Vatican meeting fails to iron out China issues
Vatican officials have been grappling with the highly contentious issue of the Catholic Church's relationship with Beijing at a closed-door conference on mainland policy this week.
But as the annual plenary session of the papal commission on China affairs draws to a close today after three days of intensive debate, solutions to multilayered questions - including how to 'normalise' the Catholic faith under the mainland's state control of church affairs - remain unlikely to emerge.
'I am not too optimistic on any major breakthrough in the Holy See's China policy,' said one participant at the meeting, which counts bishops from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and international experts as members, in addition to top Vatican officials overseeing China affairs.
The commission was set up by Pope Benedict in 2007 after he issued a pastoral letter to Chinese Catholics calling for reconciliation between the Vatican and Beijing and between mainland Catholic communities.
The Pope has laid down guidelines for reconciliation between the official state-controlled church and the 'underground' Catholic community loyal to him, but how to implement those guidelines has been the subject of debate on the mainland.
Bishop John Tong Hon, leader of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese and a conference participant, said before the meeting that two key issues were blocking improvement in SinoVatican relations.
The first was a national Catholic conference to be called by Beijing in the next few months, during which the state-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the bishops' conference - both bodies not recognised by the Vatican - will choose their new leadership.
Because both bodies insist on the mainland church's independence from the Pope's authority - a key issue considered incompatible with Catholic doctrine - mainland bishops risk being reprimanded by the Holy See if they participate in the national conference. 'If the nature of the national conference leads people away from the universal church, then its holding should be delayed as long as possible,' Tong said, adding that any negative message sent by the conference would only serve to hinder reconciliation.
The other issue was how the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association could evolve into an organisation that could be tolerated by the Vatican - an issue that is understood to be a key sticking point in the regular dialogue between the Holy See and Beijing.
At present, the association controls all aspects of church life on the mainland, where bishops' appointments and the administration of dioceses have to receive its approval. But if it was restructured and changed its name, 'it can become an association of the lay people', Tong said.
Some Vatican officials are of the view that if the association can withdraw from its overarching position above the mainland bishops, so that they, rather than government officials, can make the decisions regarding church affairs, the existence of the association can be tolerated.
'The Vatican is not against the patriotic association itself,' said one participant at the meeting. 'In most countries the bishops have to register with the government. As long as the association gives powers back to the bishops, it can retain certain functions it currently enjoys.'
But in a communique issued when the meeting began, the Vatican placed the stress on the need to 'continue to deepen the theme of formation' of the clergy.
