China's underground Catholics hope pope will clarify church relations

Published: 2007-02-01

HONG KONG (CNS) -- Underground Catholics in China say they hope a letter Pope Benedict XVI plans to send them will not only strengthen their faith but also clearly explain how their fractured community in the mainland can be healed. "The Holy See wants us to reconcile but does not tell us how to proceed or give us any clear instructions," underground Bishop Joseph Wei Jingyi of Qiqihar told UCA News, an Asian church news agency. The bishop noted that past Vatican directives instructed Catholics to avoid sacramental Communion with the government-approved or open church community, "but now we need clarification on where those directives stand, so as to eliminate mistrust and misunderstanding" among Catholics in both groups. On Jan. 20, at the end of a high-level meeting at the Vatican to discuss the church in China, a Vatican statement said Pope Benedict would write to Catholics in China, but it did not indicate when. China's Catholic Church has been split into underground and open communities for decades, although in recent years there has been increasing interaction between the two.

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