RSSRetired bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, has published a guide for Chinese Catholics to further explain Pope Benedict XVI´s pastoral letter to them in 2007.
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Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun |
Five hundred copies of the 22-page booklet in Chinese will be distributed to all parishes here before the Sunday of Nov. 29. The text is also expected to be available soon on the diocese´s website.
The guide highlights several main points of the papal letter and provides remarks and explanations by the 77-year-old cardinal.
The Pope´s letter to Chinese Catholics was released on June 30, 2007. It deals with theological points concerning the Church in China including episcopal appointments, and provides practical guidelines for Church life and evangelization.
Cardinal Zen told UCA News that his guide, entitled “An aid for reading the Holy Father´s letter to the Church in China” has been approved by the Vatican.
He said that while the guide did not have the same kind of authority as the Vatican-published compendium to the Pope´s letter, released in May, it was a personal attempt to “help my brothers understand the Pope´s letter accurately.”
“There are still many questions the compendium has not solved,” he noted.
Cardinal Zen´s guide deals at length with issues regarding the government-approved and “underground” Church communities.
The guide notes that many Chinese Catholics found the Pope´s letter contradictory as it asked the “underground” Catholics not to join the government-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA). At the same time it did not demand that “open” or government-approved bishops who are in communion with the Pope leave the CPA despite the fact that the agency interferes in local Church affairs.
“There is no contradiction” in the letter, Cardinal Zen told UCA News.
The hope is that the government-approved bishops would “strive to get away from the state agency and change the current structure eventually,” he said.
According to the guide, contradiction lies in the fact that some government-approved bishops, who have been given papal approval, do not act in accordance with their legitimacy.
“How can they be in communion with the Holy See if they openly and repeatedly declare that they support the independent Church?” asked the cardinal.
The guide notes the Pope´s letter says there would not be a problem with Catholics receiving official recognition by civil authorities, provided this does not involve the “denial of unrenounceable principles of faith.”
However, the cardinal doubted if there is any way underground priests can obtain government recognition and still work freely without compromising these principles.
Reiterating a point made in the compendium, Cardinal Zen said that spiritual reconciliation between underground and government-approved Church communities and a structural merger of the two groups are separate issues which should not be confused.
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