香港天主教社會傳播處

HONG KONG CATHOLIC SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE

Address: 16 Caine Road, 10/F, Hong Kong Email: domyyy@hkdavc.com

Tel: 852-25255588 Fax: 852-25379774 Website: www.hkdavc.com

2007年6月30日

教宗本篤十六世致中國天主教徒發表牧函 - 陳日君樞機的回應

等待了很久的教宗的信終於發行了。一如他在一月底許諾的，教宗本篤十六世寫了一封信給中國的主教、神父、修女及平信徒。

教宗寫信給一個國家的天主教團體確是一項創舉，這當然因為國內的天主教會過去幾十年經歷了不尋常的遭遇；教宗特別關懷他的子女，並希望在目前看來似是關鍵的時刻給予他們一些指導，幫助他們走出困境。

六月初，教廷國務卿宣佈教宗的信稿“已獲批准”。聽來有點奇怪，「教宗的信獲教宗批准了?!」大概按教廷的傳統，教宗的信脫稿後還讓某些部門的官員過目甚或修改，這也解釋為何五個月後才完成，當然最後批准的還是教宗本人，由他簽署，因為這是他的信．

粗略地看了這封頗長的信，我有一個印象、兩個願望想跟傳媒分享．

一個印象：我非常欽佩教宗本篤，他在對真理的執著和對教徒的眷愛之間取得了一個可貴的平衡，因為他是一位卓越的神學家，又是一位聖賢的慈父，他能同時尊重真理及表達愛心．感謝天主給我們這樣一位好領袖！

一個願望：教宗詳細講述的真理都是一些教會傳統及普世共識的原則，全屬宗教範疇，毫無政治意圖，更沒有任何意思攻擊任何人．我的願望是希望我國領導平心靜氣從這角度去解讀，藉此更明白天主教不能背棄的本質。

還有一個願望：國內主教神父的聲音一向不能上達最高領導，現在教宗的信 到了領導們手裡，那末將來主教神父和最高領導的對話可以以這封信為基礎。教宗強調教會是由主教們領導的，主教們和教宗是不能分裂的。我的願望是國內主教神父都和教宗站在一起，讓我們國內的教會真真實實是全世界所共認而敬佩的天主教會，這樣也為我們的祖國爭光。

Cardinal ZEN’s response to the Letter by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Catholic Faithful in China

The long awaited letter from the Holy Father has finally seen the light of the day. His Holiness Pope Benedict has addressed a letter to the Bishops, priests, religious and faithful in China as he had promised to do last January.

Indeed, it is a historical “First” that the Pope has written a letter to the catholic community in a particular region. The motive is, as is obvious, that that community has experienced so much tribulation in the last decades, that the Holy Father wants to show special concern for those his children and give them some guidelines in this seemingly crucial moment, so that they might free themselves from their unfortunate predicament.

At the beginning of June the Vatican Secretary of State announced that “the Pope’s letter has been definitively approved”, a rather strange way of saying things: “the Pope’s letter approved by the Pope?” The fact, probably, is that even the finished text of the Pope’s letter, according to the Vatican way of doing things, would still pass through further checks or even corrections. Obviously, the finally approved letter is the Pope’s letter, with his signature.

After a cursory vision of the rather long letter, I would like to share with the media my one impression and two hopes.

The impression. I admire the precious balance achieved by the Holy Father between his passion for the truth and his love for his children. Only an outstanding theologian and a tender father could satisfy at the same time the demands of the truth and the kindness towards people. Blessed be God for having given us such a leader!

On hope. The doctrine painstakingly explained by Benedict XVI, is nothing but the most traditional and universally accepted Catholic principles, belonging to the religious field, with no secret political agenda, even less with an intention of attacking anybody. My hope is that the leaders of our Country would read the Pope’s letter from this perspective and understand the true unchangeable nature of the Catholic Church.

A second hope. The voice of our Bishops and priests in China is often prevented from reaching our leaders; now that the letter of the Pope is in the hands of our leaders, our Bishops and priests can thus refer to it directly as a common starting point for dialogue.

The Pope insists that Bishops are the leaders of the Church and they are not to be separated from the Roman Pontiff. My hope is that our Bishops and priests stand united with the Holy Father. Let our Church in China be truly the Catholic Church recognized and respected by the rest of the World, and let it bring honour and glory to our Country on the stage of the Universal Church.