Sir, – I was interested to read the approval given by a Chinese newspaper to the Taoiseach’s Cloyne speech, as I have first-hand knowledge of China’s position on the church (Home News, August 20th).
The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA) with a membership of five million, does not recognise the authority of the Pope in the selection of bishops. This is the source of the quarrel of the people’s republic with the Vatican – in addition to the fact that the Vatican has not cut its ties with Taiwan.
During my two years in China, my friends and I attended the approved church (CCPA) most Sundays. Of course the language was a problem, but what struck me most was the devout congregation – poor Chinese and a full, overflowing congregation.
Would that the Vatican would listen to Dr Willie Walsh of Killaloe on his tour of China, and quoted by your then Beijing correspondent, Conor O’Clery (October 30th, 1998): “Sometimes it can be just as heroic to live with an ambivalence as it can be to make sacrifices to pursue a very definite and distinct line.” – Yours, etc,