Hopes and Fears in Anticipation of Congress on Religions
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 12, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Vatican Jubilee 2000 Committee, is travelling to Beijing to participate in an international symposium on "Religions and Peace."
The Basque-French Cardinal, 77, has been in China on other occasions, and has first-hand knowledge of the situation currently being experienced by Chinese Catholics. During the years he was president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, John Paul II entrusted him with very difficult missions to countries like Vietnam and Bosnia. However, this visit to China, he himself admitted, it extremely risky.
Before boarding his plane, Cardinal Etchegaray was interviewed on Vatican Radio; he clarified his reasons for the trip, in order to avoid distorted interpretations.
-- Vatican Radio: Eminence, on Wednesday you will be in Beijing. What is the significance of this trip?
-- Cardinal Etchegaray: I want to respond as clearly as possible, because Chinese Catholics have the right to know what I am going to do and under what conditions. I am going to participate in an Italian-Chinese Symposium on "Religions and Peace," organized by the 'Tian Xia Yi Jia' cultural association ("Only One Family Under the Same Sky"), whose president is Professor Giovagnoli of Milan's University of the Sacred Heart, and whose vice-president is Fr. Lazzarotto (PIME).
However, I want to specify that I am not going to negotiate absolutely anything on behalf of the Holy See (this is not part of my responsiblities). The Symposium will take place in the headquarters of the Institute of World Religions, one of the divisions of the Beijing Academy of Sciences. I will speak at the beginning, together with Professor Zhuo Xinping, the Institute's director. My presence alone within a prestigious Academy of China is a very positive fact, which I wish to emphasize, as everyone is aware of my ecclesial responsibilities.
-- Vatican Radio: You are already known in continental China.
-- Cardinal Etchegaray: Yes, I have made two trips, in 1980 and 1993. The first was quite important given its duration - at the time I was still Archbishop of Marseilles - and the caliber of the contacts with other Chinese personalities. I was the first Cardinal to visit Communist China, and I realized immediately the serious difficulties being experienced by the Church, as well as the intrepid faith of Catholics.
-- Vatican Radio: However, the religious situation seems even more complicated now.
-- Cardinal Etchegaray: No one can deny that there are several positive aspects, such as the fact that the Catholic community is growing under the Holy Spirit's action. Yet, it is true that we are receiving grave and very disquieting news. In any event, the movement of history can never be stopped, and Christians know this very well when they look over the 20 centuries of the Church's history. The Gospel teaches us to always look ahead, "with our gaze fixed on Christ," yesterday, today, and forever. The Paschal mystery of his death and resurrection are at the heart of the Church's daily life.
-- Vatican Radio: The Pope entrusted you with the preparation of this Holy Year's Jubilee. Do you think that your presence in China might contribute to strengthening the faith of a Church that suffers from internal division (with the existence of the Catholic Patriotic Association), and the external impediments of the political regime?
-- Cardinal Etchegaray: This Jubilee Year is an exceptional year because of a new flowering of joint efforts in the service of peace in the Church, which must be better known as the messenger of Good News in the service of the Chinese people. I recall John Paul II's message, last December 8, to all Chinese Catholics without exception: "I have happily learned that you want to offer unity among yourselves and with Peter's successor, as a precious gift for the celebration of the Great Jubilee, the Holy Father said. Such a decision can only be the fruit of the Spirit, which leads its Church through the difficult roads of reconciliation and unity."
-- Vatican Radio: However, in reality, what do you hope to do in China to help Catholics in this sense?
-- Cardinal Etchegaray: I don't know ahead of time. Since my first trip 20 years ago, I have prayed every night for the Chinese people and the Church in China.I would like to give them all a little sign of hope. I am aware that my words and gestures, no matter how limited, run the risk of being badly understood and manipulated. The contacts I will establish cannot be interpreted as a recognition of the existing ecclesiastical structures. My one desire is to be able to give simple testimony to all of a sincere and determined will to dialogue, without concealing any of the truth of the Church, as Christ founded it. I place myself entirely in God's hands and the fraternal prayer of all Catholics of China.
ZE00091210