Pope Francis flies through China's airspace on way to South Korea

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-08-14

Pope Francis. (Photo/CFP)

Pope Francis flew over China on his way to South Korea on Thursday, in what China's nationalistic Global Times saw as a sign that Beijing's relations with the Vatican are set to improve.

When the late John Paul II made papal visits to South Korea in 1984 and 1989, the Chinese government refused on both occasions to allow the pontiff to travel through Chinese airspace, as the Holy See maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Pope Francis was welcomed on landing in Seoul by President Park Geun-hye. He is expected to beatify Korean martyrs, celebrate the 6th Asian Youth Day and say a mass for peace during his five-day visit.

Website News Korea said the pope may also meet surviving "comfort women" who were forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II. This would add significant pressure to the Abe government which has sought to downplay the scale of Japanese atrocities in mainland Asia in the first half of he 20th century.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope's secretary of state, said the Holy See hopes to improve its relations with China and hopes the two sides can conduct out a mutually respectful and constructive dialogue to find a solution for Catholics in China. A key point of contention is Beijing's refusal to allow the Vatican to appoint bishops, while the Vatican reserves the right not to recognize bishops appointed by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, the state-supervised church.

Pope Francis has made friendly overtures to China, sending a congratulatory telegram to Xi Jinping when he was appointed president in March last year. Pope Francis told Italian media in March this year that he sent the telegram when he had only been pope for three days and Xi replied.

The stumbling blocks in Sino-Vatican relations are the appointment of bishops, the Vatican's diplomatic ties with Taiwan and canonization, said Kong Chenyan, assistant professor at the Zhejiang Institute of Socialism. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association established by the country's Religious Affairs Bureau has appointed 70 bishops to represent around 5.3 million Catholics in the country, and rejects any challenge to its authority from the Holy See.

Kong said Pope Francis' visit is significant since it is the first papal visit to Asia in nearly 20 years, after John Paul II traveled to the Philippines in 1995. South Korea has reportedly seen a surge in the number of Catholics in recent years.

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