The Pope's letter re: China

Here, thanks to Amy Welborn, is Pope Benedict XVI's letter to the Catholics in China.  I have not seen as much coverage as I would have expected, but maybe I've been looking in the wrong places.

This is a matter in which I am very interested.  (Needless to say, the Pope's tone is more pastoral and charitable than the tone I employed in my op-ed.  I probably would have preferred -- though, of course, I have to admit that the actualization of my preferences would be sub-optimal, pastoral-wise -- a bit more confrontational stance with respect to the Chinese government.)  I'm looking forward to hearing from my betters what, exactly, this letter means for the so-called "underground" Church in China -- and for the so-called Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.  This seems telling:

Considering "Jesus' original plan", it is clear that the claim of some entities, desired by the State and extraneous to the structure of the Church, to place themselves above the Bishops and to guide the life of the ecclesial community, does not correspond to Catholic doctrine, according to which the Church is "apostolic", as the Second Vatican Council underlined. . . .

Likewise, the declared purpose of the afore-mentioned entities to implement "the principles of independence and autonomy, self-management and democratic administration of the Church" [36] is incompatible with Catholic doctrine, which from the time of the ancient Creeds professes the Church to be "one, holy, catholic and apostolic". . .

Given this difficult situation, not a few members of the Catholic community are asking whether recognition from the civil authorities – necessary in order to function publicly – somehow compromises communion with the universal Church. I am fully aware that this problem causes painful disquiet in the hearts of Pastors and faithful. In this regard I maintain, in the first place, that the requisite and courageous safeguarding of the deposit of faith and of sacramental and hierarchical communion is not of itself opposed to dialogue with the authorities concerning those aspects of the life of the ecclesial community that fall within the civil sphere. There would not be any particular difficulties with acceptance of the recognition granted by civil authorities on condition that this does not entail the denial of unrenounceable principles of faith and of ecclesiastical communion. In not a few particular instances, however, indeed almost always, in the process of recognition the intervention of certain bodies obliges the people involved to adopt attitudes, make gestures and undertake commitments that are contrary to the dictates of their conscience as Catholics. . .

There's a lot more.  Any thoughts?