O mirae litterae!

My opinion is that the Letter of the Supreme Pontiff given out on 30 June is excellent in the manner of its exposition. It enunciates the truth with extreme clarity and injures no one, neither the “public” Church, nor the underground, nor the communists, but lays down throughout and with precision only the truths of the Church necessary for the present situation of the Chinese Church. The which truths are those of the theology of the Church and are known to all those who are concerned with theology. O stupendous words! The Spirit is indeed with the Vicar of Christ.
What is written in the letter is exactly what I have publicly sustained with force to the government for twenty and more years.
This letter is useful to encourage unity both for the underground Christians and for the “public” ones. But I consider this is more difficult for the underground Christians than for the “public” ones. Because there are some obstinate underground Christians who persist in their own opinions. That God doesn’t want. We pray to God for them.
I once told the government: we must in all things find an accord with the world, but now this letter points the way to an accord with the world in the questions of the Catholic Church. I hope that the government can accept it.
Perhaps for many it is difficult to declare to the government the faith and the doctrine of the Church with clarity, humility and sincerity, something that is necessary. If we express our faith sincerely to the government, the government will be able to assess the matter well and in some way give us its approval. Let us pray (for this)!
With this letter from the Supreme Pontiff all the previous pastoral privileges and the directives are abolished, and this letter will be the principle to follow. This is an excellent thing for the stability both of the Church and of the State. This is the unique and the best way, the hope of wiping away the discord, the confusion and the lack of peace that haunt the Chinese Church.





Lucas Li Jingfeng
Lucas Li Jingfeng is the 87 year-old bishop of Feng Xiang (Shaanxi, central China). Up to 2003 it was perhaps the only diocese in the People’s China in which all ecclesial life had freshly blossomed outside the control of the Patriotic Association. In 2004 Monsignor Li was recognized as bishop also by the government, without needing to join that body. Li is one of the four Chinese bishops whom Benedict XVI summoned to Rome in 2005 to participate in the Synod of the Bishops (and who on that occasion did not obtain from the government permission to leave China).