Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin did not specify how long it will take for China and the Vatican to reach an agreement on the appointment of bishops, but he hopes it will be soon.
CARD. PIETRO PAROLIN
Vatican Secretary of State
“Yes, we hope that it will not take too long for this agreement to be signed. We have been working for this for years.”
The Cardinal dismissed any trip of the pope to China. However, about the next trip in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, he said it will be important because of the geographical position of these countries.
CARD. PIETRO PAROLIN
Vatican Secretary of State
“For China there is nothing, absolutely nothing at the moment. For the trip to the Baltic countries it seems to me that everything is fine, we are fast approaching it, so everything is ready. I think it will be a very intense trip, very intense. I have seen the program and it will be very interesting because of the position of those countries.”
The People's Republic of China and the Vatican have not had relations since 1951, when the nuncio was expelled from the country. Since then, a strong persecution against the Christians has been unleashed. China created a Church parallel to the Vatican whose bishops were elected by the state. This was the central point of disagreement between the two. Therefore, the signing of an agreement on this point would be historic.
