RELATIONS between the Vatican and China came close to rupture yesterday when the Pope denounced the ordination of bishops by China’s state-approved Catholic church as “despicable acts of coercion”.

Hopes had risen in recent months of a rapprochement between the Vatican and Beijing after half a century without diplomatic relations.

There had been expectations that the Vatican might choose to play down the ordinations, which happened on Sunday and Wednesday. Yesterday, however, the Vatican broke its silence to denounce them as “a grave violation of religious freedom”. It warned China against any further such moves.

“The Holy Father learnt of the news with deep displeasure,” a statement from Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the papal spokesman, said. “It is a great wound to the unity of the church.”

It added that the Vatican had indications that “bishops and priests have been subjected to strong pressures and threats to take part in ordinations which, because they were not approved by the Vatican, are illegitimate and go against their conscience”. The Holy See, it concluded, “had thought and hoped that such despicable events belonged to the past”.

Until the latest row there had been signs that the Vatican was willing to break off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and re-establish ties with Beijing.

Times Recommends

• Obama's African grandmother supports
• Oliver Stone's W
• Why school's out for good in Zimbabwe