Events in Tibet cast a shadow on Friday over the Vatican's Easter observances, which have Chinese overtones this year to reflect Pope Benedict XVI's advocacy of greater freedom for China's tiny Catholic minority.Long before Beijing's massive clampdown on protests in Tibet, Pope Benedict XVI asked outspoken Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen to pen the meditations for the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome's Colosseum.
Zen is a key figure for Asian Catholics including those in China who are split between the official and clandestine Catholic churches.
According to an advance text released by the Vatican, Zen's text will refer to "living martyrs of the 21st century," a theme that is unusually political compared to other years.
"The pope wanted me to speak for our brothers and sisters" in Asia, Zen wrote for the ceremony that will get under way at 9:15 pm (2015 GMT) at Rome's Colosseum, where legend has it that early Christians were thrown to the lions.
The Way of the Cross, for Christians, commemorates the martyrdom and death of Christ.
In one of the meditations to be read out at the event, Zen wrote that Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Jerusalem who approved the death sentence for Jesus, was the "symbol of all those who use authority as an instrument of power and don't concern themselves with justice."
Chinese elements feature in several Easter events this year.
A brochure published by the Vatican to accompany the Colosseum procession is illustrated with Chinese artworks representing each of the 14 Stations of the Cross, while a Chinese woman will pass the cross to the pope at the 12th station, and he will carry it for the final three legs.
And during the Easter vigil on Saturday, one of the six adults Benedict is to baptise is Chinese.
The pope broke his silence on Tibet during his weekly general audience on Wednesday when he appealed for "dialogue and tolerance" on both sides.
Beijing brushed off the urging, according to Italian press reports that quoted foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang as saying Thursday: "Supposed tolerance cannot exist for criminals who should be punished by the law."
The "terse and abrupt (response) shows the limits of the dialogue under way between the (Chinese) regime leaders and the Catholic Church," the daily La Repubblica said in an editorial.
The crisis in Tibet has coincided with surprising movement towards rapprochement 57 years after Beijing severed ties with the Holy See over its recognition of Taiwan.
A papal commission on relations with Beijing last week urged "a respectful and constructive dialogue" with China.
And according to an unconfirmed press leak on Thursday, a Chinese government delegation had a secret meeting at the Vatican on Tuesday, four months after a Vatican delegation travelled to Beijing.
Renewing ties would help Beijing improve its image overseas, while the pope's discretion on Tibet was seen as a deliberate bid to avoid antagonising the Chinese authorities.
The Vatican is working towards reconciliation with Beijing in order to win greater freedom of worship for the Catholic faithful, and allow the pope to appoint bishops in China.
The Vatican estimates the number of Catholics in China at between eight and 12 million, while it recognises 90 percent of bishops in the official Chinese Catholic Church.
The Holy See says it will abandon ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing if China guarantees religious freedom and allows the pope to name Chinese bishops.
Beijing has imposed two conditions on the restoration of ties -- the Vatican's recognition of the one-China policy that precludes independence for Taiwan and its acceptance that religious affairs are an internal Chinese matter.
For the first time this year, the 80-year-old Benedict will observe most of the Way of the Cross procession from the Palatine Hill overlooking the Colosseum, and will walk for only the final three of the 14 Stations of the Cross.
The last two years Benedict, who was elected in 2005, took part in the entire walk, carrying the cross at the first and last stations.
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