Sunday, 17 August 2014

For Chinese, Pope Seems Worlds Away in South Korea - New York Times

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Asia Pacific |For Chinese, Pope Seems Worlds Away in South Korea



http://nyti.ms/1oHUOiH







In China, parishioners of an underground Catholic church gathered in a yard for evening Mass last week outside the city of Shijiazhuang. Gilles Sabrie for The New York Times




BEIJING — Pu Ge sat on a green bench outside Beijing’s oldest Catholic cathedral and stared at the ornate gray edifice, contemplating God and his shepherd. She said she had thought that Pope Francis would stop in China during his current trip to Asia.


“I thought he would visit a church here and we would get a chance to meet him,” said Ms. Pu, 27, a dance teacher. “I would like to meet him, but it seems so distant.”


Given the long history of tensions between the Vatican and the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese state media have been less than forthcoming with reports about the pope and the Catholic establishment. Broad coverage of the pope’s first visit to the Far East, which began Thursday in South Korea, was not available here.


The spare news treatment is indicative of the party’s continuing attempts to maintain a tight grip on Catholicism, as the number of Chinese followers grow each year, and as those followers try by various means to learn more about Pope Francis.



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The Vatican has just as great an interest in them, and also in trying to improve relations with the Communist Party. There have been signs of some warming, even if the establishment of formal ties, if permitted by the party, is still years or decades off.




Worshipers at underground churches reject state-controlled Catholicism. Gilles Sabrie for The New York Times

While addressing bishops in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday, the pope referred cordially to China and other Asian nations with which the Vatican does not have formal relations, in his strongest outreach yet to those governments. “In this spirit of openness to others, I earnestly hope that those countries of your continent with whom the Holy See does not yet enjoy a full relationship may not hesitate to further a dialogue for the benefit of all,” he said.


He then deviated from a prepared text, according to The Associated Press. “I’m not talking here only about a political dialogue, but about a fraternal dialogue,” the pope said. “These Christians aren’t coming as conquerors, they aren’t trying to take away our identity.” The important thing, he said, was to “walk together.”


Breaking with tradition on Thursday, the Chinese government allowed the pope’s jet to fly through Chinese airspace as he traveled to Seoul. While above China, the pope broadcast via radio telegram a message to Xi Jinping, the Chinese president and party leader, offering his best wishes and blessings of peace.


Li Zhigang, a volunteer at the Xuanwumen Cathedral in southern Beijing, where Ms. Pu was sitting outdoors on Friday afternoon, said: “Of course, we’d like his blessings to be realized. Chinese Catholics are devoted followers of the pope.”


Mr. Li, 55, was among a dozen or so people worshiping that afternoon inside the church, known formally as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It was first established in 1605, when the Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci set up residence near here.


The priests and nuns of Xuanwumen are on one side of a sharp divide in Chinese Catholicism, which is one of five religions recognized by party. This cathedral is officially approved by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, a state organization that, to the chagrin of the Vatican, controls the practice of Catholicism in China, including the appointment of bishops.




Slide Show|8 Photos

Pope Francis in South Korea



Pope Francis in South Korea


Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


On the other side of the divide are the so-called underground churches, which exist nationwide and are tolerated by local officials. At those churches, discussion of the pope and his authority is more open than at the official cathedrals. About half of China’s approximately 15 million Catholics worship at underground churches, said Lionel Jensen, an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in religion in China.


“In the end,” Mr. Jensen said, “the numbers cannot tell us what is seen on the ground, that Catholic services are increasingly well attended, even packed, and that the Vatican is aware that the popularity of Catholicism is growing.”


That is the case at an underground church outside the city of Shijiazhuang in Hebei Province, where the Rev. Dong Baolu leads a parish of about 2,000. Despite the growing number of Catholics in China, Father Dong said he did not anticipate a visit here by the pope anytime soon.


“There is no way to establish formal diplomacy now,” he said in a telephone interview. “That is because a real Communist Party won’t tolerate independent religion. Even if you’re allowed to follow your faith, that’s within its control. There is no way that it will allow you to follow foreign leadership.”


He said it was a “good thing” that Pope Francis had been allowed to fly over China, but also questioned the terms of whatever agreement had been reached between the Vatican and the Chinese government to permit it.


“I think the deal itself is bad for those churches that are loyal and true and underground, because the Communist Party’s policy hasn’t changed,” he said. “Religion is still under the leadership of the Communist Party.”




Play Video|1:06

Pope and South Korean President on Peace



Pope and South Korean President on Peace



Pope Francis, in his visit to Seoul, called for efforts toward reconciliation between North and South Korea. Meanwhile, President Park Geun-hye urged North Korea to give up its nuclear ambition.


August 14, 2014. Pool photo by Kim Hong-Ji

Even at the official Xuanwumen Cathedral, people understood the realities.


“Of course, South Korea is more developed as a Catholic country than China,” said Chen Kuo, 29, a clothing salesman from Hebei Province. “But the fact that the pope chose to go to Korea rather than China makes me feel disappointed in the Chinese government’s policies toward Catholicism and Catholics.”


Some young Chinese Catholics trying to get to South Korea were stopped by the authorities last week, said Ren Dahai, who heads a Catholic charity in Hebei. Mr. Ren said some local officials had allowed worshipers to go, while others had ordered a clampdown.


“For Chinese officials, the reigning mind-set is that being a leftist is less of a sin than being a rightist,” he said in a telephone interview, referring to the fact that China’s leftists, who support greater party control, remain the stronger political force. “So you can’t be faulted for being too strict, but you could come under criticism for being too liberal and open.”


Mr. Jensen, the American scholar, said that the pope’s passage above China was “a small but singular event,” and that his message to both Mr. Xi and the Chinese people “was another promising gesture of communication between the Vatican and Beijing, even more so as the Foreign Ministry made a statement of their interest in constructive dialogue.”


“The general trend in Vatican and Chinese Communist Party relations has been toward decreasing friction, and thus overall improvement,” Mr. Jensen said. “However, this is only from comparison with the more violent vitriol and threats that characterized Beijing’s past relations with the Holy See.


Mr. Jensen said he thought that “there are some in the party who do believe that China’s status as a modern nation with global presence and responsibilities must come to terms with the widespread growth of Christianity in China, and this means a reasonable accommodation with the Vatican.”



Choe Sang-Hun contributed reporting from Seoul, South Korea. Patrick Zuo contributed research from Beijing.




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