VATICAN - Commission on the Catholic Church in China begins today in the Vatican

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The commission instituted in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI to study the most important issues in the life of the Catholic Church in China is meeting from 11 to 13 April in the Vatican. The Vatican press office released an announcement on Saturday saying that the commission is made up of “the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia with competence in this area and by representatives of the Chinese episcopate and religious congregations.” The commission's first meeting was held from 10-12 March 2008 and its theme was based around the Pope's May 27, 2007 Letter to Chinese Catholics. The two subsequent gatherings, held 30 March – 1 April 2009 and 22-24 March 2010, examined “the topic of human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral formation of seminarians and consecrated persons and the permanent formation of priests.” At the plenary session that begins today, they “will consider the pastoral situation of the ecclesiastical administrations in China, with particular reference to the challenges that the Church meets in incarnating the Gospel in the present social and cultural conditions.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 11/04/2011)