Reuters
Date: March 25, 2018
By: Philip Pullella, Yimou Lee
VATICAN CITY/TAIPEI (Reuters) – Five blocks from the Vatican, on the bustling, tourist-
A Catholic poses for a photo with a cardboard cutout of Pope Francis at a church in Taipei, Taiwan March 11, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
packed street leading to St. Peter’s Basilica, a Taiwanese flag flutters from the window of a third story suite of offices that house Taipei’s embassy to the Holy See.
These days, the staff inside are anxious. They know that one night they may have to lower that flag – red and blue with a white sun – for the last time.
As the Vatican and China move closer to a historic deal on the appointment of bishops, which would signal a warming of once-frigid relations, diplomats and scholars say Taiwan could lose the most from the deal..
Under the deal, the Vatican will have a say in negotiations for the appointment of future bishops in China, whose Catholics are divided between an “underground” Church loyal to the pope and a government-backed Church. [FULL STORY]
