Pope says Olympic Games should be sign of human dignity

Pope Benedict sent China best wishes for a successful Olympics yesterday, saying the games should be an example of human dignity and peaceful coexistence.

"I am following this great sporting event, the most important and anticipated on the world level, with great fondness," he told several thousand people in northern Italy, where he is on a two-week holiday near the Austrian border.

It was significant that the Pope sent specific greetings to China, whose communist government does not allow its Catholics to recognise his authority and forces them to be members of a state-backed Catholic organisation.

Pope Benedict has made improving relations with China a main goal of his pontificate and hopes that diplomatic ties broken off two years after the 1949 communist takeover could be restored.

The Pope said he wanted to send greetings to China as well as organisers and athletes, hoping that each will do their best "in the genuine Olympic spirit" to make the games a success.

"I hope they offer the international community a valid example of coexistence among people of different backgrounds in the respect of mutual dignity," he said in this bilingual town in the northern Alto Adige region that was once part of Austria.

"May sport once again be a symbol of fraternity and peace among peoples," he said, after his traditional Sunday prayer in front of the cathedral of Bressanone, which is also known by its German name Brixen.

In another sign of a thaw in once icy relations between the Vatican and Beijing, the Pope is expected to be represented at Friday's opening ceremonies by a Hong Kong bishop.

China's eight to 12 million Catholics are split between a Church approved by the ruling Communist party and an "underground" one loyal to the Pope.

China says that before restoring ties, the Vatican must first sever relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

Pope Benedict, 81, is at the mid-point of his holiday on the grounds of the town's seminary.

He has made only two public appearances since his arrival, spending most of his time reading, writing, putting the final touches on the second part of a book on Jesus and the speeches he will deliver during a trip to France next month.

Pope Benedict, who used to spend his vacation in Bressanone as a cardinal before his election in 2005, has been joined by his older brother Georg, who is a Roman Catholic monsignor.

He thanked the crowd for allowing him to "go back in time" in his memories.

The Alto Adige region, also known as the Sud Tyrol, was ceded to Italy from Austria after World War One and the area still has a distinctly Austro-Hungarian flavour rather than Italian.