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    ROME (CWNews.com) - Underground Catholics in China sent a message to Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of his election to the papacy, expressing in their message their fidelity to the Successor of St. Peter.

    The Vatican news agency Fides published a letter, sent by Bishop Giuseppe Fan Zhonliang of Shanghai, in which the prelate greets the Pope and offers him prayers on behalf of numerous Chinese Catholics.

    The letter is also signed by several priests and faithful from Baoding, Lanzhou, Tianshui, Xining, Haimen, Yuzhou, Fuan, Wenzhou, where communities of Catholics loyal to Rome are active, as members of the "clandestine Church," as opposed to the state-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which eschews any ties to the Vatican.

    "Holy Father," said the letter, "today we want to demonstrate our faithfulness to you. Today we profess our faith: 'I believe in the Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic."

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