The Vatican on Thursday said it was "totally premature" to talk about a trip by Pope Benedict XVI to China as suggested by the state-appointed bishop of Beijing.Speaking on Vatican Radio, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said however: "The remarks by Bishop Joseph Li Shan (on Wednesday) show that all Chinese Catholics love and respect the pope, recognise his authority and would be happy to meet him, and that is very positive and encouraging."
Shan had said on Italian television: "We very much hope that the pope will come to China. ... Relations with the Vatican are constantly improving."
The official Catholic Church, known as the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, on Thursday amended Shan's remarks, saying diplomatic ties would have to be restored before the pope could visit.
"We hope he can visit China as soon as possible," the association's vice chairman, Liu Bainian, told AFP in Beijing. "That would be good for the Chinese Catholic Church. However, the first step is to establish diplomatic relations."
For his part, Lombardi said: "Several important problems have not yet been resolved, but the Holy See wants to continue a loyal and constructive dialogue" with Beijing.
As a precondition for diplomatic ties, China has required that the Vatican end its official relationship with Taiwan, which prompted Beijing to sever its ties with the Holy See in 1951.
Resuming diplomatic ties with the Vatican would be a boon for Beijing's image abroad, but the Holy See first wants all Chinese Catholics to be brought under papal authority.
They are currently divided between the state-controlled Patriotic Association and an underground Church loyal to the Vatican.
The Patriotic Association, set up in 1957, counts about five million members, while the Vatican estimates that as many as eight million believers practise their faith in secret and suffer persecution.
China wants to choose its own priests and bishops, a right the Holy See insists is its alone, even though the Vatican has approved most of the bishops appointed by Beijing.
While little progress has been made on the big issues, the tone of the relationship has warmed in recent years.
The Vatican's top diplomat, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said early this month that Beijing had sent "positive signals" concerning religious freedom ahead of the Olympic Games.
The pope, too, was upbeat ahead of the Games, sending his "most cordial greetings (to China) and to the participants, primarily the athletes, with the wish that they can give the best of themselves, in the true Olympic spirit."
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