Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The commission that Benedict XVI established in 2007 to study questions of importance to the life the Church in China will meet today, March 22, at the Vatican. According to a press statement from the Holy See Press Office, the commission is composed of various heads of the sections of the Roman Curia who have competence in the area and representatives of the Chinese episcopate and religious congregations.
The first plenary meeting, which took place March 10-12, 2008, had as its theme the letter that the Pope addressed to Chinese Catholics in May of 2007. The letter’s reception inside and outside China was considered at the 2008 meeting. There was also reflection on the theological principles that inspired the letter with the scope of determining the perspectives for the Catholic community in China that the principles suggested. The second plenary meeting of the group, which occurred March 30-April 1, 2009, studied the question of the human, intellectual, spiritual, and pastoral formation of seminarians and consecrated persons as well as ongoing formation of priests.
This third plenary meeting, which begins today and will conclude March 24, will continue the reflection on formation, this time in view of the work of priests and consecrated persons in China to incarnate the Gospel and to bear witness to it even in the face of the challenges posed by the evolution of social and cultural conditions. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 22/03/2010)
