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Pope says he will visit China at a time of God's choosing

The Pope intends to visit China but the timing will have to be decided by God, the pontiff has told believers in Rome, according to a media report in Hong Kong yesterday.

Pope Benedict XVI told a delegation from Hong Kong including newly-elevated Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君) that he wished to heal a 55-year rift between the Vatican and the world's most populous country, the South China Morning Post reported.

"The Holy Father said he wanted to come but God would decide when," Hong Kong diocese vicar-general Father Dominic Chan (陳志明), who was among those at the meeting, was quoted as saying.

The hundreds-strong delegation from the territory was in Rome to witness the elevation on Sunday of Zen and 14 other bishops in the first consistory of Pope Benedict's pontificate.

Among the group, media tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英) said he had begged the pontiff to visit China.

"He replied `I will come,'" Lai was quoted as saying.

Speculation has grown over a papal visit since the death of Pope John Paul II a year ago.

Zen is seen as key to the Church's hopes to build bridges between China and Rome following the severance of ties in 1951 after Beijing expelled the Vatican's envoy.

A vocal advocate for political change in Hong Kong and on the mainland, he is expected to act as a conduit between the pope and Beijing.

China's official Patriotic Catholic Church has about 4 million worshippers, according to official figures, while the underground church has about 10 million, based on Vatican estimates.

Non-official Catholics in China are routinely detained for weeks at a time for inviting friends to worship at home. Priests have been sentenced to years in jail and some have simply disappeared.

The Post report added that the Pope also gave his backing to Hong Kong's years-long struggle for democracy.

Ruled by China since 1997, the territory has been riven ever since by a feud between democrats and the government over long-promised reforms that would allow residents to elect their own leaders.

Veteran pro-democracy lawmaker Martin Lee (李柱銘), a devout Catholic who was among those who met the pontiff, said Zen introduced him to the head of the Church as "a legislator fighting for democracy in Hong Kong."
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