NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Hong Kong, India, and the Philippines have been proposed as sites for a papal visit in 1999 and the publication of the apostolic exhortation marking the conclusion of the special Synod of Bishops for Asia.

      Father Raymond Rossignol, the superior general of the Society for Foreign Missions in Paris, today confirmed that the three sites had been put forward. He said that Hong Kong would represent a diplomatic approach to the fact that China, the world's most populous country, would not accept a papal visit.

      Father Rossignol also sided with the auxiliary Bishop Tong Hon of Hong Kong in saying that there is no "schismatic" church in China. He explained that while the government seeks to establish an independent "patriotic" church, in practice the Catholics who belong to that body would prefer to be in union with the Holy See. He argued that the primary task of the Church in China, therefore, is to bring about a "reconciliation" between the patriotic church and the underground Catholics who have endured persecution while remaining faithful to Rome.