China and Vatican edge closer to deal to improve relations

Negotiators for the Vatican and Beijing have reached a compromise on selecting Catholic bishops in China, according to media reports, a crucial step on the road to switching the Holy See's diplomatic recognition to Beijing from self-ruled Taiwan after six decades of a split.

The People's Republic of China and the Vatican broke off formal diplomatic relations soon after the Communist Party took power in 1949. Since then the Vatican is the only western nation not to have diplomatic relations with Beijing, but rather maintains relations with Taiwan.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Vatican and China have reached a consensus on the appointment of cardinals, an indication of better relations.

Relations between Beijing and the Holy See have been strained because the Communist Party opposes Rome’s right to ordain Chinese bishops and priests, and lay Catholics loyal to Rome have been persecuted.

Under Chinese law, Catholics are required to join the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), which has 5.5 million members and repeatedly angers Rome by naming bishops without the Vatican's approval.

Once “underground” churches, which are considered illegal by the Chinese government, are factored in, there are reckoned to be more than 11 million Catholics in China.

Joint efforts

"We are willing to make joint efforts with the Vatican to meet each other half way and keep improving bilateral ties with constructive dialogue," foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing late last week.

Relations were particularly fraught under Pope Francis’s predecessor Benedict, but Francis has prioritised improving the Holy See’s relationship with China.

The Vatican has been insisting on agreement on the ordination of bishops because it fears a schism within the church in China into the state-sanctioned body and the underground congregations which obey only the pope.

In an article in the state-run newspaper Global Times last week, Fr Jeroom Heyndrickx said he believed agreement might happen soon.

“We expect and hope that this agreement will honour the church tradition that the pope appoints the bishops and also respects the principle of the gospel ‘give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’, meaning that the government of China will have an important say in the final decisions,” Fr Heyndrickx said.

About 30 of China’s more than 100 dioceses are currently vacant, while a similar number are led by bishops aged 75 years or older.

Another sticking point is the case of the auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, who was placed under house arrest in 2012 when he announced at his ordination as a bishop that he could no longer remain in the CCPA.

Taiwan said in a statement it was not opposed to dialogue between the Vatican and China based on human rights and religious freedom.

The Vatican, a city state, is currently the only European jurisdiction with which Taiwan has diplomatic ties, one of just 22 diplomatic allies worldwide.