A Vatican commission asked Chinese bishops and China’s state authorities to engage in “respectful dialogue” and expressed the hope that bishops and priests deprived of freedom would be allowed to resume their pastoral ministry. In a statement on March 25, commission members unanimously asked that all bishops in China work toward an increase in unity, “therefore avoiding gestures [like sacramental celebrations, bishops’ ordinations and participation in meetings] that would contradict communion with the pope...and create problems, sometimes distressing, in the heart of the respective church communities.” The commission, started by Pope Benedict in 2007, has worked to promote reconciliation between Catholic communities that have registered with the Chinese authorities and the so-called underground Catholic communities that have practiced the faith in a more clandestine fashion, professing full loyalty to the pope.
Vatican Pursues Unity in China
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Despair is easy for anyone who takes seriously the call to love your neighbor as yourself. But hope can come in two ways.
A Homily for the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, by Father Terrance Klein
The majority of survey respondents cited their Marian devotions as having played an important role in the discernment and living of their call to religious life.
I have questioned the ethical implications of belonging to an institution with so many members sympathetic to MAGA politics. But I can still rediscover the hope of the Eucharist in my parish.