Vatican choir to sing in Hong Kong after Beijing talks fall through

Negotiations to allow the Vatican's famed Sistine Chapel Choir to perform on the mainland have fallen through, and instead it will visit Hong Kong for the first time.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said yesterday that the choir would perform in the city on September 21 after a concert in Macau two days earlier, and then visit Taipei on the 23rd.

The choral group - traditionally made up of around 20 adult singers and 30 boy choristers - is one of the oldest church choirs in the world. It normally performs during papal ceremonies, but has toured many parts of the world.

The EDA religious press agency said negotiations had been under way between the Holy See and Beijing for the choir to sing in mainland China "as a diplomatic and cultural gesture" aimed at easing tension. "Obviously they were unsuccessful," it said.

Relations between the Vatican and Beijing have always been strained.

The latter severed ties with the Holy See in 1951 and does not recognise its authority over Catholics on the mainland.