2008-10-04 17:37:38

China will not let bishops travel to Rome-Vatican


(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.







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