China "authority" says Pope's note creates barriers

HONG KONG, July 5 (Reuters) Pope Benedict has put new barriers in the way of dialogue by accusing China in an open letter of suffocating the Catholic Church, an ''authoritative source'' told Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper.

''We cannot accept such a letter, and it will add new obstacles to the next step in the China-Vatican dialogue,'' the paper quoted the unnamed ''relevant'' as saying.

The source said the Pontiff's message to Chinese Catholics last weekend had some positive elements, but it failed to address the thorny Taiwan issue, and was inflexible and unrealistic.

In his most significant address on China to date, the Pope urged greater dialogue with the officially atheist state and sought a restoration of the full diplomatic ties that were severed two years after the 1949 Communist takeover.

But the 55-page letter to bishops, priests and the faithful also called on Beijing to lift restrictions on religious freedom that ''suffocate'' the Church and sow divisions among Catholics.

Millions of Chinese worship in ''underground'' churches loyal to the Pope.

The Pope lamented that millions of Catholics in China were still forced to worship under a state-controlled church that refuses to recognise his authority.

On the diplomatic front, the Vatican recognises the government that runs Taiwan, Beijing's arch-rival, and does not have formal ties with the mainland. Beijing considers the self-ruled democracy a part of Chinese territory.

''The Pope's letter will certainly have an effect on mainland Catholic churches, but because it raised relatively few new things, and the central issue it involved was just 'playing the same old tune', the effect will become evident gradually and it won't be as big as outsiders' wild guesses,'' the source said.

China's foreign ministry said in response to the letter that it was willing to continue ''frank, constructive dialogue with the Vatican''. However, it warned that the Holy See must not interfere in China's internal affairs by ''using religion as a pretext''.

Tensions have repeatedly flared over the appointment of bishops. China refuses to allow the Vatican to appoint them, saying this would amount to meddling in domestic matters.

On the Taiwan issue, the Vatican said in an accompanying note it was ready to transfer its embassy from Taiwan to China ''at any time'' in the event of a deal with Beijing, but it did not offer to sever ties with the island.

The Vatican said previously it wants to keep some kind of relations with Taipei even if it reopens its embassy in Beijing.

REUTERS JT HT1032