MACAU (UCAN) -- Bishop Jose Lai Hung-seng of Macau has welcomed the Chinese central government's mild response to Pope Benedict XVI's June 30 letter to mainland Catholics.

"The Chinese government's low-profile response is a good thing, as the papal letter is solely on Church matters," Bishop Lai told UCA News Aug. 20.

The prelate, one of five Chinese bishops who attended the Vatican's January summit on the China Church, added that the letter was balanced and did not side with any China Church group.

In a July 29 message to Macau Catholics, Bishop Lai said the pope had explained in simple language his deep theological reflections on the nature of the Church. The bishop noted that the pope had urged China's Catholics to follow Church discipline and traditions in their daily life, bear witness to Christ, and evangelize.

Macau diocese has published 5,000 booklets containing the Vatican's official traditional Chinese version of the letter as well as a Portuguese translation done by the diocese. According to the diocesan social communications center, the booklets are available for free in all parishes.

Bishop Lai told UCA News that booklets containing a revised Chinese translation by Hong Kong diocese are also being circulated here to help local Catholics understand the papal letter.

"The Vatican's official Chinese translation is not smooth and some parts were inaccurately translated when compared to the original Italian text," he said.

Various study sessions on the papal letter have been held in the territory. At one of these events, four speakers explored the letter's potential impact on China-Vatican relations. The Chinese Catholic weekly, Observatorio de Macau, organized that seminar, Prospects of China-Vatican Relations, which was held July 7 at the Diocesan Youth Pastoral Centre.

Anthony Lam Sui-ki, senior researcher of Hong Kong diocese's Holy Spirit Study Centre, told participants the papal letter affirmed that a lawful civil authority deserves respect from people and cooperation from the Church.

However, it also sent the message that the Church, as a community, will not tolerate external interference, including from "state agencies," he said.

Lam expects the papal letter will "bring along positive effects at the diplomatic level, as it eliminates some unrealistic expectations from Beijing." The researcher also pointed out that the pope indicated his concern about the discrepancy between Catholic doctrinal belief and the reality faced by the Church under the Communist regime.

Sister Beatrice Leung Kit-fun, professor of the School of Management, Leadership and Governance of the Macau Inter-University Institute, noted that the papal letter is a pastoral document and Chinese leaders seem unsure about how to analyze it.

The Precious Blood nun and scholar pointed out that the Chinese government indicated at least some unhappiness by blocking some mainland Catholic websites that carried the papal letter.

She pointed out that there have been no significant developments in China-Vatican relations during the 20 years since the late Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila discussed possible normalization of ties with Zhao Ziyang in 1987. Zhao was then general secretary of the Communist Party under Deng Xiaoping's leadership.

"Only technical problems remain unresolved," according to Sister Leung. These include how "open" and "underground" Church communities can reconcile, the freedom of mainland bishops to meet the apostolic nuncio after the nunciature moves from Taipei to Beijing, how to avoid hurting Taiwan in the process, and how the Vatican and Beijing can agree on the appointment of mainland bishops. Even so, the two sides have not been able to reach any agreement, she said.

Father Howard Lui Ching-hay, Jesuit superior for Macau, told the audience that some underground Catholics have difficulty accepting government-recognized bishops and reconciling with people who had oppressed them. With the papal letter, he said, he hoped the mainland Catholics could learn from the example of Christ to reconcile with their former oppressors.

Legislator Antonio Ng Kuok-cheong, a Catholic, thinks the papal letter should be interpreted together with Pope Benedict's encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is love) in order to have a more complete understanding of China-Vatican relations.

The pope's letter asks for the manifestation of love, including in the Vatican's relations with China, Ng told the seminar.

(Accompanying photos available at here