(October 4, 2008) China has denied permission for Catholic bishops to travel to Rome
for a Church meeting, a Vatican spokesman said on Friday, in a sign of new strains
between Beijing's communist government and the Vatican. Chief Vatican spokesman Rev
Federico Lombardi said Beijing, which has had difficult relations with the Vatican
over the years, had made it clear in preliminary contacts that travel requests would
be denied. Bishops from Macao and Hong Kong, regions with a degree of autonomy from
Beijing, will attend the month-long synod, which starts on Sunday. "(There were) talks
with the Chinese authorities to see if other bishops from mainland China could come.
It was clear that there would be no agreement and they won't come," Father Lombardi
said. China's communist government does not allow its Catholics to recognise the
Pope's authority and forces them to be members of a state-backed Catholic organisation.
China's 8 to 12 million Catholics are split between the officially approved church
and an "underground" one loyal to the Pope. The lack of participation by the mainland
bishops came as a surprise because there had been signs of an improvement in relations
this year.