Delicate balance: Church assists Chinese without appearing powerful

Published: 2007-03-09

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While local government officials in some parts of China arrest Catholics, authorities in other areas of the country are tolerating, or even encouraging, Catholic charitable activity. A growing number of Catholic dioceses on the mainland have established a Caritas organization and are expanding their social service work. Representatives of four Chinese diocesan Caritas organizations were at the Vatican March 6-7 for a discussion about how official church-sponsored charities around the world could support their efforts and assist the Chinese poor in general. Duncan MacLaren, secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic charities' umbrella organization, said that even though church-state tensions remain, "we cannot ignore the needs of one-fifth of humanity." And while China's communist government continues to use its rejection of "foreign interference" as the reason it refuses to allow the Vatican to choose the country's bishops, the government does not reject aid money and projects from foreign Catholic charities, he said.

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