The Vatican is incorporating elements of Chinese culture into its Easter observances this year, though dialogue between the Pope and the Chinese government has become strained due to Tibet, reports AFP:
Events in Tibet cast a shadow on Friday over the Vatican’s Easter observances, which have Chinese overtones this year to reflect Pope Benedict XVI’s advocacy of greater freedom for China’s tiny Catholic minority.
According to an advance text released by the Vatican, [Hong Kong Cardinal] Zen’s text will refer to “living martyrs of the 21st century,” a theme that is unusually political compared to other years.
In one of the meditations to be read out at the event, Zen wrote that Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Jerusalem who approved the death sentence for Jesus, was the “symbol of all those who use authority as an instrument of power and don’t concern themselves with justice.”
Read more about China’s relationship with the Vatican, via CDT.
