Pope's Invitation to Bishops Angers China

[CHIMO]

BEIJING (AP) - China has accused Pope Benedict XVI of showing ``no respect'' after the pontiff invited the country's rival Catholic bishops to a meeting at the Vatican next month.

The Vatican knew that old age and poor health would prevent the bishops from attending, the official Xinhua News Agency said late Saturday.

The pope last week invited bishops from both the official and unofficial Catholic Churches to an Oct. 2-23 synod - a move seen as a further indication of his desire to unite all Chinese Catholics.

Strained relations have been aggravated by the Vatican's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, which has run its own affairs since the communists won a civil war in 1949 and which Beijing insists must reunite with the mainland. Beijing says the Vatican, Taiwan's only European ally, must sever diplomatic ties before relations can improve.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5270976,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704

[JohnLocke]

1. Good for Benedict.

[Endangered Specie]

2. Anyone that makes China mad over reckonizing Taiwan

automatic +3% in my book.