Secret China, Vatican meeting

2008-03-20 20:15

Vatican City - A Chinese government delegation has had a secret meeting at the Vatican, coinciding with the outbreak of clashes in Tibet, the religious affairs news agency I.Media reported on Thursday.

The unconfirmed talks were planned long before the current outbreak of violence occurred in the region, the agency said.

Vatican spokesperson Federico Lombardi refused all comment on Tuesday's meeting, not even confirming or denying it took place.

Any such meeting would be highly unusual, as China and the Vatican have not had diplomatic relations for more than half a century.

On Wednesday in his weekly general audience Pope Benedict XVI preached about Tibet, saying: "Violence does not resolve problems, it only aggravates them."

He added: "God will reward those who have the courage to choose the path of dialogue and tolerance."

On Sunday, in his weekly Angelus blessing, the pope did not mention Tibet, instead condemning the violence in Iraq.

The Roman Catholic Church's SIR news agency said the pope's silence on Tibet was not a "blunder" but "linked to the problem of having an already difficult dialogue with Beijing" over the religious freedom of Catholics there.

The Vatican has not had official diplomatic relations with China since 1951, but is working towards a reconciliation with Beijing in order to win greater freedom of worship for the Catholic faithful, and allow the pope to appoint bishops in China.

There are estimated to be up to 12 million "underground" Catholics in China - worshipping in makeshift churches - whilst another five million belong to the government-led church.

According to I.Media, Tuesday's visit of the Chinese delegation is a follow-up to a mission to Beijing last November by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Relations at the Vatican, Archbishop Pietro Parolin.

Last week there was a three-day meeting between Vatican diplomats and bishops from Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong.

- AFP