Vatican City – Two senior Vatican officials have traveled to China to sound out possibilities of re-establishing diplomatic relations, seeking to overcome a major dispute over the Vatican’s tradition that the pope names his bishops.
While Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly expressed hope the Vatican can achieve an opening with China, the need for religious freedom has become a major theme of his 14-month papacy.
“I think the Vatican holds out no great hopes from the trip,” said the Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, head of AsiaNews, a missionary news service that identified the members of the Vatican delegation. “But it is important that the door is open to continue dialogue.”
Ties with the Vatican were broken in 1951 after the communists took power in China. Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches, but millions belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome.
The Vatican already has indicated willingness to resolve one issue with China, switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan. The communist mainland claims Taiwan as part of its territory and refuses to have relations with any nation that recognizes the self-ruled island’s popularly elected government.
The major stumbling block is a dispute over who has the power to appoint bishops.
China’s state-sanctioned Catholic Church, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, has appointed bishops without the pope’s approval. The Vatican recently invoked a rule suggesting that those who took part in the ordination would be excommunicated.
