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CHINA-LAJOLO Jun-2-2006 (400 words) xxxi
Vatican official: Church in China seeks no privileges, only freedom
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican's top foreign affairs official said the church seeks no privileges in China, but only wants the freedom to organize its internal affairs.
The comments by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo came after a month of heightened church-state tensions in China over the ordination of bishops unapproved by Pope Benedict XVI.
The archbishop said interference by Chinese authorities in the bishop selection process ends up exacerbating divisions among Chinese Catholics. He spoke in an interview with a Romanian newspaper, and the Vatican translated and distributed the text to journalists June 1.
"As in all countries of the world, the church in China does not seek any privilege but only wants to be free in its internal organization," Archbishop Lajolo said.
He said this was a matter of church law and did not represent an intrusion in the affairs of the Chinese state.
"Likewise, Chinese political authorities should not interfere in the internal ordering of the church and especially in the appointment of bishops," he said.
The archbishop said noninterference by the state in bishops' appointments would bring greater social peace among the Chinese people, who at present are forced to choose between "forced obedience to a so-called patriotic church and belonging to the one Catholic Church in communion with the pope."
From the late 1950s, when the Chinese government formed the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, until the mid-1980s, the only Catholic bishops in China recognized as legitimate by the Vatican were those chosen and ordained secretly by other bishops in the underground Catholic community. Since then, however, many government-approved bishops reconciled with the Vatican, and, increasingly, new bishops were approved by the Chinese government and the Vatican.
In late April, China began ordaining bishops who had not been approved by the Vatican, and sources in China indicated some of those participating in the ordinations were pressured by the government to do so.
In the interview, Archbishop Lajolo also spoke hopefully about relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, saying it should not be too difficult to overcome practical problems that have afflicted ecumenical relations in recent years.
"I am confident that Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Alexy (of Moscow) will be able to meet in the not-distant future. It will be a significant gesture for the ecumenical journey," the archbishop said.
END
Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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