Italy allows Chen entry as president

The meeting was "the highest-level face-to-face meeting on Chinese soil between a prominent Catholic churchman and Beijing in decades," the newspaper said.

Responding to the report, Lu said it was not unusual for the Vatican to send a priest to China for talks. The purpose of the trip, he said, was to express the Holy See's concern for the well-being of Catholics in China and the development of the Church there.

Archbishop Joseph Cheng (鄭在發) from the Archdiocese of Taipei yesterday said the president's trip to the Vatican showed that the Taiwanese government appreciated religion as an essential force for guiding people's thoughts.

The visit, he said, was a perfect opportunity to show Taiwan's gratitude to the Pope for his love for the country.