For most Catholics, the Christmas season is a time of festivity. But for some clergy on the mainland it could mark the end of what has been years of thawing relations between their church and the Vatican.
The clerics will have to decide whether to attend a national congress of Catholics - an event opposed by the Vatican on the grounds that it will breach Catholic doctrine - to be held in Beijing as early as this week.
The dispute comes against the background of the state-backed church's ordination of Joseph Guo Jincai as bishop of the Chengde diocese in Hebei earlier this month, which also contradicted the wishes of the Holy See.
However, Anthony Liu Bainian - a vice-chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which controls the state-backed church on the mainland - said the Eighth National Congress of Catholic Representatives 'will no longer be delayed and will definitely be held, very soon', although the date has yet to be confirmed.
The congress, which is meant to be held every five years, is supposed to be the highest governing body of the mainland church. It includes the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China and the association.
But since the previous meeting in 2004, when more than 300 bishops, priests, nuns and lay believers met, the body has delayed its general meeting several times because of the political environment.
