Vatican tells Beijing not to interfere in church

The Vatican on Thursday told China not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church, saying "social peace" in the communist country would benefit if religious freedom were guaranteed.
"As in all countries, the church in China is not asking for any privilege but only to be free in its internal organisation," said Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo.
Lajolo made his comments in an interview with a Romanian newspaper which the Vatican press office di 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.
In recent years the two sides had reached a tacit agreement that only priests in the state-backed church with a good attitude toward the Vatican be elevated to bishop, an agreement that appears to have been eroded by the latest appointments.
"Chinese political authorities should not interfere in the internal affairs of the church, particularly in the naming of bishops," Lajolo said.
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.
Lajolo appealed to the government to respect the Church's internal affairs, saying this would have wider benefits.
"It would greatly benefit social peace among the population, who are now forced to chose between obligatory obedience to a so-called patriotic church or belong to the only Catholic Church, the one in communion with the Pope."
Hong Kong's Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiuntold the Asianews religious news agency on Wednesday that Beijing, in an apparent attempt to ease recent tensions, had asked the patriotic church not to ordain any more bishops without Vatican approval.
Before the recent clash over the unauthorised ordination of the new bishops, the Vatican and Beijing were believed to be involved in quiet contacts aimed at easing tensions and eventually re-establishing diplomatic links.
Beijing has insisted that diplomatic ties with the Vatican cannot be resumed unless the Holy See first severs links with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
China and Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China, have been political rivals since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
The Vatican is one of just 25 states, most Third World countries in Africa, Latin America and the South Pacific, that maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.