Vatican tells Beijing no to interfere in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church

(02 June 2006) : The Vatican on Thursday told China not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church, particularly in the naming of bishops, saying "social peace" in the communist country would benefit if religious freedom were guaranteed. Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, while speaking to Romanian newspaper said, “as in all countries, the church in China is not asking for any privilege but only to be free in its internal organisation.” Relations between the Vatican and Beijing reached a new low last month when Pope Benedict censured China publicly for installing two bishops without the Holy See's approval. The Pope called it "a grave violation of religious freedom". China, which broke links with the Vatican in the 1950s after expelling foreign clergy, refuses to allow Catholics to recognise the authority of the Pope. Instead, Chinese Catholics must belong to a state-backed church called the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. The Vatican estimates that some 5 million Chinese belong to the state-backed association while about 8 million followers are part of the "underground church", who are loyal to the pope and worship secretly.