Chinese church leaders welcome Vatican delegates, Vatican-China talks

Published: 2006-07-05

HONG KONG (CNS) -- Chinese church leaders welcomed a Vatican delegation's visit to Beijing to discuss relations with Chinese government officials, although details of the meetings have not been disclosed. Archbishop Claudio Celli, secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, and Msgr. Gianfranco Rota Graziosi of the Vatican Secretariat of State were in Beijing June 25-July 1 and conducted "informal talks" with the Chinese officials, sources told Catholic News Service. The Vatican delegates' agenda was not made public, but different sources told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, that the delegates met with Chinese government officials and visited eastern China's Shandong province. Beijing welcomed the visitors during a time of tension between the Vatican and China after the Chinese government appeared to force the illicit ordinations of two bishops -- one in Kunming Diocese April 30, the other in Anhui Diocese May 3. The Vatican had not approved the ordinations and called the acts a violation of religious freedom.

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