Beijing, China - China's government-backed Catholic Patriotic Association on Thursday welcomed reports that the Vatican has approved a priest that the association has endorsed to become bishop of the Guangzhou diocese in southern China's Guangdong Province.
The South China Morning Post reported that Pope Benedict has approved Father Gan Junqiu of Guangzhou's Sacred Heart Cathedral to be ordained as the diocese's bishop.
The decision came ahead of a high-level meeting to be held in the Vatican this month to discuss the diplomatic relationship between the Vatican, China and Taiwan, the English-language daily said.
Quoting an unnamed Vatican official, the report said Gan's candidacy "had been in the pipeline for months." The official added that after a thorough investigation, the pope gave his approval.
"Since China does not have official diplomatic ties with the Vatican, we have not received any official notification (about Gan's ordination approval)," Association Vice Chairman Liu Bainian told Kyodo News.
"But if it was true, it would be good news and beneficial to improving relationships between the two states," he said.
China's ordinations of mainland bishops without seeking prior approval from the Vatican since April last year has further damaged the relationship. Liu said China needs bishops and it cannot wait for the diplomatic relationship to improve.
"Father Gan was elected to be bishop-designate in November and once the Catholic Bishops' College has finished vetting process, a date for ordination will be set. It is hard to estimate when but will definitely happen this year," Liu said.
Beijing has ordained five bishops since April without papal approval, including Xu Honggen of Jiangsu Province, Ma Yinglin of Yunnan Province, Liu Xinhong of Anhui Province, Pei Junmin of Liaoning Province and Wang Renlei of Jiangsu Province. The Holy See endorsed only Xu and Pei.
Diplomatic ties between China and the Vatican were severed shortly after the Communist Party took power in 1949.
Roman Catholics in China are divided into two groups, one worshipping at churches controlled by the Patriotic Association --an organization set up by the authorities to keep a grip on the religion -- while those who are loyal to the Pope go to underground churches.
Talks have been held between China and the Vatican on restoring ties. However, two major hurdles are in the way, namely China's demand that the Vatican cut ties with Taiwan and that it stay out of China's internal affairs, including the ordaining of bishops.