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VATICAN CITY - BEIJING has sent positive signals on the right to worship during the Olympic Games as the Chinese capital prepares for this week's opening ceremony, a Vatican official told Italian TV on Monday.
'We know that there will be three churches in Beijing in which it will be possible to pray and to attend mass and we know that the bishops of Macao and Hong Kong are invited to the Olympic games', said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, in the televised interview.
'These are positive signals that should not be overlooked', he said.
China and the Vatican have not had diplomatic relations since 1951.
While Beijing is in favour of re-establishing relations, the Vatican will only do so if it can reunite followers - both those practising openly and in secret - within the country under the authority of the pope.
Pope Benedict XVI said in May that the Olympic Games in Beijing were 'an event of great worth for all of humanity'. -- AFP
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