Vatican City, Apr 2, 2009 / 11:49 am
As a meeting on the Church in China drew to a close yesterday, news reached participants that Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, 74, was re-arrested. The Vatican has reacted by saying the move creates "obstacles to that constructive dialogue" that the Church has been trying to establish with government authorities.
The meeting lasted from March 30 to April 1 and addressed the need for better formation of clergy and consecrated people, drawing upon Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 Letter to Chinese Catholics.
The commission, which includes representatives of the Chinese episcopate and of religious congregations, also expressed how their work in this area is hampered by the "complex problems of the current ecclesial situation in China, problems deriving not just from internal difficulties of the Church, but also from the uneasy relations with the civil authorities."