ROME (UCAN) -- Chinese Catholics in Italy made history on May 24 when they celebrated the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians in Rome, coming together as a community from all over Italy for the first time.

Estimates of the expatriate Chinese population in Italy range from more than 100,000 (government) to 300,000 (other sources). Church sources estimate less than 1,000 Chinese Catholics nationwide.

Five hundred of these Catholics -- from both "open" and "underground" communities -- answered their national coordinator's call to celebrate the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. Pope Benedict XVI had set the day as a special day of prayer for the China Church in his letter last year to mainland Catholics, in which he noted the Blessed Mother is venerated under this title at the Marian shrine in Sheshan, outside Shanghai.

The Chinese came by bus and train from Florence, Milan, Naples, Prato, Rimini, Treviso and elsewhere. Most were under 40, and many were priests, nuns, seminarians and novices, as well as laypeople with children. Some told UCA News they were not yet baptized.

More than 500 fellow Catholics from Italy and other countries joined them at the basilica.

Cardinal Ivan Dias, Indian-born prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, led Mass assisted by about 80 priests, mostly Chinese but also Vatican officials and European priests with China links.

Cardinal Dias presided and preached in Italian, but most readings and prayers, and all hymns were in Chinese.

A red banner with gold writing on one side of the altar read, "The Love of Christ has brought us together."

Pope Benedict sent his greetings and "said he wants to be spiritually present here today," Cardinal Dias began his homily, which was translated into Chinese. He noted the special day was the pope's initiative.

"Now, prayers from all over the world are converging towards Mary, bringing to her all the needs of our brothers and sisters in China," the cardinal said.

While acknowledging "our brothers and sisters" in China "have suffered much over past decades," he echoed Pope Benedict's letter in calling on Chinese Catholics to forgive past offenses.

"Only in this way can we look to the future," which is "full of hope," he stated. "We must thank the Lord for the future of this Church, which is re-born in mainland China."

Cardinal Dias pointed to the May 7 concert that a mainland orchestra and choir gave in the Vatican as a sign of improving relations between China and the Holy See. This "fine gesture offered by the Chinese authorities to the pope," he added, was matched by Pope Benedict's "affectionate words for all the Chinese people" and "good wishes" for the Olympics. He also noted Pope Benedict appealed and prayed for the victims and survivors of the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan.

The cardinal returned to a theme in the pope's letter when he remarked on the divided Church community in mainland China.

"In heaven there will be no official or underground Catholics, because we will all be children of God. The pope wants this unity to be visible also on earth," he said.

The congregation applauded when he finished. The prayers of the faithful followed, including prayers for "all the bishops of China," "all the Chinese people," "those who have died in the earthquake" and "Chinese Catholics" living in Italy and the mainland.

Cardinal Dias concluded the celebration by leading the congregation in reciting the pope's prayer for the Church in China. He also urged them to be united and help evangelize fellow Chinese in Italy and the mainland.

The next day, many of the Chinese Catholics recited the Angelus with the pope in St. Peter's Square.

Speaking from his study window, Pope Benedict greeted "with great affection the Chinese-speaking pilgrims that have gathered in Rome from all over Italy on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China."

His words drew cheers from the Chinese, who responded by waving red and yellow scarves -- red for China and yellow for the Holy See.

The pope reassured them of his prayers for all who died in the earthquake and his "personal closeness to all who are living hours of anguish and tribulation."

He concluded his greeting with part of the special prayer he composed, asking Our Lady of Sheshan to sustain "the commitment of all those in China who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love, so that they may never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus." He prayed they would remain "always credible witnesses" of Jesus' love, "staying united to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built."

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