Cardinal Bertone urges Chinese priests to evangelize, seek holiness

November 17, 2009

In commemoration of the Year for Priests, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone has written a letter to Chinese priests urging them to evangelize and seek holiness. In the letter, dated November 10 and released November 16, the Vatican Secretary of State frequently quoted from St. John Vianney and called for “reconciliation within the Catholic community and a respectful and constructive dialogue with the civil authorities, without renouncing the principles of the Catholic faith. In this regard, despite the persisting difficulties, the information that has come from different parts of China points also to signs of hope.”

Cardinal Bertone continued:

Dear brother priests, you are pastors of the People of God in a geographically and demographically vast country. As the little flock in the midst of a great multitude of persons, you live side by side with the followers of other religions and with persons who are indifferent or indeed hostile towards God and towards religion … There are various practical ways in which you can make your valuable contribution: for example, by visiting Catholic and non-Catholic families frequently, as well as villages, showing your concern for people’s needs; by increasing efforts to prepare and train good catechists; by fostering greater use of charitable services directed especially to children and to sick and old people, in order to show the Church’s unselfish charity; by organizing special gatherings where Catholics could invite their non-Catholic relatives and friends in order to become better acquainted with the Catholic Church and Christian faith; by distributing Catholic literature to non-Catholics.

Noting that the Eucharist “presupposes the union not only with the local Bishop but also with the Pope,” Cardinal Bertone also urged China’s priests to make the Mass the center of their ministry and to promote Eucharistic adoration outside of Mass.

 

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Further information:

• Cardinal Bertone Writes Letter to Priests in China (Vatican Radio)
• Pope Benedict: Letter to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People's Republic of China (2007)
• Compendium of the Letter (Holy See)