Pope backs bishop picked by Beijing -newspaper

HONG KONG, Jan 18 (Reuters) Pope Benedict has approved the ordination of a Catholic priest selected by Beijing to become bishop of the southern city of Guangzhou, a Hong Kong newspaper reported today.

The mutual agreement on the elevation of Father Gan Junqiu may help improve relations between the Vatican and Beijing, which have been strained since China's unilateral ordination of three bishops last year.

China has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican and only allows Catholics to worship at state-backed churches that recognise the Pope as a spiritual figurehead, not an effective leader of the Chinese church.

The Vatican instead recognises Taiwan -- a democratic, self-governed island off China's coast over which Beijing claims sovereignty and has sworn to eventually unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

But it is keen to improve ties with China where it estimates that about 8 million Chinese Catholics worship in ''underground churches'' not recognised by the government, compared with some 5 million who belong to the state-controlled church.

Gan's candidacy had been in the pipeline for months and was a good development for the Guangzhou diocese, the South China Morning Post quoted an unnamed Vatican official as saying.

''There has been no bishop in Guangzhou for a number of years.

We looked at two or three candidates and eventually a majority consensus fell on Father Gan. We have made a very thorough investigation and the Holy Father gave his approval,'' the official was quoted as saying.

Gan will be the first Vatican-approved bishop to be ordained in China since May 7 last year when Paolo Pei Junmin became an assistant bishop of Liaoning, in China's northeast, it said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Thursday said he had not heard of the case and reiterated Beijing's position that the Vatican must abandon ties with Taiwan and refrain from interfering in China's internal affairs in the name of religion.

''If these two preconditions are met, I believe the outlook for better ties is positive,'' Liu told a news conference.

A top official in China's official Patriotic Catholic Association, Liu Bainian, was quoted in the South China Morning Post as saying the Pope's approval was good news.

''This is beneficial to improving Sino-Vatican relations. It reflects that the Vatican and the new Pope understand what we have been doing was for the propagation of faith. I hope and pray this will continue,'' the newspaper quoted Liu as saying.

REUTERS SHB RK1543