With a brief phrase in Chinese and warm words of welcome in Italian, Pope Benedict XVI told Chinese Catholics living in Italy that he continued to pray for Catholics in their homeland and, especially, for victims of the May 12 earthquake.Hundreds of Chinese Catholics from all over Italy came to Rome to attend a special Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary Major May 24, the day Pope Benedict had asked Catholics around the world to devote to prayers for China.
The group joined the pope May 25 for the midday recitation of the Angelus in St. Peter's Square.
"I entrust to the merciful love of God all of your fellow citizens who have died in recent days as a consequence of the earthquake that struck a vast area of your country," the pope told the group. "I renew my personal closeness to those who are living through hours of agony and tribulation."
The Chinese government said May 27 that the official death toll from the quake had risen to more than 67,000; it also said more than 360,000 people were injured, some 20,000 people were still missing, and tens of thousands were being evacuated because of the danger of flooding from burst dams.
Pope Benedict said, "Thanks to the fraternal solidarity of all, may the people of those areas be able to return soon to a normal life."
Then, quoting the text he had written for the May 24 day of prayer for China, the pope said, "I ask Mary, Help of Christians, Our Lady of Sheshan, to sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world and of the world to Jesus."
He also prayed that they would be credible witnesses to the Gospel and remain united to the pope and the universal church.
Then, speaking in Chinese, he told them, "I greet you from my heart."
Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, celebrated the May 24 Mass at St. Mary Major for about 500 Chinese faithful living in Italy.
The Mass prayers were recited in Italian and Chinese, but all of the songs were in Chinese.
After a special prayer for the victims of the earthquake, the entire congregation observed a minute of silence.
Cardinal Dias told the congregation that the letter Pope Benedict had written to Chinese Catholics in 2007 already was bearing fruit by promoting unity among Chinese Catholics and improving relations between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
The May 8 concert by China's Philharmonic Orchestra in the Vatican "was a beautiful gesture made by Chinese authorities toward the Holy Father," Cardinal Dias said.
The pope's 2007 letter and his prayer for the May 24 observance highlighted the need for China's Catholics to reconcile with each other and work together despite years of friction between those who practiced their faith clandestinely and those who participated in officially sanctioned activities under the government's Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
Cardinal Dias told those at the Mass, "In paradise there will be no distinction between underground Catholics and official Catholics. ... The pope appreciates the faith and fidelity of the Chinese Catholics."
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