Diplomatic relations with China still possible, Vatican official says

Published: 2005-06-23

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A top Vatican official said there were "no insurmountable problems" to establishing diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's equivalent of a foreign minister, said June 22 he was confident that, with "good will and a spirit of friendship" on both sides, diplomatic ties would eventually be reached. The archbishop made the comments to Vatican Radio after returning from a swing through Southeast Asia for talks with church and civil leaders. Asked about relations with China, Archbishop Lajolo said the Vatican has been studying the possibility of diplomatic relations with China for some time. "In my view, there are no insurmountable problems. But we need to move forward with prudence and make sure some necessary conditions are met on both sides," he said. "I am certain that with good will and a spirit of friendship, with which I'm sure both sides wanted to be inspired, we can reach a positive result," he added. In the past, church officials have said the Vatican's two main conditions for diplomatic relations were the free appointment of bishops in China and freedom for Chinese Catholics to maintain religious links to Rome without government control. An informed Vatican official said June 23 that those remain the "minimum" requirements for diplomatic ties. He said that while there have been recent signs of openness from China and increased contacts, no substantial progress has been made on these main points.

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