Rome & Beijing.

In his article on Chinese nuns, Adam Minter writes, "Today, the Vatican recognizes both churches ..." Presumably, he means the underground church in China and the Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA), commonly referred to as China's "official church." The Vatican has not, in fact, recognized the CPA. No Vatican pronouncements have been made to this effect.

JOSEPH KUNG

Stamford, Conn.

The writer is president of the Cardinal Kung Foundation.

THE AUTHOR REPLIES:

In his generous note, Doug Lovejoy correctly notes that the Vatican has never declared a schism in the Chinese church. I regret the improper use of the term. Of course, there is no denying a rift between China's "registered" and "underground" churches, just as there is no denying Vatican efforts to heal it. In mid-September, the pope invited four Chinese bishops to attend the October Synod of the Eucharist in Rome. Though the Chinese government subsequently prevented them from attending, the invitees were an underground bishop, a registered-church bishop recently emerged from the underground, and two government-appointed registered-church bishops, including Shanghai's Aloysius Jin Luxian. Jin, it is worth noting, oversees the diocese once held by Joseph Kung's uncle, the late Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei.

Joseph Kung suggests that I equate China's registered church with China's Catholic Patriotic Association [CPA]. This is false: as I explicitly note in my story, the CPA is not a "patriotic" church, or a church at all. It is a Chinese government organization that oversees the registered church. Thus, many of the sisters in my article belong to Shanghai's registered congregation without being CPA members. The Vatican long ago recognized this distinction; unfortunately, Joseph Kung has yet to accept it.

ADAM MINTER