"China comments father Augusto is a gathering of people who are always under pressure for fear of breaking up. It still retains the dictators’ authoritarianism, because it is scared of local risings". He thinks the Dalai Lama’s position is the right one, as "he does not ask for political independence but for cultural independence, as it has been for so many centuries. The Dalai Lama wants dialogue to peacefully achieve this form of cultural and religious independence". And to those who complain of the Pope’s "silence" about these days’ events, he replies: "We must be very careful. It is a very delicate time, even for the Catholic Church in China. We must understand what is happening, be well aware of what is going on, otherwise we’d rather be prudent. Of course, in the past, when there was major violence, everyone should have spoken out more, including the international community. Now the situation is much tougher". Father Augusto says he is confident that China will change: "We are witnessing a revolution that began from the economic scene, but which is also slowly going on on the cultural scene. Just look at how many Chinese people are coming to study in the West. This means that in a few decades China will change, valuing the good skills of the Chinese people, who are intelligent and industrious. It was a much more advanced civilisation that ours, so it is a people who has a future". (pca)” ” ” “
