N
NY.Transfer.News@blythe.org
Guest
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Pope Rat Takes on Independent Chinese "Patriotic Church"
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
[This guy makes a great companion piece to George W. the half-sit and
his poodle Blair. They are very good at stirring up ****. Not content
with fomenting ill will in the Muslim world and Latin America, Pope Rat
is now taking on China's rebellious "independent" Catholics and arguing
for obedience to Rome, in a bid to improve relations with the Chinese
government. He's reversed the policy of JPII by telling Chinese
Catholics that bishops must be appointed by Rome. So much for papal
infallibiity on matters of faith. The Vatican is said to have been
"enraged" by the 2006 appointment of bishops in China without papal OK.
It will be interesting to see how the "Patriotic Church" responds, but
it's safe to say that it won't win him many friends among the rabid
anti-communists, and the Chinese are likely to observe it all with
some amusement and their accustomed "long view." -NY Transfer]
The New York Times - July 1, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/world/asia/01pope.htm
Pope Makes Plea to Chinas Catholics
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
ROME, June 30 " In an extraordinary open letter directed to Chinese
Catholics and released Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the
suffering experienced by Catholics under Communist rule but also
concluded that it was time to forgive past wrongdoings and for the
underground and state-sponsored Catholic churches in China to reconcile.
Openly hoping for a renewal of relations between China and the Vatican,
which were suspended in the late 1950s, Pope Benedict reassured the
Chinese government that the Vatican offered no political challenge to
its authority, while urging the state-sponsored Catholic Church to
acknowledge the Vaticans control on religious matters.
The misunderstanding and incomprehension weighs heavily, serving
neither the Chinese authorities nor the Catholic Church in China, the
letter said.
It was the popes long-awaited first official and explicit statement on
Chinas estimated 12 million Catholics, the majority of whom worship in
underground churches to avoid having to register with the government
and swear loyalty to it.
Months in preparation, and dated May 27, the 28-page letter was issued
in multiple languages, including Chinese, along with an unusual
accompanying Explanatory Note highlighting main points.
The pope praised China for the splendor of its ancient civilization
and noted with approval that it had greater religious freedoms and
decisive movement toward socio-economic progress. He underlined that
the Roman Catholic Church does not have a mission to change the
structure or administration of the State.
Gerolamo Fazzini, editor of Mondo e Missione, a magazine for the
Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, said: This is a step
forward because it states the Vatican position clearly and holds out a
hand to civil authorities. It says the church and authorities can be
allied in dialogue. That you can be good Chinese citizens and Catholics
at the same time. That the church is not looking for political
legitimacy.
But the popes message to the Patriotic Church Association, the central
government body that oversees the state churches, was that no Catholic
Church should operate independently of the Vatican, and he said
Catholics should seek to worship with priests who accepted the guidance
of Rome. He criticized grave limitations in religious practice that
touch the heart of faith. Still, he said, sacraments administered in
state churches were holy.
He officially revoked a set of 1988 directives, promulgated by the
previous pope, John Paul II, that gave bishops and priests in China
special powers that allowed them to operate without the mandate of the
Vatican. The directives were intended to allow underground clerics to
operate secretly and independently to avoid persecution; the Vatican
says it sees that as no longer necessary.
The letter included a reaffirmation of the Vaticans right to appoint
bishops, a point of deep contention between Rome and the Chinese
Patriotic Church. In 2006, the Chinese church enraged the Vatican by
appointing three new bishops without consultation.
The Chinese government offered no immediate reaction, and the Patriotic
Church Association had been meeting in the past few days, probably to
discuss the content of the letter, Mr. Fazzini said.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Zi-kiun, the bishop of Hong Kong and a passionate
advocate for the underground church on the mainland, issued a written
statement late Saturday evening. The voice of our bishops and priests
in China is often prevented from reaching our leaders; now that the
letter of the pope is in the hands of our leaders, our bishops and
priests can thus refer to it directly as a common starting point for
dialogue, he said.
Beginning in the 1950s, China expelled missionaries, closed churches,
confiscated church property and imprisoned almost all clerics.
Tremendous persecution continued until the 1980s when Deng Xiaoping,
then the Chinese leader, allowed worship to resume slowly" though
within limits set by government. Underground churches held fast in
their loyalty to the pope, but their secret meetings have been
violently dispersed by the police, and practitioners arrested.
Still, over the last 10 years, the practices of the official states
churches and underground churches have converged to some extent,
depending in part upon the tolerance of local authorities. And in the
countryside, it is not unusual to find official state patriotic
churches where the pope is openly revered and that hang pictures of him
near the altar. An increasing number also get money from Catholic
charities abroad to pay for church-building, schools and hospitals.
The first and by far most important aspect is that for the pope, the
church in China is one " definitely one, Bernardo Cervellera, editor
of Asia News, a Catholic missionary news service based in Rome, said of
the letter. He stresses it is time to consider the church one church.
To reconcile the bishops from the two churches and the faithful as
well.
Others remained skeptical that the overture would improve relations
between the Vatican and the Chinese.
I doubt that this will help overcome the impasse with the Chinese
authorities, because the letter says that its up to China to recognize
the church should operate in China as it does in 173 countries, even
places like Cuba, which is Communist, or Japan, which has strong
nationalism " in all of which the pope nominates bishops, said a
priest from Hong Kong, who asked not to be named.
He and others noted that the reaction to the papal letter could be
complex among Catholics in China, and some could even feel betrayed by
the popes message.
I think that this will have strong repercussions, within the church,
Mr. Fazzini, the magazine editor, said. Imagine a priest who spent 30
years in jail and now you are told that you have to dialogue with
people that have been nominated by authorities. Asking them to reread
history with charitable eyes, that wont be easy.
The popes letter said firmly that cooperating with Chinese Communist
state requirements did not constitute a betrayal of Catholicism. The
practice of Catholicism and the safeguarding of the faith, he said,
is not itself opposed to dialogue with authorities.
Still, he noted that Catholics in China walked a delicate line between
faith and political expedience, and he urged the bishops and priests in
Catholic dioceses in China to make the decision about whether to
register their churches with Chinese authorities, based on local
conditions and circumstances.
The pope acknowledged the suffering of Chinese clerics " their
persecution and shedding of blood " but urged them to show charity
toward those who think different from us in social, political and
religious matters.
The purification of memory, the pardoning of wrongdoers, the
forgetting of injustices suffered and the loving restoration to
serenity of troubled hearts, all to be accomplished in the name of
Jesus crucified and risen, can require moving beyond personal positions
or viewpoints, born of painful or difficult experiences, he wrote.
These are urgent steps that must be taken.
[Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong, and Elisabetta
Povoledo from Rome.]
================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Search Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/htdig/search.html
List Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
================================================================
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (FreeBSD)
iD8DBQFGhzGIiz2i76ou9wQRAj3IAJ47L5igTmiqVe+wrI8nyiXselGOagCfSBvF
tuISpyA7sVHQzBL1+gCoUf0=
=ofd3
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Hash: SHA1
Pope Rat Takes on Independent Chinese "Patriotic Church"
Via NY Transfer News Collective All the News that Doesn't Fit
[This guy makes a great companion piece to George W. the half-sit and
his poodle Blair. They are very good at stirring up ****. Not content
with fomenting ill will in the Muslim world and Latin America, Pope Rat
is now taking on China's rebellious "independent" Catholics and arguing
for obedience to Rome, in a bid to improve relations with the Chinese
government. He's reversed the policy of JPII by telling Chinese
Catholics that bishops must be appointed by Rome. So much for papal
infallibiity on matters of faith. The Vatican is said to have been
"enraged" by the 2006 appointment of bishops in China without papal OK.
It will be interesting to see how the "Patriotic Church" responds, but
it's safe to say that it won't win him many friends among the rabid
anti-communists, and the Chinese are likely to observe it all with
some amusement and their accustomed "long view." -NY Transfer]
The New York Times - July 1, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/world/asia/01pope.htm
Pope Makes Plea to Chinas Catholics
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
ROME, June 30 " In an extraordinary open letter directed to Chinese
Catholics and released Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the
suffering experienced by Catholics under Communist rule but also
concluded that it was time to forgive past wrongdoings and for the
underground and state-sponsored Catholic churches in China to reconcile.
Openly hoping for a renewal of relations between China and the Vatican,
which were suspended in the late 1950s, Pope Benedict reassured the
Chinese government that the Vatican offered no political challenge to
its authority, while urging the state-sponsored Catholic Church to
acknowledge the Vaticans control on religious matters.
The misunderstanding and incomprehension weighs heavily, serving
neither the Chinese authorities nor the Catholic Church in China, the
letter said.
It was the popes long-awaited first official and explicit statement on
Chinas estimated 12 million Catholics, the majority of whom worship in
underground churches to avoid having to register with the government
and swear loyalty to it.
Months in preparation, and dated May 27, the 28-page letter was issued
in multiple languages, including Chinese, along with an unusual
accompanying Explanatory Note highlighting main points.
The pope praised China for the splendor of its ancient civilization
and noted with approval that it had greater religious freedoms and
decisive movement toward socio-economic progress. He underlined that
the Roman Catholic Church does not have a mission to change the
structure or administration of the State.
Gerolamo Fazzini, editor of Mondo e Missione, a magazine for the
Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, said: This is a step
forward because it states the Vatican position clearly and holds out a
hand to civil authorities. It says the church and authorities can be
allied in dialogue. That you can be good Chinese citizens and Catholics
at the same time. That the church is not looking for political
legitimacy.
But the popes message to the Patriotic Church Association, the central
government body that oversees the state churches, was that no Catholic
Church should operate independently of the Vatican, and he said
Catholics should seek to worship with priests who accepted the guidance
of Rome. He criticized grave limitations in religious practice that
touch the heart of faith. Still, he said, sacraments administered in
state churches were holy.
He officially revoked a set of 1988 directives, promulgated by the
previous pope, John Paul II, that gave bishops and priests in China
special powers that allowed them to operate without the mandate of the
Vatican. The directives were intended to allow underground clerics to
operate secretly and independently to avoid persecution; the Vatican
says it sees that as no longer necessary.
The letter included a reaffirmation of the Vaticans right to appoint
bishops, a point of deep contention between Rome and the Chinese
Patriotic Church. In 2006, the Chinese church enraged the Vatican by
appointing three new bishops without consultation.
The Chinese government offered no immediate reaction, and the Patriotic
Church Association had been meeting in the past few days, probably to
discuss the content of the letter, Mr. Fazzini said.
Cardinal Joseph Zen Zi-kiun, the bishop of Hong Kong and a passionate
advocate for the underground church on the mainland, issued a written
statement late Saturday evening. The voice of our bishops and priests
in China is often prevented from reaching our leaders; now that the
letter of the pope is in the hands of our leaders, our bishops and
priests can thus refer to it directly as a common starting point for
dialogue, he said.
Beginning in the 1950s, China expelled missionaries, closed churches,
confiscated church property and imprisoned almost all clerics.
Tremendous persecution continued until the 1980s when Deng Xiaoping,
then the Chinese leader, allowed worship to resume slowly" though
within limits set by government. Underground churches held fast in
their loyalty to the pope, but their secret meetings have been
violently dispersed by the police, and practitioners arrested.
Still, over the last 10 years, the practices of the official states
churches and underground churches have converged to some extent,
depending in part upon the tolerance of local authorities. And in the
countryside, it is not unusual to find official state patriotic
churches where the pope is openly revered and that hang pictures of him
near the altar. An increasing number also get money from Catholic
charities abroad to pay for church-building, schools and hospitals.
The first and by far most important aspect is that for the pope, the
church in China is one " definitely one, Bernardo Cervellera, editor
of Asia News, a Catholic missionary news service based in Rome, said of
the letter. He stresses it is time to consider the church one church.
To reconcile the bishops from the two churches and the faithful as
well.
Others remained skeptical that the overture would improve relations
between the Vatican and the Chinese.
I doubt that this will help overcome the impasse with the Chinese
authorities, because the letter says that its up to China to recognize
the church should operate in China as it does in 173 countries, even
places like Cuba, which is Communist, or Japan, which has strong
nationalism " in all of which the pope nominates bishops, said a
priest from Hong Kong, who asked not to be named.
He and others noted that the reaction to the papal letter could be
complex among Catholics in China, and some could even feel betrayed by
the popes message.
I think that this will have strong repercussions, within the church,
Mr. Fazzini, the magazine editor, said. Imagine a priest who spent 30
years in jail and now you are told that you have to dialogue with
people that have been nominated by authorities. Asking them to reread
history with charitable eyes, that wont be easy.
The popes letter said firmly that cooperating with Chinese Communist
state requirements did not constitute a betrayal of Catholicism. The
practice of Catholicism and the safeguarding of the faith, he said,
is not itself opposed to dialogue with authorities.
Still, he noted that Catholics in China walked a delicate line between
faith and political expedience, and he urged the bishops and priests in
Catholic dioceses in China to make the decision about whether to
register their churches with Chinese authorities, based on local
conditions and circumstances.
The pope acknowledged the suffering of Chinese clerics " their
persecution and shedding of blood " but urged them to show charity
toward those who think different from us in social, political and
religious matters.
The purification of memory, the pardoning of wrongdoers, the
forgetting of injustices suffered and the loving restoration to
serenity of troubled hearts, all to be accomplished in the name of
Jesus crucified and risen, can require moving beyond personal positions
or viewpoints, born of painful or difficult experiences, he wrote.
These are urgent steps that must be taken.
[Keith Bradsher contributed reporting from Hong Kong, and Elisabetta
Povoledo from Rome.]
================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Search Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/htdig/search.html
List Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
================================================================
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (FreeBSD)
iD8DBQFGhzGIiz2i76ou9wQRAj3IAJ47L5igTmiqVe+wrI8nyiXselGOagCfSBvF
tuISpyA7sVHQzBL1+gCoUf0=
=ofd3
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
