Pope Benedict XVI has made it clear that Chinese Catholics are a unified whole.

They are called to charity and reconciliation between estranged members, belong to the universal Church, and are governed by the Pope and their legitimate bishops.

In essence, the Holy Father declared that the Church in China must be one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Anything to the contrary cannot be accepted.

The Vatican on June 30 released the 55-page open letter from Pope Benedict XVI. Addressed to bishops, priests and lay faithful in China, it was made available in English and Chinese.

The letter to the Catholics of the People’s Republic of China follows a “summit” on China held last January at the Vatican with senior curial officials and some Chinese bishops. That meeting took account of recent developments with respect to the Church in China and was aimed at formulating a new pastoral response.

After their coming to power in 1949, the Chinese communists first attempted to suppress the Church altogether, in the manner of communists elsewhere. Not long after though, they introduced a more clever, and divisive, maneuver: They created their own Catholic association — the so-called “patriotic church.”

In the “patriotic church,” Catholics were largely free to practice as they wished, but the role of the Pope was put in question. The Chinese communists accepted him as a spiritual leader, but rejected his authority to govern the Church in China as an unacceptable “foreign” interference in Chinese sovereignty. The critical point of conflict came over the appointment of bishops, as the Chinese state appointed bishops for the patriotic church without a papal mandate — a serious violation of canon law and grounds for schism.

As a result, a deep division opened in the Chinese Catholic community, now estimated to be at least 12 million.

Many bishops and priests became members of the patriotic church, and many bishops were consecrated without a papal mandate, believing that such state interference could be tolerated in order to preserve the possibility of preaching the Gospel. Others chose to remain underground, seeing the necessary accommodation as a betrayal of the Catholic faith.

The underground Church has been persecuted, with many of her bishops and priests jailed.

In recent years though, the situation in China has changed.

In some areas, religious liberty has been granted in practice, if not in law, even to underground Catholics. More important, with the exception of perhaps a dozen or so, the bishops of the patriotic church have requested “legitimization” from the Holy See, declaring their union with and loyalty to the Holy Father. In most cases this has been granted, so that the patriotic church bishops are fully in communion with Rome.

This in turn has produced some confusion and acrimony. There are places where there are two bishops — one patriotic and one clandestine — both of whom are in communion with Rome. Members of the patriotic church often feel that the underground Church makes it more difficult for all Chinese Catholics to practice openly.

Members of the underground Church often feel that the patriotic church has betrayed the faith and, in “legitimizing” those bishops who were ordained without papal permission, the Holy See is turning a blind eye to that betrayal.

To this situation Benedict proposes various remedies, rooted in the theological reality that the Church must be one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

First, the Holy Father indicates clearly that there is one Church in China; the Holy See rejects the premise that there are two churches in China. In short, the Church has declared a failure the attempt by the Chinese government to create two realities.

Noting that the creation of the patriotic church was “desired by the state and extraneous to the structure of the Church,” Benedict makes clear that all Catholics in China constitute one reality, even if some are separated from full communion with him: “The whole of the Church which is in China is called to live and to manifest this unity in a richer spirituality of communion, so that, taking account of the complex concrete situations in which the Catholic community finds itself, she may grow in harmonious hierarchical communion.”

Second, the Holy Father calls on Catholics to live the holiness of the truth in charity.

Given the suspicion and recrimination that sometimes exists between patriotic and clandestine Catholics, Benedict notes that “the history of the Church teaches us that authentic communion is not expressed without arduous efforts at reconciliation,” calling for a “purification of memory, the pardoning of wrong-doers, the forgetting of injustices suffered.”

It is clear that as the Church in China lives in greater freedom, cooperation and communion, it will be at risk if the divisions of the communist period are allowed to continue in the Church.

Benedict salutes in particular all those Catholics who have suffered under communism, particularly the martyrs, whom the Holy Father says are already the seed of new Christian witness. To be faithful to the martyrs, Benedict argues, means to live as the Church should live — as one communion of sinners who seek and receive forgiveness.

Third, the letter insists that the “Church which is in China” — an unwieldy phrase used throughout the letter to underline the point — is not a Chinese institution, but a universal body of which Chinese Catholics form a part.

The Holy Father stresses that each particular Church has the principle of universality “from within” because by its very nature the bonds of baptism and the Eucharist unite each Catholic with all others.

While Benedict says he is open to dialogue with the Chinese state on diplomatic relations, the reorganization of dioceses, and even consultation on the appointment of bishops, in the end, the Chinese state must recognize that within the Church in China, “the universal Church is present,” which means recognizing the “full religious liberty” to which they are entitled, including the “unrenounceable” role of the Holy See in governing the “Church which is in China.”

Fourth, the letter attempts to clarify the apostolic character of the Church in China — the question of the validity and legitimacy of bishops. In short, Benedict asks for mutual recognition and openness, and seeks to foster communion among all Chinese bishops, whose ordinations remain valid even if they were illegitimate.

To the clandestine bishops in union with Rome but not recognized by the Chinese state, he appeals that they be granted such state recognition so that they may function publicly, given that the “clandestine condition is not a normal feature of the Church’s life.”

To the large majority of patriotic bishops who have already received legitimization from the Holy See and are in communion with the Pope, Benedict asks that they make this public as soon as possible, so that their priests and people will have confidence that they are in union with Rome.

And to the small group of patriotic bishops who are not in communion with Rome, the Holy Father appeals to them to ask for legitimization, which will generously be considered.

The appeal then is for Catholics in China to live as much as possible an open and normal ecclesial life, confident that the divisions among them are much less than in the past. They are being asked to live as if they were already one, in preparation for the day when Chinese law will fully permit them to live as one.

To that end, Benedict has revoked all the special permissions previously granted “in order to address particular pastoral necessities that emerged in truly difficult times.”

The implication is clear: The situation in China has improved to the point where it can be governed by regular canon law. Normality, if not yet achieved, is a real possibility.

To that end, the Holy Father clarified that concelebration of Mass is possible between patriotic and clandestine bishops and priests, as long as all are in communion with Rome. The faithful may receive the sacraments from any bishop or priest in communion with Rome, and in cases of necessity, even from those who are not.

The Holy Father envisions a liturgical and sacramental life for Chinese Catholics in which the divisions of the past no longer prevail.

Finally, Benedict has proposed May 24, Feast of Mary, Help of Christians, as a special day of prayer for the Catholics of China, members of the “Church of Christ, which in the creed we acknowledge to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic.”

Father Raymond J. De Souza is

the Register’s formerRome correspondent.