China and the Vatican have managed to reach a historic breakthrough on the issue of appointment of bishops in the communist nation. Pope Francis recognised seven clerics ordained by Beijing without the approval of the Holy See, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
The issue as to who appoints bishops has been at the heart of a dispute since China first broke off diplomatic ties with the Holy See in 1951. Christianity is regarded as the fastest growing religion in China. According to unofficial estimates, China has 90 million Christians.
The Chinese foreign ministry, however, said the deal is provisional.
Meanwhile, the Vatican said the "provisional" deal concerning how bishops are appointed in China was "not political but pastoral".
"With a view of sustaining the proclamation of the Gospel in China, the Holy Father Pope Francis has decided to re-admit to full ecclesial communion the remaining 'official' bishops, ordained without pontifical mandate," a statement said.
In return, Beijing would recognise some, though not all, of the bishops previously appointed by the Holy See, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) quoted officials as saying.
China and Vatican severed diplomatic ties in 1951, two years after the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) headed by Mao Zedong took over power in China after a bloody revolution.
The CPC, which demand that its 90 million members remain atheists, are suspicious that foreign religions, specially Christianity, will subvert its rule, like in the case of Poland, where the church movement was instrumental in overthrowing the communist rule.
Critics of the Vatican, however, labelled the deal a sellout to the communist government. The provisional agreement, signed in Beijing by deputy foreign ministers from both sides, was announced as Pope Francis visited Lithuania on a four-day trip to the Baltic countries.
In the country, 12 million Catholics are split between an underground Church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.
Diplomats have said the accord was a possible precursor to a resumption in diplomatic relations with Beijing after 70 years. Beijing does not allow countries to have diplomatic relations with both China and Taiwan. Taiwan now has formal relations with only 17 states, and the Vatican is the only one in Europe.
-Inputs from PTI, Reuters
