CHINESE CATHOLICS NEED UNITY, VATICAN OFFICIAL SAYS

VATICAN, Sep. 25, 00 (CWNews.com) - After a week-long visit to China, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray has reported that Catholics on the mainland are seeking to overcome the divisions caused by government efforts to create an autonomous "Patriotic Catholic Association" independent of the Holy See.

"Basically it is a question of one Church, and one common faith, trying bit by bit to overcome the unhappy separation into "underground" and "official," the cardinal told a Vatican Radio audience on September 25.

Cardinal Etchegaray, the chairman of the Vatican committee coordinating the Jubilee celebration, was visiting China to participate in a symposium on religions and the search for peace. During his stay there, he met with representatives of the official (that is, government-recognized) Church, and said that the leaders confirmed that Chinese Catholics are loyal to the Pope.

The cardinal suggested that the divisions between official and underground Catholic churches have become less distinct. "Time has made the boundaries more and more porous," he said; "especially in some regions of that immense country, where everything is in flux."

From a distance, the cardinal continued, the distinctions between government-approved Catholic organizations and the underground Church seem clear. But having had the opportunity to become more closely acquainted with the situation, he said, "one can see that we are still in the evangelical season where it is impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff."

Cardinal Etchegaray said that he visited China to deliver "the Jubilee message of reconciliation among Catholics." He said he is "more convinced than ever of the necessity and urgency of a witness of unity, especially at a time when China is going through a huge social transformation."

The cardinal hastened to add that he did not want to understate "the heroic fidelity of the Church of silence." And he emphasized that his words should not be taken as an endorsement of the "official" Church, as opposed to the underground Catholics. He expressed "the keenest regret" that he was denied permission to meet with leaders of the underground Church while he was in China. And he said that he had protested vigorously to members of the ruling Communist Party about reports that underground Catholics had been arrested.

Cardinal Etchegaray also lamented the recent ordination of bishops for the official Church, in ceremonies that went forward despite the absence of Vatican approval. "If that is repeated, they risk compromising the rapprochement among Catholics," he said.

CWN - Catholic World News