Move is first concrete sign of a thaw between the Holy See and Beijing following a landmark agreement
Catholic bishops from China will for the first time attend a major Vatican meeting starting this week, the Vatican said on Monday, the first concrete sign of a thaw between the Holy See and Beijing following a landmark agreement.
« There will be two bishops from continental China. They were invited by the pope, » Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri told a news conference. « I think they are already on their way to Rome. »
Baldisseri said it was the first time the Beijing government has allowed bishops to leave the country to attend a Vatican synod, a meeting which takes place every few years on a different topic.
The deal, which was in the making for more than 10 years and signed on Sept. 22, gives the Vatican a long-sought say in the choice of bishops in China, though critics have labeled it a sellout to the Communist government.
China’s approximately 12 million Catholics have been split between an underground Church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.
