The core of the pope's letter to the Chinese Church is: reconciliation and unity. The initial response to the letter shows that the Chinese Church will not fail to heed this clear signal and accept the challenge to achieve unity. This is strictly an internal, pastoral task of the Church which must be clearly distinguished from the attempts to normalize relations of the Chinese Church with the Chinese government and of Sino-Vatican diplomatic relations. This viewpoint is based upon the three following observations.

First Observation
Without some background on the history of the "8 Point Document" one can not understand why the pope's letter was so urgently expected by pastors in China. In 1985 underground Bishop Fan Xueyan of Baoding, Hebei Province, (he himself or his advisor Zhang Dapeng) had valid reasons to write the so-called "13 Point Document". At that time some official bishops had made public statements which gave Chinese Catholics valid reasons to suspect that these bishops and those who followed them were not united with the universal Catholic Church. In the "13 Point Document" Bishop Fan called these bishops schismatic and he severely warned his Catholics not to attend their Mass in the open churches. They were instructed that it was mortal sin if they did so. Many Chinese Catholics still follow this instruction till today.

But in the course of 1985 it became also known that several illegitimate bishops of the open Church community applied for and obtained an appointment from the pope. This proved that they were not schismatic. The Holy See then found that the "13 Point Document" was too severe. It promulgated the "8 Point Document" which mitigated the severe language of the "13 Point Document" but it did nothing to encourage Catholics to attend Mass in open churches. As soon as the "8 Point Document" was promulgated (1988) Cardinal Jaime Sin of Manila reacted by stating publicly that the document was then already obsolete. The cardinal had visited China twice and he did not find any schism in the Chinese Church. Several others agreed with Cardinal Sin. Still, heeding the reports from certain underground bishops, the Holy See continued to affirm the "8 Points" in dealing with the Church in China. By the late nineties it became known that about 90% of the official bishops had already been recognized by the Holy See. Several underground as well as official bishops were also convinced that there was no schism. They expected an official word from Rome to encourage Chinese Catholics of both the open and underground communities to jointly celebrate the Eucharist.

But then some years of confusion followed. First the news was spread in the Chinese Church that the "8 Point Document" was no longer applicable. Many were happy. But a little later a letter was sent stating that the document was still in effect. That caused confusion. Did this imply there was in fact a schismatic Church in China? The fact that still a few bishops were illegitimate did not affect the faithfulness of the whole community! But if so, had time then not come to unite the two Church communities? After the unclear and confusing instructions that had been spread repeatedly for so long, only the highest authority in the Church could speak the liberating word and give the answer. That's exactly what the recent letter of the Pope finally did. Pope Benedict XVI, after carefully studying the situation of the Church in China finds that the time is ripe to pass beyond the situation of the "8 Points Document" and encourage all Chinese faithful to unite in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Chinese Church in full unity with the universal Church through the Holy Father. The Pastoral Letter gave that long-awaited clear answer.

Second Observation
The clear call of the pope implies a direct obligation of all pastors in the Chinese Church to commit themselves fully to spreading this message and to fostering the internal unity of the Chinese Church. The news that reaches us these days from the Church that is in China shows that Christians in both communities understand the signal well and will respond positively. Some officially recognized bishops distributed copies of the papal letter to all their priests asking them explicitly to study it and follow the signal: f.e. the bishops of Shanghai, Fenyang (Shaanxi), Jingxian (Hebei), Ningxia and so many other dioceses. These bishops and priests preached about the papal letter from the pulpit and used that opportunity to publicly confirm their unity with the Holy Father. A bishop in an underground community - Wei Jingyi (Siping - N-E China) -- wrote a pastoral letter about it welcoming the call of the pope even though it is very demanding for his Christians. Another "underground bishop" An Shuxin (Baoding) told friends that already long ago he started to walk the road towards unity following the orientation of Pope John Paul II. These days some of us outside of China have received phone calls from underground communities in a diocese where in the past priests and even two bishops have been greatly divided among themselves. The pope's letter, they say, is for their Church a totally new beginning on the way towards unity, even though for them some aspects of the letter are hard to accept.

However, some other members from the underground community remain convinced that some situations still justify refraining from celebrating the Eucharist together with members of the open community. Unjust treatment of Chinese Catholics by government authorities convince them that they have reasons to continue to function as a separate underground "church". Humanly speaking this is quite understandable. Pastors in the Church must deal with these matters with wisdom and sensitivity yet continue to guide their flock firmly along the pathway towards unity to which the Pope's letter calls them. No human effort can unite a divided Church; much less an iron fist. Only the Holy Spirit working gently in the hearts of the faithful can achieve this unity. Pastors must foster the work of that Spirit in the same way as the late Pope John Paul II did during a quarter of a century. On one hand he patiently respected the decisions and attitudes adopted by the two respective Catholic communities in China. This patient approach was the main reason why it took so long before a more formal call for unity could be made. But Pope John Paul II never ceased stressing the need to move towards unity and reconciliation. Nor, on the other hand, did he ever cease from urging the government to stop harassing Christians.

The letter of Pope Benedict XVI includes also a call to official bishops and priests of some dioceses, who may fear sanctions from civil authorities if they express their unity with the Holy Father openly and clearly. That frightens them. The words of the Lord Jesus to his apostles apply here to both the underground and official pastors in China: "Courage, he said. It's I. Don't be afraid! (Mt. 14, 27). All Chinese pastors must repeat these words of the Lord to their flock so that all may find courage and strength.

The hesitation of some underground Catholics is humanly speaking quite understandable. But it is not wise that some Church authorities confirm them in their attitude of avoiding to respond to the call for unity of the Pope. This pastoral guideline of justifying a refusal to unite takes the edge off the Pope's letter and will reintroduce the "8 Point Document" which the Pope's letter precisely intended to undo. It will confirm the Chinese Church in its internal division into two communities as it has been during the past 25 years. That situation will be even worse than before because then no higher authority can call any more to remake unity because the Pope has in his present letter already done so. That could make division in the Chinese Church permanent. Those who confirm the hesitations of the underground create confusion in the Chinese Church. They take a heavy, historical responsibility by weakening the message of the Pope's letter and give an unclear signal for the faithful.

That reminds us of St Paul 1 Cor. 14-8: " …how will one know the melody that is being played unless the notes are sounded clearly? And if the one who plays the bugle does not sound a clear call, who will prepare for the battle?" The Pope's letter has orchestrated the score clearly; both 'the words and the music' - that is both the spirit and the letter of his meaning - are distinctly expressed. All concerned must avoid introducing discordant notes which would cause confusion among the Chinese Catholics and prevent them from knowing whom to obey.

Third Observation
The task of uniting the Church is strictly the work of the Holy Spirit. In matters of faith no 'help' is required from Caesar. Nonetheless the Chinese Church obviously must normalize its relationship with the government if it wishes to be authentically Chinese. A united Chinese Catholic Church with bishops recognized by all the faithful as well as by the government will be able to contribute more effectively to building up the long sought harmonious Chinese society. This of course can only happen when Christians are no longer harassed by local civil authorities while they meet and pray and when they are no longer forced to develop a Catholic Chinese Church independently from the Holy See.

In other words, what is needed is an atmosphere where bishops of the Catholic Church are respected and left free in their task of guiding their flock in the faith. The full character and identity of the Chinese Catholic Church must be recognized, including its hierarchy and its relationship with the universal Church in communion with the Pope. Many friends in China - especially these underground brothers and sisters who have so often been victims of harassment - rightly observe that these crucial aspects of Catholic Church life are still lacking in China. At the same time, one must also acknowledge that the Church in China has been able to rebuild itself and to expand rapidly over the past 25 years due in part to the approving eye of the government. However, this situation has become quite ambiguous, and has long since demanded a resolution. There is an urgent need for the Church and the State in China to engage in intensive dialogue to bring into force religious policy and legislation that provides full freedom of religion for all believers including Catholics. A fully united local Chinese Church must be open to this dialogue. Uniting the Church is an internal pastoral task of the Catholic Church community. Parallel with, but separate from it, local church communities must also externally engage in dialogue with the government.

Some clandestine Catholics say that 'full freedom of religion in China' is a pre-condition for them to join with the official Church community. This could unconsciously create reasons to avoid the call of Pope Benedict XVI to unite the Church. The Pope's letter is an official signal that, in his judgment, the situation in which the "8 Point Document" arose belongs to the past, as far as the Church community is concerned. If there is no schism, then why persist to exist as two separate communities? Clearly, reconciliation within the Church itself as one ecclesial Eucharistic body, comes first.

It follows from the logic of the Pope's call for unity that the united Chinese Church will be ready to initiate dialogue with the government as one united Church in order to obtain in China the same religious freedom for Catholics which exists in all other countries in the world. Here lies a grave responsibility for the Chinese government. There is indeed no reason for Chinese authorities to refuse to Chinese Catholics the kind of religious freedom which all other countries offer. The Chinese Church must offer to Caesar what belongs to Caesar but it is only fair that it requests in turn that Caesar gives to God what belongs to God. Through authentic and constructive dialogue in truth, the realization of full religious freedom will not only be a milestone for China of significant historical growth and maturation as Nation but will also presage the appearance of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church in China, fully incarnated in Chinese culture and contemporary civilization. Such an achievement, I venture to suggest, would automatically pave the way to the normalization of diplomatic relations with the Vatican. This arena however is the prerogative for the diplomats rather than for pastors.