For the last 15 years, relations between Rome and Beijing have shown slow but steady improvement following the late Pope John Paul II’s “One Church–Two Faces” policy in the mid-1990s.

Catholics from both the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the members of the unregistered, so-called underground Catholic Church have moved toward practical and affective unity. Beijing and the Vatican quietly cooperated in the appointment of bishops and, in some cases, appointed a single bishop or coadjutor to succeed divided official and unofficial church bishops.

Because the progress has been real, the current breakdown in relations is all the more difficult to watch.

Over decades of Communist rule, Catholics in China have struggled to manage the dual loyalties of faith and state. Many were driven underground; priests, bishops and laypeople were harassed and arrested. Some died in China’s prisons.

But in an era of greater tolerance, Chinese Catholics were beginning to live their faith—together—with growing confidence. The Vatican even quietly validated bishops previously ordained in the Patriotic Association. Official and back channel negotiations explored normalization of relations between the two sides.

Then, in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI released a letter exhorting unity, pardon and reconciliation among all Catholics; but it also frankly challenged the legitimacy of the Patriotic Association as “extraneous to the structure of the church.”

Full Story: Failure to Communicate

Source: America Magazine