation and unity with the universal Church."

In
making this appeal, the theologian noted, the Pope "has carefully
avoided launching quick accusations, and has abstained from passing a
moral judgment of condemnation, emphasizing the fact that in moral
assessments, it is necessary to take into account the true intentions
of a person who makes difficult prudential decisions."

The
Pontifical Household theologian insisted that this "personalist" focus
is essential when it comes to judging decisions made under a
totalitarian regime.

He explained: "The fundamental principle
-- according to which in all moral acts, in addition to the objective
light that comes from the moral law, both the personal consideration
made by the agent's reason as well as the agent's interior intention
are of decisive significance -- will be useful, we hope, when it comes
to reading recent history and to overcoming the climate of suspicion
and mistrust that life often engenders under totalitarian regimes.

"The
assessment of thorny issues, considered in the context of external
oppression, calls above all for respect, sympathy and a feeling of
compassion toward those who were forced to act in the face of
impossible dilemmas. Only in a climate of respect and understanding
will the wounds caused by persecution, fear and suspicion come to be
cured."

In this connection, the priest added, Benedict XVI's
letter expresses "words of caution so that grave injustices will not be
committed on the part of those who, living in a different social
context, apply simplistic criteria in their easy condemnations."

Therefore,
Father Giertych concluded, "it is necessary, as John Paul II said in
his May 2006 address to priests in Warsaw cathedral, to sincerely
practice penance for past infidelities, avoiding arrogant judgment of
past generations who lived in another time and in other circumstances."

Unity in Peter

For
his part, Salesian Father Savio Hon Tai-Fai said the Pope "is aware
that reconciliation cannot be effected from one day to the next. Prayer
and patience are needed."

"The Holy Father inspires hope and
wishes to touch the hearts of people so that change can take place," he
said. "No matter how serious the limitations to freedom are, people
must choose. In fact, the fidelity of Catholics in China 'at the cost
of great sufferings' is much praised in the letter."

The
Salesian said that conversations he's had with Chinese Catholics affirm
the letter was written with clarity and charity: "a charity with which
the Pope requests reconciliation and forgiveness, and a clarity with
which he states that the Church in China must be built on the rock of
Peter through the bishops' communion with the Pope."

The letter
"touches the crucial point of the problem -- the original cause of the
rupture of unity," Father Tai-Fai added. "In recent years, the Church
has enjoyed greater religious freedom than in the past, but there still
are great limitations, which are harmful for the Church and of no
advantage for the state."

"Catholics in China have been told to
ignore the letter, which has been removed from Web sites. Priests and
assistants have been asked not to speak about it," he lamented.
However, the Salesian affirmed, all the efforts to silence the Pope's
voice were "precisely what was needed to stimulate people's appetite to
look for it."

http://www.zenit.org/article-23427?l=english