China bishops on historic Vatican visit invite pope to Beijing
Churchmen attend their first bishops’ conference in Rome since agreement between Chinese government and the church
The pope has been invited to visit China by two Catholic bishops from the mainland, attending their first Vatican meeting with the permission of Beijing, according to a Catholic newspaper on Tuesday.
Joseph Guo Jincai and John Baptist Yang Xiaoting attended the first two weeks of the meeting of bishops from around the world, known as a synod, and saw Pope Francis daily in the first concrete sign of a thaw between the Holy See and Beijing after last month’s landmark agreement on the naming of bishops China.
“While we were here, we invited Pope Francis to come to China,” Guo told Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops conference.
“We are waiting for him,” Guo said.
The deal, which was signed on September 22 after more than 10 years in the making, gives the Vatican a long-sought say in the choice of bishops in mainland China, although critics have labelled it a sell-out to the Communist government.
Vatican signs historic deal with China on bishop appointments
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.
