Word: rome
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...world since then, but wariness about the Vatican persists. The latest episode in the stormy relationship unfolded last week, when the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), the state-controlled church to which 4 million Chinese Catholics belong, ordained two new bishops without the Vatican's permission. Considering that Rome has claimed absolute authority over clerical appointments for almost two millenniums, its reaction to the news was predictably swift. Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro-Valls said that Pope Benedict XVI learned of the appointments with "great sadness." That may have been the understatement of the year, as Navarro-Valls also said...
...Benedict has sought to repair ties so that those faithful can practice in the open. The goal was full diplomatic relations and possibly even a papal visit to China by 2008, when Beijing will be host of the Olympics. In recent years, says Father Bernardo Cervellera, director of the Rome-based Asia News Service, the Beijing church has quietly ceded to the Vatican's choices on bishops. Meanwhile, top church officials have floated the idea of breaking diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province...
...government remains cautious about expanding religious freedoms, mindful, no doubt, of the role the Catholic Church played in the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. And despite the Vatican's charm offensive, Beijing has refused to negotiate the release of the scores of Catholics loyal to Rome who sit in Chinese prisons, according to Nicolas Becquelin, China researcher for the New York City-based Human Rights Watch. To some, China's decision to ordain the two bishops was a deliberate bid to reassert its authority over the country's Catholics. Becquelin believes that church officials may have overestimated China...
...question is whether Beijing's moves have wrecked the possibility of détente with Rome. Navarro-Valls said that the Pope was willing to continue discussions about normalizing relations so long as Beijing agreed to stop ordaining bishops on its own. But some Vatican officials say that Beijing may not find Benedict in such a generous mood in the future. Says a senior Vatican official: "It's a demonstration of bad faith on the part of the Chinese government ... [they] are used to playing these mind games, of using brinkmanship." Of course, that's a game the Vatican knows...
...secret that would prevent them from understanding Opus Dei. Still I consider the article essentially accurate in its description of Opus Dei and of the criticism that it receives. It was an honor to cooperate with TIME in the story's preparation. JUAN MANUEL MORA COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OPUS DEI Rome...