Shijiazhuang, China - Except for his cross and clerical collar, Zhang Shijiang could be another one of China's hard-driving entrepreneurs hunting for opportunities as the country's old controls wilt away.
He paces a church compound in north China's Hebei province, giving instructions to colleagues, taking calls, making plans to attract donations. Running a Catholic charity in a country long hostile to religion, especially Christianity, is not easy.
"When we'd just started up, society didn't really understand and wouldn't accept our services, but those misgivings have been slowly receding," said Zhang, a priest who uses the Christian name John Baptist. "Now that conditions are improving, it's important for the church to step out."
Jinde Charities, which calls itself the first Catholic charity registered by the government since 1949, embodies the evolution of the church here as believers seek a more secure place in society even as they wrestle with internal tensions.
From a headquarters in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei about 300 kilometres (186 miles) southwest of Beijing, 40 or so priests, nuns and lay staff run an old-age home, help rural AIDS patients and act as a funding go-between to build churches where old ones were razed or have become unusable.
The sister Faith Press issues a newspaper that sends out 60,000 copies nationwide every ten days, often with pictures and reports of Pope Benedict.
"I heard that he was very happy when he was shown an issue with his picture on the front page," Zhang said.
INNER DIVIDE
Chinese Catholics are also confronting their own inner divide, and groups like Jinde, which takes its name from a deceased local bishop, offer clues to how the rift may be narrowed, said observers.
The country's 12 million or so Catholics are split between state-registered churches and "underground" ones that reject state ties. Pope Benedict is due to issue a letter soon on the future of China's church, urging reconciliation between both.
The "above-ground" side also generally honors the Pope as a spiritual leader and most of its bishops now have Rome's blessing. But the government restricts official church contacts with Rome, which has not had diplomatic ties with Beijing since 1951.
Tensions run deep in Hebei, home to about 1.5 million Catholics and a stronghold of those who regard the "above-ground" church as illegitimate. Detentions of underground priests have been common in the province.
But as older Catholics entrenched in that fight die off, newer groups like Jinde are creating room for greater unity, said Sister Janet Carroll of the U.S. China Catholic Bureau, a group that promotes contact with the Chinese church.
"It is true that there are restrictions and harassment, but the real story is what people are achieving despite that," she said. "What initiatives like these are doing is giving the church a recognizable face and room to grow outward," she added, citing similar church charities in other Chinese cities.
For decades, China's Communist Party sought to harshly restrict, even wipe out, religion. In the past three decades, the government has come to tolerate religions if they accept its rules and the ultimate say of the Party.
BUILDING TRUST
The bustle at Jinde and the seminary next door suggested that Hebei Catholics are embracing the opportunities of the relatively relaxed atmosphere.
Next to the Jinde offices, a hundred seminarians in white attended early morning mass in the high-domed chapel of the Shijiazhuang seminary. Down the road, priests, nuns and student volunteers tended to 60 residents of the charity's old-age home.
Altogether, Jinde spent about 5.5 million yuan ($720,000) last year, when it became officially registered as a free-standing charity after years of applying, said Zhang.
But officials and ordinary people have often been initially wary of receiving help from a Christian organization, said Father Paul Han Qingping, assistant director of Jinde.
"Often their first response is that they don't understand what a priest does," said Han. "It takes time to build trust."
The clergy in Jinde are part of the church that accepts state oversight. But they stressed that working within official bounds did not mean working for the state.
When Zhang, a 43-old Hebei native, went to register as a priest with government authorities, he told officials he would respect their concerns. "I also told them that they needed to respect my faith as a Catholic who treats the Pope as a spiritual leader," he added.
Zhang said he spoke to underground priests and was trying to encourage reconciliation. But he said the process would take time, given the bitter memories of persecution.
"There are many misunderstandings and old wounds. A strong basis of trust hasn't emerged yet."