Word: vatican
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...Catholic Church has never been a model of candor or transparency. Compare it to the Chinese government, however, and the Vatican can start to look downright forthcoming. In what may be Rome's strongest public push to normalize relations with China, Pope Benedict XVI has sent a 55-page open letter to Chinese Catholics that essentially lays all the Vatican's diplomatic cards on the table. The initial response from Beijing, meanwhile, has been terse and predictably cryptic...
...been made on religious freedom, and on the "delicate" issue of bishop selection, says that "it is understandable that governmental authorities are attentive to the choice of those who will carry out the important role of leading and shepherding the local Catholic communities." The Pope also reiterates that the Vatican is ready to move its diplomats from Taiwan to Beijing the moment relations are restored with the People's Republic...
Months in the making, the letter is seen as the public cornerstone in Benedict's China policy, which may turn out to be more active - and perhaps more fruitful - than his predecessor's. With an estimated 12 million Catholics and a pent-up religiosity, China is seen in the Vatican as a great missionary opportunity. Still, no one in Rome has any illusions that the missive alone can heal the more than half-century rupture that came after the arrival of the Communist regime...
Chinese officials, who were given the letter as a "courtesy" several days before its official release, quickly fired off a response, demanding that the Vatican immediately sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan and not "create new obstacles" in negotiations with Beijing. The Patriotic church has refused to distribute the letter to its priests and faithful, and there are reports that the Vatican website - where the text and an explanatory note are available in Chinese - has been blocked on mainland China in recent days...
...remind America's Catholic voters of their "shared values" with the Pope: from opposition to stem-cell research to anti-poverty efforts in Africa. After meeting the Pope, Bush sat down with the Catholic aid group Communita di Sant'Egidio, which has been among the best unofficial arms of Vatican diplomacy, and encompasses the idea of faith-based initiatives so dear to the American President...