´Papal compendium could benefit China´

A mainland Chinese researcher on Catholicism says the compendium to Pope Benedict XVI´s 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics could have a positive impact on Church-state ties in China.

Ren Yanli

The compendium was released on the Holy See´s website on May 24, the World Prayer Day for the Church in China, in both English and Chinese. The text provides responses to questions frequently asked by Chinese Catholics on the Pope´s historic 2007 letter to them.

Veteran Church-in-China researcher Ren Yanli, 65, observes that the compendium does not contain much that is new, but emphasizes the principles and ideas laid out in the papal letter.

Ren headed the Christian Studies´ Section of the World Religions Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing before retiring in 2005. He was a researcher at the academy since the 1980s and obtained a doctorate from the Catholic University of Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy, in 2001.

In Ren´s view, the compendium shows that the Vatican wants to reach an accord with China on the appointment of bishops, as well as resolving other questions such as the issue of ecclesiastical provinces, in open and constructive dialogue. However, he told UCA News that the compendium is merely a document and “we still have to see action.”

If China and the Vatican could reach a consensus, it would be a blessing for China as it would help to reduce the tension between religion and politics, said Ren, who is not a Catholic.

Good relations between the two sides would be “conducive to China´s building of a harmonious society,” he explained. It would also be a “win-win situation” for both parties, he added.

He said China and the Vatican have had continuous low-profile contacts, including one in March during which a Vatican delegation stopped over at Beijing after visiting Vietnam. There have been other more open cultural exchanges in the past, he noted.

On the development of the Church in China in recent years, Ren said he questions whether “the China Church still needs to elect and ordain bishops on its own,” and if it is still implementing its principles of being “independent, autonomous and self-managing.”

China ordained three Vatican-approved bishops in 2005, but the following year three bishops were ordained without papal mandate. No illicit ordinations have taken place since 2007, after the Vatican held a special meeting on the China Church in January. That June, the Pope released his letter to Chinese Catholics and a Vatican commission on the China Church was established that November.

After the Beijing Olympics last August, rumors have circulated that the government-approved Church community would continue to elect and ordain bishops on its own.

Several mainland dioceses have so far elected bishop candidates and submitted their names to the Bishops´ Conference of the Catholic Church in China (BCCCC). The Holy See does not recognize the BCCCC as an episcopal conference as its members include bishops who have not been approved by the Pope, and the organization excludes bishops from the “underground” Church community who are in communion with the Pope.

“The rumors remain as rumors and so far no episcopal ordinations have taken place,” Ren noted, adding that China-Vatican relations often adopt a wait-and-see attitude, with each side deciding what its move would be based on the other´s actions.

The Chinese government has not officially responded to the compendium but the May 26 issue of a pro-Beijing Chinese daily, “Wen Wei Po” in Hong Kong, quoted an unnamed “authoritative person” as saying it would affect China-Vatican ties.

Ren believes that this person´s comments somehow represents the position of the Chinese government but not the view of the China Church.

The unnamed person told “Wen Wei Po” that the compendium had stressed that the Vatican does not recognize the BCCCC, which “might create new barriers for the next phase of China-Vatican dialogue.”

He stressed the “independent, autonomous and self-governing” principle if the China Church relates to China´s constitution and cannot be changed. However, he said he does not rule out China giving “a reasonable explanation” of the principle acceptable by both sides in the future.