Pope Benedict’s Commission on China, is holding its third plenary meeting this week at the Vatican. The Vatican announced the March 22-24 meeting on Saturday, UCA News reports.
It said the commission will “continue to deepen the [2009] theme of formation, so that in China, as in the rest of the world, the work of priests and consecrated persons may help the Church to incarnate the Gospel and give witness to it, even in the face of challenges raised by the evolution of social and cultural conditions.”
The Vatican did not say what other topics would be on its agenda this week. However, analysts think the commission will review the current situation of the Church on the mainland, including the nominations of bishops, and the fact that many dioceses are without a bishop today, while new ordinations are expected sometime this year.
Analysts also expect the commission to review the ongoing delicate process of reconciliation between the “underground” and government-approved Church communities in the light of Pope Benedict’s 2007 letter to Catholics on the mainland.
Analysts think the commission might also revisit the highly problematic question of the next meeting of the National Congress of Catholic Representatives, which could be held later this year and which could strain Sino-Vatican relations.
The meeting is expected to elect the chairpersons of the government sponsored Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China. Participation by Vatican-approved bishops in this event would raise serious questions in the light of the Pope’s 2007 letter.
The commission, which has about 30 members, is chaired by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. It is composed of senior Vatican officials that have competence in this area, five Chinese bishops from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, and representatives of Religious orders that have a particular interest in China.
On March 18, the Vatican announced that the Catechism of the Catholic Church in now accessible online in Chinese on the Vatican’s website.
At its first plenary meeting, the commission had requested that all major Vatican texts be translated into Chinese.
The Code of Canon Law and the main texts of the Second Vatican Council will also be put online in Chinese in the near future.
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