From Sioux City

As promised, linked below is the article from the Sioux City Journal on the appointment of Monsignor Nickless. A lot of it is simply a recap of what was floating around out there yesterday. The quotes offer some insight into Nickless' character and where he will take the diocese.

Nickless, who said he had never been in Iowa before, arrived in Sioux City Wednesday afternoon. He spent three hours visiting every church in the city with Monsignor Roger J. Augustine, who has been administering the diocese in the absence of a bishop. Nickless was introduced publicly here Thursday in a news conference at the chancery.

"From today forward, this diocese is my home," he told the priests, staff members and reporters gathered there. "From this day forward, this diocese is my family. Nothing could give me a greater blessing."
[...]

In Sioux City, Nickless asked everyone to pray that he will be the kind of bishop God wants him to be and that the church needs. He said he thinks sometimes people in the Midwest don't see how important the church in places like Sioux City is for the whole American Catholic community.

"I think God intends this church to be a witness of what the heart of America really is," he said, "the things that really matter in life: good marriages, strong families, solid Catholic education, a love of neighbor, personal character, and zeal for the common good."
[...]

[Monsignor Roger J.] Augustine, 73, [the administrator] will continue to perform all the functions of a bishop, except for consecrating altars and blessing the holy oils, until Nickless is installed. He praised Nickless' 32 years of service in Denver and said his "belief that Catholic schools add much life and vitality to a parish" is a gift to Sioux City, where Catholic schools are important.
[...]

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver praised Nickless' work there as a pastor, vicar, counselor and friend. "We'll miss him sorely," he said, predicting the people of the Sioux City Diocese "will quickly find in him a great brother and shepherd."

Read the complete article Denver priest is named Sioux City Diocese bishop-elect from the Sioux City Journal.

The bishop-elect's belief in Catholic schools will serve him well, though he arrives at a time when a lot of them have been closed up or consolidated. Where they remain, they form an important part of the Catholic community that they serve.

I don't know whether this is a factor, but western Iowa has a growing immigrant population from Mexico and other places in Latin America. As the article points out, the previous bishop, Daniel DiNardo, was sent from Sioux City to Houston-Galveston down in Texas.

News round-up

Here is a brief listing of various news sources, all with a lot of unoriginal material on the subject of the appointment of Bishop-elect Nickless. The Denver Post link has the most extensive article.

Catholic News Service, Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post (via Rocco), KCAU TV 9, KTIV TV 4.

Tomorrow morning, we'll see what The Sioux City Journal has to say on the subject.

What I did today

The Holy See had to pick today of all days to announce the appointment of the Bishop of Sioux City...

I have been busy today with job-hunting related things and haven't been able to scout around for info. Look for more tonight and tomorrow.

More on Monsignor Nickless

From the Archdiocese of Denver:

“He’s been an outstanding pastor, vicar for clergy, vicar general, friend and counselor,” said Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., commenting on Msgr. Nickless’ s selection and his distinguished manner of service for the Archdiocese of Denver. “He has a great heart for families and a deep devotion to Catholic education and his brother priests. We’ll miss him sorely but also feel great joy for the people of the Diocese of Sioux City. They will quickly find in him a great brother and shepherd.”
[...]

Bishop-elect Nickless was ordained in 1973 and has spent his entire priestly ministry in various capacities in the Archdiocese of Denver. Most recently, he has served as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Lakewood, Colo., and Vicar General of the archdiocese. He has also previously served as Vicar for Clergy and Seminarians, pastor of the Shrine of St. Anne Parish in Arvada, member of the College of Consultors, member of Archdiocesan Priest’s Retirement Committee and Assistant Vocations Director for Seminarians.
[...]

A snippet from Our Lady of Fatima:

In June 2001, Monsignor Walker Nickless succeeded Father Thompson as pastor. Monsignor Nickless was no stranger to the parish. During his assignment as Vicar for Clergy and Seminarians and Vicar General of the Archdiocese, he lived at Our Lady of Fatima Rectory. On his first Sunday as pastor, he had to deal with a major leak from the air conditioning system that caused considerable damage to the rectory roof. Since that fateful day, however, Monsignor Nickless has led the parish in adopting the new liturgy, revitalized the junior and senior high school youth groups and has been very involved in the parish school. He has overseen many needed improvements to the school's physical plant, all while still fulfilling his responsibilities as Vicar General.

Archbishop Chaput's official statement:

November 10, 2005

Statement from Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap
on the appointment of Bishop-elect R. Walker Nickless

At noon Rome time, 4 a.m. Denver time today, Pope Benedict XVI named Msgr. R. Walker Nickless as the seventh bishop of Sioux City, Iowa. Bishop-elect Nickless is in Sioux City today visiting the priests and people of his new local Church.

Bishop-elect Nickless has served the Church in northern Colorado in an outstanding way as pastor, vicar for clergy and vicar general. We will all greatly miss him as a friend. But his leadership will be a wonderful blessing for the Church in Sioux City.

Please join me in wishing our friend and brother Bishop-elect Nickless our warmest congratulations and prayers.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
Archbishop of Denver

Ask and ye shall receive

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 10, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Msgr. Ralph Walker Nickless, vicar general and pastor of the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in the archdiocese of Denver, U.S.A., as bishop of Sioux City (area 37,587, population 468,549, Catholics 94,186, priests 150, permanent deacons 36, religious 86), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Denver in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1973.

Breaking: Blair loses terror vote

Prime Minister Tony Blair has lost the vote to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charge. The defeat is the first major one in his eight-year tenure as premier of the United Kingdom.

High profile MPs rushed home from trips abroad to vote on the measure, which was predicted to be very close.

Alda should get the Emmy

From Manuel L. Quezon III.

One of my favorite TV shows is the West Wing. Its most recent episode featured an interesting experiment. The show has Alan Alda (as Sen. Arnold Vinick) running against Jimmy Smits (as Rep. Matt Santos) as the Republican and Democratic candidates respectively; the episode (number 7 in the 7th season of the show) had a debate broadcast live between the two. So you have a presidential debate between two actors but broadcast live and with a minimum of scripting, as if it were a real presidential debate (actually, more free-wheeling than any real presidential debate). Then, apparently, a survey was undertaken. Via Free Republic, this surprising story from the Washington Post: young viewers have swung to the right:

Before the episode, viewers between 18 and 29 preferred Santos over Vinick, 54 percent to 37 percent. But after the debate, in which veteran Alda gutted pretty-boy Smits without him even knowing it, Vinick now leads among viewers under age 30, 56 percent to 42 percent.

(Among viewers 65 and older — or, as TV execs like to call them, the Irrelevantest Generation — Santos has a lead of 68 percent to 27 percent.)

Today in history

Today is 9 November. It has a particular place in history in Germany, where it is known as Schicksalstag (literally 'day of fate'). A friend of mine who was born in the German Democratic Republic on 12th remarked to me the other day that while her mom was in the hospital giving birth, everyone else was crossing the newly-opened border to West Germany.

* 1848: After being arrested in the Vienna revolts, liberal leader Robert Blum is executed. The execution is often seen as a symbolic event for the ultimate failure of Germany's 1848 revolution.

* 1918: Monarchy in Germany ends when Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated after being informed that the Army no longer supported him.

* 1923: The Beer Hall Putsch marks the emergence of the Nazi Party as an important player on Germany's political landscape.

* 1938: In the Kristallnacht, synagogues and Jewish property are burnt and destroyed on a large scale. For many observers, it is the first hint of Germany's radical anti-Jewish policies.

* 1989: The fall of the Berlin Wall ends German separation and starts a series of events that ultimately lead to German reunification.

From Wikipedia.

Last night's Frontline

Amy has a short little entry about last night's Frontline episode, 'The Last Abortion Clinic'. The show's site can be found here.

The show was pretty biased (it's PBS after all). My reaction at the end of the show was not what the producers intended, I'm sure. The lady said in reference to the pro-choice movement, "We're losing." My reply was, "Good."

The show also had another effect that I think the producers may have not intended. When the camera was in the exam room at the public health clinic in Clarksdale, MS, the nurse was talking to the young girl who was there about her situation and it was noted that the child she was carrying would be her fourth. I think it was the nurse later who said this or perhaps it was someone else, but it was said that these girls are poor, they have no access to birth control and no access to an abortion clinic, so they are left to keep on having children because they have no other choice...

My reaction went something like this...

STOP HAVING SEX!

The conspiracy of silence

I quoted Ellen Horowitz yesterday when discussing Israeli policy. Today she has a new opinion piece out that discusses the near-silence of the mainstream media in Israel on the issue of the Upper Room exchange and recapitulates her opposition to it.

It may not have been considered earthshaking news. But I would have thought that the announcement of a possible agreement over the control of a Jerusalem holy site, emanating from a respected Vatican media source and appearing in the London Times, would have certainly warranted an article in Israel's mainstream Hebrew and English press.

While there have been a wealth of columns ushering in a new and brilliant era of Catholic-Jewish dialogue here in Israel, there has hardly been a footnote addressing the price Israel may have to pay for the dramatic upgrade in relations.

The news of a possible deal between the Vatican and Israel - which would hand the Catholic Church control over portions of a building on Mt. Zion that just happens to house King David's Tomb and the Diaspora Yeshiva, in exchange for a former synagogue building in Toledo, Spain - first appeared in the international press on October 12th. A full week later, the item continued making the rounds in various respected publications, but still no word from Israel's mainstream media. There were no confirmations or denials from our diplomats and government officials, nor were there any retractions from the news agencies that broke or reported the original story.

Meanwhile, a lot of us who had already read the draft agreement, viewed the maps and had heard audio clip interviews, via "lesser" news agencies and sources, began to question our sanity.

I'm not crazy. This is newsworthy, right?
[...]

Read the complete article Follow the Papal Paper Trail from Israeli National News.com.

Near the end of her piece, she related her comments to a group of evangelical Christians visiting northern Israel:

Two weeks ago, I addressed a group of evangelical Christians who were visiting the north of Israel after having attended their annual "Feast of the Tabernacles". I explained to these very fine people that my caution in approaching the Christian community didn't stem from hatred, historical scars or from anti-Semitic paranoia. My discretion is directly connected to my passionate love for and commitment to the Land of Israel. I compared this passion to a protective and maternal love, and I used our matriarchs, patriarchs and prophets to drive home my point. The concept was well accepted by the listeners (and it didn't hurt my sales, either).

Personally, while I think the Catholic Church taking up ownership of the Upper Room would be nice, letting it go and just giving the Jews the synagogue/church in Toledo as a free-will offering would be much better and a true example of Christian charity.

Historic summits make good incentives

This is short enough, I'll just post all of it:

Tel Aviv (AsiaNews) – The Delegations of the Holy See and the State of Israel met on Monday 7 November for a round of negotiations which lasted about four hours. The meeting was shorter than expected and no press statement was issued at the end. Even the fact itself that the meeting was held was not announced; it was revealed to AsiaNews by reliable sources in Israel.

Negotiations between the delegations go back as far as 1999 and their purpose is to secure the definitive recognition by Israel of fiscal and property rights acquired by the Catholic Church throughout the centuries before the State of Israel was created in 1948.

Given the stipulations of the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel (1993), such an accord was expected already by 1996. The significant delay weighs ever more heavily on the bilateral ties.
The necessity and urgency of reaching such agreement could well be the focus of the announced visit to the Vatican by the President of the state of Israel, Moshe Katzav in the middle of the month. There are hopes that this event will provide the opportunity for the declaration of a new direction in Israeli policy, which will pave the way for a rapid conclusion of the eagerly anticipated agreement.

Read the complete article Israel-Vatican relations need a new stage from AsiaNews.it.

So they want to have something ready for when the President of Israel comes to the Vatican later this month... I'm just a bit skeptical of Israeli motivations on this. The Israeli government has been putting off a resolution to this for years. Yet at the same time, they're prepared to turn over the Upper Room in Jerusalem in exchange for a synagogue in Spain.

In fact, I would even go so far as to say that I'm confused by Israeli policy lately. I read an opinion piece written by a Jewish woman who deplored the handing over of the Upper Room location, as it houses a yeshiva school and is the traditional site of King David's Tomb in Jerusalem. Ellen Horowitz wrote:

That means that no matter how overwhelmingly impressive you find the pomp, ceremony and architectural achievements of an oval office, Vatican complex, or synagogue-turned-church in Toledo, there is nothing more valuable or precious than the Land of Israel. It is simply not to be swapped, sold or surrendered.

"For Your servants have cherished her stones and favor her dust." (From the words of King David, Psalms 102:15)

At the same time as Israel is playing these games with the Holy See while aggravating its own population over handing land over to the Roman Catholic Church, as AsiaNews reported here the Orthodox Patriarch is having to go to court in order to force recognition of his election by the Israeli government. So far they have wanted nothing to do with him (since he intends to investigate the illegal sale of land to Israeli developers by his predecessor).

What we're seeing here is perhaps a conflict of identity. Is Israel the Jewish State or is it a modern, liberal, secular state? You be the judge.

Some pragmatism

Rome, Nov. 08 (CWNews.com) - Conflicts between the Holy See and the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow are not close to resolution, the Vatican's top foreign-affairs minister said in a November 8 appearance on Vatican Radio.

Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, who traveled to Moscow in October for talks with both government leaders and Orthodox prelates, said that there are "objective difficulties" between Rome and Moscow, which "require deeper study." Although he described his meetings with Orthodox leaders as "cordial and productive," he did not foresee rapid progress in ecumenical ties.

Read the complete article Rome-Moscow tensions linger, Vatican official says from Catholic World News. Subscription is necessary to read the entire article.

Though optimistic, Archbishop Lajolo's words of caution regarding the rate of progress and the expectations of the Pope travelling to Russia anytime soon are certainly welcome.

I'm definitely hoping and praying for a breakthrough and progress is always great news, whereas a lack of progress is not so great. However, it seems like there's been a lot of wishing going on lately and not enough reality in Catholic-Orthodox relations in the Russian Federation.

Nixon goes to China!

Not quite...

In a new sign of improving relations between the Vatican and China, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has just returned from China, where he met with Catholic church and government officials and publicly celebrated Mass in a parish church in Shanghai.

Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, said this week that he was "very optimistic" that diplomatic ties between the church and Beijing would be established, opening a new chapter in a long and sometimes difficult history in church-state relations. Mahony's low-key journey was not announced in advance because of what archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg called diplomatic sensitivities. Although Mahony described the tour as a private sabbatical, he said he is preparing a report of his findings for the Vatican.

Mahony was not the only U.S. cardinal to visit China recently. Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington paid a two-day call on Beijing in mid-October -- his seventh to that country.
[...]

Read the complete article Vatican, China inch closer to reconciliation from The China Post.

Blah, blah. Your usual article recounting the visit of a dignitary to some foreign land and the basic recap on Holy See-People's Republic relations since Benedict's election. The cardinal's comments at the very end though bear pointing out:

But Mahony said that change will come gradually, quoting Chinese bishops as calling it "a marathon of tiny steps."

"There can't be a decisive moment or events and big dramatic changes like that. Things just begin to happen and slowly begin to change," Mahony said. "There are no winners. There are no losers. Guess what? This is the way things are going now."

No winners, no losers... Tell that to the guys you weren't allowed to visit who are sitting in house arrest or worse.

What is he waiting for?

According to Catholic-Hierarchy, Daniel DiNardo was appointed as Coadjutor Bishop of Galveston-Houston on January 16, 2004. Since that day, the See of Sioux City, from which Bishop DiNardo was appointed, has been vacant.

At present, the diocese of Sioux City is just about two months shy of being leaderless for two full years. Much has been said that the Holy Father is exerting direct control over the selection of bishops. Since his election in April, Benedict XVI has appointed new bishops to sees all over the world. So why is Sioux City, a diocese of 94,480 souls, still waiting?

Let's look back.
Yesterday (November 4th), the Holy Father appointed Tommaso Valentinetti as Archbishop of Pescara-Penne, Italy, the same day that Valentinetti's predecessor officially retired. The archdiocese had a population of 292,000 Catholics in 2003.

On October 25th, the Holy Father appointed Juan Carlos Romanin as Bishop of Río Gallegos, Argentina, the same day that Romanin's predecessor officially retired. The diocese had a population of 200,000 Catholics in 2003.

On October 19th, the Holy Father appointed Guillermo Rodrigo Teodoro Ortiz Mondragon as Bishop of Bishop of Cuautitlán, México. Ortiz Mondragón's predecessor died on June 26th of this year and the see had been vacant for just short of four months. The diocese had a population of 3,392,000 Catholics in 2003.

On October 10th, the Holy Father appointed Jabulani Nxumalo as the Archbishop of Bloemfontein, South Africa. The see of Bloemfontein had been vacant since April 6th, 2003, a slightly longer vacancy than Sioux City. The archdiocese had a population of 112,706 Catholics in 2003.

On September 28th, the Holy Father appointed Ruy Rendón Leal as Bishop Prelate of El Salto, Mexico, the same day that Rendón Leal's predecessor officially retired. The prelature had a population of 304,000 Catholics in 2003.

Note, these are the last five appointments of actual ordinaries.

The diocese of Sioux City consists of parishes located in small towns with populations from 100 or less on up to cities like Sioux City with over 50,000 people. Though Catholics are widespread, they are not the largest group, as western Iowa was heavily settled by Lutherans and other Protestant groups.

Grand Master awarded peace prize

Nov. 04 (CWNews.com) - The grand master of the Knights of Malta, Fra Andrew Bertie, has been named to receive the Path to Peace award, conferred each year by a foundation that supports the work of the Vatican mission to the UN.

Read the complete article Knights of Malta leader named for peace prize from Catholic World News.

That's nice. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, etc., etc. does good work around the world with its ambulance services and other charitable works. The interesting thing is the following:

The venerable Order, which now has 10,000 members active in 120 countries, has its headquarters in Rome. The Order of Malta enjoys international sovereignty, issues its own passports, has diplomatic relations with 93 countries, and enjoys permanent-observer status at the UN.

A reader and I recently exchanged emails on this subject (the legal status of the Holy See and the Vatican City State and microstates in general). One of the examples that came to mind was the Order of Malta. After the Order surrendered to Napoleon at the end of the eighteenth century, the British took Malta after the French defeat. According to the treaty at the end of the war, they were to give it back to the Knights, but that never happened.

The Grand Master should go to Malta and negotiate a treaty granting the order a parcel of land and independence (along the lines of the Vatican City State) in exchange for some kind of health care services for the people of the island...

And then they can declare themselves a principality of the restored Holy Roman Empire!

Holy Roman resurrection

When Bavarian Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope, a fellow countryman and the leader of Germany’s most Catholic province said, “I am certain that the new pope will be able to win over and rally all the world’s Catholics, not only because he is the most brilliant theologian of all time, but also because of his human and pastoral qualities.”
[...]

Now, Benedict xvi has visited with Edmund Stoiber. On November 3, Stoiber led a 160-member delegation to the Vatican—ostensibly to invite the pontiff to visit Bavaria sometime next year.

During this visit, the pope lauded the religious virtues of Bavaria, saying that this German province “unites a heritage of generosity and a rich religious harmony: elements which hold real promise for the future.” Of course, by "religious harmony" he is referring to Bavaria being the most solid bastion of Roman Catholicism in Germany.
[...]

After the official meeting with Stoiber’s complete entourage, the pope met privately with Stoiber for about 10 minutes. No “official statements,” no political hobnobbing, no cameras—just two Bavarians behind closed doors.

What intriguing timing. Stoiber has just turned down a cabinet post in a messy grand coalition that seems to have been doomed before it even started. He has no portfolio in the new government. Yet he is the only German politican to have an audience with the most powerful man in the world’s largest single religion. Is it not strange?
[...]

The world is staring down the barrel of another resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. Based on key prophecies scattered throughout the Bible, we at the Trumpet have been looking for a Germanic resurrection of such an empire.
[...]

Read the complete article Benedict and Stoiber—a Relationship to Watch from The Trumpet.

It's kind of a neat idea. I can just imagine Germany from say Bavaria on south down through Switzerland and all of Italy uniting in a resurrected Holy Roman Empire with Stoiber as Chancellor and a Hapsburg pretender on the throne as a figurehead crowned by the Holy Father...

Dan Brown, are you reading this?

It's in the tea

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As they heard oral arguments Nov. 1 in a case over a religious group's use of a federally prohibited tea in its rituals, the Supreme Court justices seemed inclined to support the Religious Freedom Restoration Act on which the church's case is premised.

The Brazilian-based church, O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, known as UDV, has only about 140 members in the United States. The case began in 1999 after U.S. Customs agents seized a shipment of hoasca tea, which is used by the church's followers in sacramental rituals that are derived from Amazonian spiritual traditions and Christian theology.

The tea is made from plants that contain dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogen known as DMT, which the federal government classifies as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Lower federal courts ruled in favor of the church, saying that the government failed to prove a compelling interest in prohibiting its members from using a controlled substance.

Read the complete article Religious rights, international treaty at issue in church tea case from Catholic News Service.

Further down, there is this:

From the direction of their questions, most of the Supreme Court justices seemed to be trying to support the church's right to use hoasca, though they struggled with federal obligations under an international drug control treaty and whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, known as RFRA, trumps those commitments.

At the most basic level, the Free Excercise clause trumps treaties signed by the US. RFRA should in this case be the governing law, since drug control is not an explicitly constitutionally granted power of the US while the free exercise of one's religion is an explicit right under the First Amendment. But I have no real qualifications in constitutional law... Feel free to dissect my opinion.

All Souls' Day

The commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated by the Church on 2 November, or, if this be a Sunday or a solemnity, on 3 November. The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy and all the Masses are to be of Requiem, except one of the current feast, where this is of obligation.

The theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass. (See PURGATORY.)

@ Catholic Encyclopedia
@ Wikipedia

Amy has devoted a post to prayer intentions. Check that out or leave them here in the comment box.

When the Saints go marching in!

It's a Tuesday and all, but since it's a Holy Day of Obligation, make sure you know what time Mass is this evening for all you folks at work.

All Saints' Day @ Catholic Encyclopedia

All Saints' Day @ Wikipedia

I'll be at Mass at 12:10 at St. Mary's. It's the incense Mass. I'll make sure I get a good seat up front so I can inhale my Catholic faith in large amounts.

I'd put this guy in charge

Hong Kong (AsiaNews/SCMP) – Mgr Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Bishop of Hong Kong, does not believe the Vatican ought to break ties with Taiwan before talks with Beijing begin on normalising Sino-Vatican relations.

“It is unreasonable to request the Vatican to first estrange from Taiwan before starting the negotiations,” the Bishop said.

Read the complete article Beijing should open talks with the Vatican before asking it to cut ties with Taiwan, says Bishop Zen from AsiaNews.it.

The Bishop of Hong Kong has a pragmatism that is refreshing, especially in light of Cardinal Sodano's pandering.

Still, the head of Hong Kong's Catholic Church was upbeat on the progress of relations.

“There are some hurdles that may need to be overcome," he noted, “especially after the death of the late Pope John Paul and the election of the new Pope Benedict,” but according to him it was obvious that opportunities for the Catholic Church on the mainland were arising.

I'm not sure what the death of John Paul II has to do with it. Since Benedict was elected, the Holy See seems to be hell-bent on severing ties with Taiwan and joining hands with the People's Republic. The pandering:

The Vatican Secretary of State Card Angelo Sodano said last week that the Holy See was ready to return to its nunciature in Beijing and break its ties with Taiwan, provided the central government respected religious freedom.

“When other states ended their relations with Taiwan they moved immediately to Beijing. Why can't the Holy See, if it ends its contacts with Taiwan, go immediately to Beijing?” he asked.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan responded by reiterating China’s view that the Holy See must sever ties with Taiwan.

This last quote illustrates perfectly what the Holy See is getting into with its new relationship with the PRC. The Holy See is ready to cut off relations with Taiwan at the drop of a hat. But the Foreign Ministry of the People's Republic 'reiterated' that the Holy See must sever ties with Taiwan.

The Holy See is ready to do it. They're ready to move the shop to Beijing tomorrow and the PRC is still 'reiterating' and complaining. The People's Republic is not going to be appeased, people! They're not! As soon as the nunciature is set up in Beijing, I bet you a dollar that the nuncio is going to hear it about 'internal affairs' and 'Catholic interference'. It will go on and on and never end and all the while, the Chicoms will get the PR benefit of having orchestrated one more de-recognition of Taiwan in favor of itself.