ties with the Vatican, just two weeks after a key underground church leader died. Communist government officials have been looking into invitations from the Vatican asking four Chinese bishops to attend a gathering in Rome, several news reports said.
The head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong told the Voice of America (VOA) network that if Beijing allows the churchmen to attend, it would mark "a major breakthrough" in Beijing-Vatican relations.
China’s Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment on reports that Pope Benedict XVI is inviting four Chinese bishops to attend an October meeting of bishops in Rome.
However Joseph Zen, the bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong which is loyal to the Holy See, told VOA that relations have slowly improved between Beijing and the Vatican in recent years.
FOUR NAMES
"Among the four names, three names are bishops accepted by the government. Some of them were ordained without approval from the Holy See. But, the Holy Father is still inviting them," Zen said. "That means the Holy Father recognizes bishops appointed by the government."
The fourth bishop is a member of the unofficial church in China. Reports of the invitation came two weeks after Roman Catholic Bishop Xie Shiguang, the underground bishop of Mingdong, died of leukemia at the age of 88.
Monsignor Xie spent 28 years in prison because of his faith and religious news agency AsiaNews said he refused Chinese government demands that he register with the authority that controls churches. He was ordained in 1949 and became a bishop in 1984.
China’s official, state-sponsored catholic church has about four million worshippers. The underground church loyal to the Pope numbers about 10-million, according to Vatican estimates.
EUROPEAN UNION
China permits worship in the government controlled churches, but Chinese Catholics loyal to the pope join the underground church. On Friday, September 9, the European parliament adopted a motion presented urging the Chinese government to put an end "to discrimination and religious repression."
The motion reportedly singled aid the “long-time persecution” of the members of Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China who were “forced to go underground”. Pope Benedict has said however he would like to see closer ties between the Vatican and Catholics in China.
Yet the dispute over who can appoint bishops remains the main obstacle to the restoration of official ties between the Holy See and China. Beijing also protests the Vatican’s recognition of Taiwan, the self-governed island that China regards as a part of its territory.
VOA quoted Church officials as saying that the Holy See "may be willing to switch its recognition to the Beijing government" in exchange for concessions from China on the matter of naming bishops. (With Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from China)
