HONG KONG: A Chinese bishop said the visit by German President Joachim Gauck to a cathedral in Xi'an on Holy Thursday should help the development of the church's charity work.

Bishop Anthony Dang Mingyan said he introduced the German president to the diocese’s charity works and described the general situation of Shaanxi province during the 50-minute March 24 visit.

Xi'an, where an estimated 40,000 Catholics reside, was the last leg of a five-day trip during Gauck's first state visit to China from March 21-25.

"I summarized several aspects, such as social facilities, education, hygiene services and elderly caring," Bishop Dang told ucanews.com.

"Gauck appreciated our achievements on these social services" and invited him to visit Germany, he added.

Although the pair did not discuss cooperation on charity works between the two countries, Bishop Dang said that as a result of Gauck's visit, he hopes his diocese will develop a relationship with Misereor, the Germen bishops' conference development organization.

"The president's visit is of great significance in promoting the church's charitable work in China," Father Stephen Chen Ruixue told ucanews.com.

"If we can get more money, we'd like to train more social workers," said Father Chen, director of the Xi'an Diocesan Social Service Center.

"It is normal for leaders from countries with a Christian background to show their concerns for the church," Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, retired bishop of Hong Kong, told ucanews.com.

The speech Gauck's made in China "may help some people to reflect too," the cardinal said.

In a March 23 speech to students at Tongji University in Shanghai, Gauck criticized Communist rule in East Germany and lauded the benefits of human rights.

Under the Communist rule, "most people were neither happy nor liberated," Gauck said.

"And the entire system lacked proper legitimacy. Free, equal and secret public elections were not held. The result was a lack of credibility, which went hand in hand with a culture of distrust between the rulers and those they ruled," he said.--ucannews.com