Rome apologizes, but China doesn't budge

Christian Century, Dec 5, 2001

Pope John Paul II's dramatic apology to China for past "errors" by Roman Catholics has met with a far less dramatic response in Beijing, failing to budge the main roadblock to dialogue. Reports from Beijing in late October indicated that the People's Republic of China is standing firm on its demand that the Vatican accept the government-sponsored Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association as the price for better relations.

On October 24 John Paul apologized to China for misunderstandings of the past, which he blamed on "personal limitations" of missionaries, European interventions in China in the 19th and early 20th centuries and theological disputes. The pope, who apparently hoped for a breakthrough in relations, appealed to Beijing to join in dialogue "for the good of the Chinese people and for peace in the world" at the present "moment of profound disquiet."

The appeal was contained in a message the pontiff sent to a symposium in Rome marking the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci in Beijing. Organizers of the symposium immediately turned the message over to the Chinese Embassy for relay to Beijing.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing on November 8, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said China "is ready to improve relations with the Holy See as soon as possible." But he reiterated the two conditions the government has long placed for dialogue--that the Vatican break off relations with Taiwan and "refrain from interfering in internal questions taking religion as a pretext."

The Vatican has made clear that it is ready to sacrifice Taiwan to the cause of improving relations with China, but bowing to the second demand would be unthinkable because it would require the pope to accept the right of the Patriotic Association to name its own bishops and write its own doctrine. According to Vatican estimates, there are about 8 million Catholics in China, evenly divided between the Patriotic Association, created by the government in 1957, and the underground Catholic Church loyal to the Vatican.

Sun Yuxi left the door to better relations only slightly ajar, saying that the government "is studying" the pope's message and noting that diplomatic contacts with the Vatican continued despite China's anger over the canonization of 120 Chinese martyrs a year ago.

The papal apology was similar to, but far more specific than, the mea culpa John Paul voiced at a Holy Year Mass on March 13, 2000, for sins committed in the name of the Catholic Church over the past two millenniums. "I feel deep sadness for these errors and limits of the past," he said, "and I regret that in many people these failings may have given the impression of a lack of respect and esteem for the Chinese people on the part of the Catholic Church, making them feel that the church was motivated by feelings of hostility toward China. For all of this I ask the forgiveness and understanding of those who may have felt hurt in some way by such actions on the part of Christians," the pope said. --RNS