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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5458 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Sat Jan 20th, 2007 11:06 am |
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Vatican, Jan. 20, 2007 (CWNews.com) - At the conclusion of a special 2-day meeting on the Church in China, the Vatican announced on January 20 that Pope Benedict XVI plans to write a letter to the Catholics of that country.
Pope Benedict did not attend the meeting held in the apostolic palace on January 19- 20, but he was kept informed about the discussion. The meeting was chaired by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State; other participants included prelates from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao as well as Vatican officials involved in China policy.
In a statement released by the Vatican press office at the conclusion of the meeting, the participants paid tribute to the many Chinese Catholics who have uncompromisingly maintained their loyalty to the Holy See, “sometimes at the cost of severe suffering.” They also noted that, despite pressure from the government and the Catholic Patriotic Association, nearly all of the Chinese bishops are now in communion with Rome. Moreover the Church continues to grow rapidly in China, the statement noted.
The January 20 statement downplays between Rome and Beijing that had prompted the Vatican to convene the special meeting. The closing statement refers only to the need for “constructive dialogue” with the Chinese government to overcome “the misunderstandings of the past.”
The Vatican statement indicated that Pope Benedict would write to the Catholics of China, but did not offer further information about the Pope's plans, nor a date when that message could be expected.
The above article is reposted from Catholic World News.
Last edited on Sat Jan 20th, 2007 11:07 am by CajunRick
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Darlene
Member
| Joined: | Mon Oct 9th, 2006 |
| Location: | Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania USA |
| Posts: | 868 |
| First Name: | Darlene | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Christian, trusting His love and forgiveness |
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Posted: Sat Jan 20th, 2007 02:17 pm |
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Rick,
Is the Catholic Church in China underground? Do you know approx. how many Catholics there are in mainland China? What about Taiwan? How is evangelization accomplished? Are there Catholic missionaries over there? I know, a lot of questions. I knew about the underground Protestant Christian Church because I used to get a newsletter from Rev. Richard Wurmbrand's organization called, "Jesus to the Communist World." Are Christians still martyred for their faith there or has the government been more open to Christianity in the last few years?
Darlene
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. II Corinthians 13:14
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David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2282 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Sat Jan 20th, 2007 02:44 pm |
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Yes, Darlene, the Catholic Church in China is underground. The reason for that is that the Chinese government several decades ago established a Catholic Patriotic Association which was supposed to take the place of the real Christianity as established by Christ. Like all communists, they see religions only from a political perspective and consider them to be in competition with their own regime. So all religions, not just Christianity, are persecuted in China unless they toe the party line.
Estimates of how many Catholics and how many total Christians there are in China very widely. They range from 4 million to 50 million for Catholics, and about double to triple that figure for all Christians. So you see, they are all over the map. Nobody really knows. In recent years, the Vatican has been going with a figure of about 12 to 14 million loyal to Rome.
Just a few minutes ago I read a news article that says Pope Benedict is going to write a letter of encouragement to the underground Catholics of China. The same article says that nearly all of the Patriotic Association bishops are now in union with Rome, so there is some expectation that the Chinese government will soon have to deal with its failure to annihilate or control the Church by making concessions.
David
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