It’s as simple as that. The CPA rejects the authority of the pope over the Church in China. The CPA has been condemned by Pope Benedict in his 2007 Letter to the Church in China for pretending to be Catholic. The U.S. Catholic China Bureau doesn’t get that, even though its head, Rev. Michel Marcil, acts as a messenger for CPA bishops who want to submit secretly to the pope. The underground Church, the Church that publicly professes its allegiance to the pope, does not need to get “reconciled”; it’s the CPA clergy that need to reconcile with the underground Catholics, and do so publicly. And there can be no reconciliation without quitting the Patriotic Association. One underground nun sums it up very succinctly in this interview with Louisa Lim of National Public Radio:
“I’m not sure whether the pope understands the situation of underground church people like us. If we all suddenly came out into the open, then it would be out of control. It would cause chaos for the church,” she says. “If you don’t know what reconciliation means, then it’s better not to reconcile.” Read the full NPR article here.
