AFP: China calls for Vatican ‘actions’

CHINA YESTERDAY CALLED FOR “concrete actions” from the Vatican to help improve relations, after Pope Benedict XVI urged Chinese bishops to resist pressure from Beijing and stay true to Rome.

“We hope that the Vatican can be clearly awhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifare of the fact that China practises freedom of religious belief and of the continuous development of China’s Catholic Church,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters.

Ms Jiang added that Beijing hoped the Vatican would “create conditions for the development of China-Vatican relations through concrete actions”.