Rome, Italy, Aug 15, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Despite positive signs from the Church in communist China, the Holy See remains cautiously optimistic about the future of Vatican-Beijing relations, says Vatican analyst Sandro Magister.
In his latest column for L’Espresso, Magister points to positive signs such as the presence of Chinese young people at World Youth Day, and especially “the growing rapprochement between the two Catholic communities of China: the underground Church, with 8 million faithful, and the Patriotic community, with 4 million.”
According to Magister, the rapprochement between both Catholic communities “alarmed many authorities in Beijing” but “the reconciliation between clandestine and patriotic believers has continued moving forward.” Magister explains the importance of recent episcopal ordinations in China which received both government and Vatican approval, and which have finally unified under one pastor several communities that had been divided since Mao Tse-Tung created the Patriotic church.
Magister states that the “China issue is certainly one of the most burning questions of Benedict XVI’s pontificate. And the authorities of the Holy See are preparing to confront it with extreme caution.”