China's official Catholic Church expresses hope for new pope to improve ties

Beijing, China - As Chinese Catholics mourned the death of Pope John Paul II, the country's state-sanctioned church expressed hope Monday that his successor would try to end a half-century-old break between Beijing and Rome.

At the Chinese capital's Southern Cathedral, some 300 worshippers filled a memorial Mass led by the group that has run official Roman Catholic churches since communist leaders ordered Catholics to break ties with the Vatican in 1951.

"We hope the new pope can pick up the late pope's will to promote China-Vatican relations and realize a China visit," said the Rev. Ma Yinglin, general secretary of the China Patriotic Catholic Association, who conducted the service.

The group's vice chairman criticized the Vatican's diplomatic ties with rival Taiwan. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory and says it won't have official contact with the Vatican so long as it recognizes the self-ruled island as a sovereign government.

Ties with Taiwan "make it impossible to improve relations between China and the Vatican," the Rev. Sun Shang'en said from the altar, surrounded by 35 priests in purple and white vestments. "This has caused Pope John Paul II to feel sorrow in his heart."

China permits worship only in such official churches. Millions more Catholics worship in unauthorized "house churches." The government frequently harasses and arrests followers and clergy of the underground church.

On Monday, a U.S.-based religious foundation said a bishop of the underground church was detained Thursday.

Yao Liang, who is in his 80s, was detained in Xiwanzi, a city in the northern province of Hebei, after refusing to join the Patriotic Catholic Association, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement. It said Yao's whereabouts were unknown.

"Today, we still have numerous Roman Catholic bishops, priests and other religious ... faithful in jail because they will not sever ties with the pope," the foundation's president, Joseph Kung, said in the statement.

The official church claims 4 million members, while religious scholars say Catholic "house churches" have as many as 10 million worshippers.

The state-sanctioned church has no official ties to the Vatican and appoints its own priests and bishops. But Chinese church leaders recognize the pope as a spiritual leader, follow Vatican doctrine and say they have sent theologians to Rome to study.

China has seen both official and underground Catholic and Protestant congregations swell in recent years as millions of people look for spiritual support amid jarring social change and the collapse of Marxist ideals. China also has state-monitored temples and mosques for Buddhists, Taoists and Muslims.

The Foreign Ministry said Sunday it hoped for "more favorable conditions" under John Paul's successor to improve relations.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, in a statement on the ministry Web site, said Beijing was ready to improve relations based on two principles. Liu's statement didn't say what those were, but Beijing usually cites Taiwan as one key issue.

The Vatican is the last European government to maintain diplomatic ties with Taipei rather than Beijing.