Vatican City, Jul 3, 2007 / 08:21 am
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said this week that at the same time that China “open itself to the free market and to relations with the nations of the world, it should also open itself to freedom and the proclamation of the Gospel.”
Cardinal Bertone made his comments during a Mass celebrated at the Shrine of Our Lady of Montallegro in Rapallo, Italy, to mark the 450th anniversary of the apparitions of Mary there. “In his letter, the Pope is without a doubt reaching out to the great Chinese people, to Catholics who not only have suffered so much” but who have “shown great faithfulness to the Christian faith and to the faith of Peter.”
“Keeping in mind always the great spiritual tradition of the peoples of the East, we hope there will also be a greater openness to religious freedom and to the proclamation of the Christian faith,” the cardinal added.