Catholic bishops led by Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, embarked on a two-week pastoral journey to China to meet the "living church community" there.The group hoped to "be able to have a true encounter in the faith with Chinese Christians," said a written statement released March 29 by the Belgium-based Ferdinand Verbiest Institute.
The group includes the cardinal and four other Belgian bishops as well as board members of the institute, a foundation that promotes greater cooperation with China and works under the auspices of the Catholic University of Leuven and the Belgian bishops' conference.
Group members were not part of an official, government-sponsored delegation, but were invited by Chinese Catholics to visit cultural sites, religious communities and seminaries, Catholic communities in Liaoning and Laohugou, and Chinese bishops and priests in Beijing.
The two-week trip, which began March 31, was part of an exchange program churches in Belgium and China have had for 20 years.
Belgian and Chinese bishops were to discuss "how to evangelize today in a secularized society in Europe and China" as well as look at "more concrete ways of cooperation and exchange between the two local churches in the field of formation and pastoral catechesis," the statement said.
The statement said most people are only aware of the church's official discussions and encounters dealing with church-state relations and the issue of freedom of religion.
While "it is hard to say whether a positive dialogue is going on regarding these issues," there is "good news" coming from the church on the ground in China such as the thousands of adults who received the sacrament of baptism at Easter this year, the statement said.
"The Belgian bishops wish to meet that living church community in China" during their visit and will try to help the faithful there tackle some of the serious problems they face, particularly "the internal division" between unregistered Catholic communities and those officially registered with China's communist government, the statement said.
The bishops were to see how Chinese Catholics were hoping "to grow beyond this problem of internal division," it said, and to help them foster unity and grow further in their faith.
Pope Benedict XVI issued several practical guidelines aimed at bridging the gap between China's Catholic communities in a June 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics.
The government requires the registration of bishops and church communities and uses this as a tool for control; some Catholics view registration as a serious compromise and prefer to exercise the faith in a semiclandestine manner.
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