A Catholic priest in his 30s, who asks to be identified as "a Priest from the Underground Church," has written his impressions of the letter Pope Benedict XVI recently issued for Catholics in mainland China.

The writer in northern China was trained in underground seminaries in China and has studied abroad. He asked not to be named in the commentary he wrote for UCA News on July 2, two days after the pope's letter was published.

The priest analyzes the situation and expresses thanks for the papal letter. He supports the pope's call for unity and reconciliation among all Catholics in China, and draws special attention to the vexing issue of clergy from open and underground Catholic communities concelebrating the Eucharist.

For the priest, the papal letter's only disappointment is that it fails to mention a single word about the clergy who continue to suffer in prison.

UCA News has translated the original Chinese text as follows:



First impressions about "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"


The long awaited papal letter has finally been released. The pope's letter touches on various aspects of Church life in China. It cannot be simply summarized in a few articles of reflection, nor can its impact on the Church in China be explained in a few commentaries. This letter undoubtedly will have a decisive impact on the future development of the Church in China. Now, I would like to express some of my personal feelings and views.

1. All through the letter, the pastor of the Universal Church and the successor of Saint Peter expresses concern for the faithful in China. He is willing to share the joy and hope, worries and anxieties of the Church there. This will bring about much spiritual happiness to the Chinese Catholics. We can feel we are an important part of the Universal Church. We can feel his pastoral care and deeply feel that communion of the Church is not an empty concept. We know that we actually live in the communion of the Church.

2. For more than 50 years, the Church in China could not experience normal development. Therefore, the pope in this letter hopes to see the Church in China, in the process of overcoming many difficulties, slowly moving toward normal and full development. Whether in revoking the faculties or in teaching various sectors among the faithful (bishops, priests, families), he expresses concern about the urgent problems the Church in China faces and points out how the Church can move toward healthy and normal development.

3. The most urgent mission of the Church in China is now reconciliation. Reconciliation means we look to Jesus Christ together in truth and charity. Such adoration and focus demand that we abandon past prejudices so as to sit down and engage in true dialogue. If the Church is like a real person and we are to live together in communion with Christ, then the present situation in the Church in China can and must be altered first by you and me. We have to sit down and listen to one another. In communion with Christ, we must accept one another. We actually are one body. Our quarrels and confrontation are definitely not what Christ wants. We need to sit down in love and truth -- even better, in the truth of love and in the love of truth -- so that we can pursue sincere dialogue. We should not look at each other's attitude. I must first sit down unconditionally. To have the other sit down, I first must sit down. The only way to have the other listen to me is for me first to listen to the other. The only way to avoid quarrel is for me not to quarrel. Of course, I do this not to make the other sit down but because he and I are in communion with Christ and we live in the same Church of Christ. In such dialogue of unity, it is equally dreadful to forget about love and to forget about truth. The pope has reiterated the truth of the Church in this letter. At the same time, he points out the concrete demand of love. To brothers in communion with the pope and the bishops' conferences of the Universal Church, I should open my heart completely. This carries us to the question of "concelebration." Perhaps some members of the "underground" Church will find this hard to accept for the present. We should put aside personal prejudices and personal views and bear in mind the Church of Christ.

4. Regarding the legal aspect and actual reality, objectively speaking, it is clear that religious freedom (including freedom of belief and freedom of movement) promulgated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not yet fully observed in China. As a priest in the "unofficial" Church, I personally believe the reason for our existence is to uphold human beings' vocation and continuous struggle for the fundamental rights of religious freedom. Different voices should be allowed and even encouraged within the Church. Diversity will only enrich Church life. The true value of the "underground" Church's existence is the weak but real voice it utters. It is the voice of human conscience. While not denying the government's efforts to achieve religious freedom in the past 30 years, we have to admit that China still has a long way to go to achieve the generally accepted international standard.

5. As part of its normal development, a religious community will definitely relate to the local government directly or indirectly. Normal Church life cannot lack contact with the government authorities. Examples include recognition of the clergy and granting permission for venues of religious activities. However, the prerequisite is that the government should protect normal religious activities rather than control them.

6. As for Sino-Vatican relations, the pope clearly expresses his sincere desire to dialogue with Chinese authorities. The ball is now in the hands of the Chinese government to decide whether to express the same sincerity for dialogue. From a practical point of view, if the government continues to use the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) -- nominally an internal organization of the Church in China but actually a tool the government uses to control the Church -- to lead the China Church, this would clearly indicate that the government is unwilling to have real dialogue. In the long run, if China and the Vatican are to establish diplomatic relations, the CCPA is a card that the government can afford to sacrifice.

7. The papal letter mentions not a single word about bishops and priests still in prison. I personally think this is really an imperfection. We do not call on the pope to give much support to these suffering brothers in his letter since Church history tells us that those who give their lives and blood for their faith in any country subsequently have no important position at the negotiation table. Nor do we want to fight for anything in particular. For the sake of unity and for the good of the Church, we can put that aside and endure in silence. However, the fact that the pope, as pastor of the Universal Church, does not even mention those still suffering in his letter is frustrating and shocking. We would not ask the pope to offend the Chinese government by mentioning it, nor request any special rights. We only want assurance that the Universal Church has not totally abandoned these people who are suffering, in silence. This is just a humble request.

UCAN
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