Pope asks for freedom of faith for China Catholics

By Phil Stewart

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A prayer written by Pope Benedict for Catholics in communist China asks that they be allowed to freely express their faith and allegiance to him.

The prayer, which was released by the Vatican on Friday, will be used by Catholics around the world on May 24, the Church's day of prayer for Catholics in China.

"Sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials continue to believe, to hope, to love," it says. "May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world ..."

China's Catholics are split between those who belong to a state-backed Church and an underground Church whose members are loyal to the pope, who Catholics believe is the successor to St. Peter.

Benedict says Catholics in China should be allowed to be cling "to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built," in a clear reference to the papacy.

The pope has gone to great lengths recently to improve relations with China, an officially atheist state.

Earlier this month, the pope reached out to China by hosting a concert at the Vatican by Beijing's national orchestra. China said it hoped the unprecedented concert could help build friendship and understanding.

Last year he appealled for the restoration of diplomatic ties severed two years after the 1949 communist takeover.