China and the Vatican are making attempts to mend their broken ties. It seems as if China's need to control religion in their country has caused a great rift between the Chinese Catholics and the rest of the world's Catholics. Talks are not going well because of the appointment of the three bishops by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church Association, which oversees the government-approved church in mainland China. The Association has been accused of kidnapping clergy members in an effort to make them consecrate the third bishop. Of course, the Vatican maintains its sole authority to appoint bishops, although it does take suggestions from governments. By forgoing the century-old traditions of the Vatican, China is sending the message to the rest of the world that its government will not allow for the freedom of religion and that its power is dominant to any other-including that of the Pope.
Hopefully, some agreement can be reached. The country has been busy modernizing its appearance and facilities for the 2008 World Olympics in Beijing. They need to modernize their view of religion and realize that worshiping freely is not treason.