Pope Benedict has rapped China for its curbs on religion and freedom of conscience in his Christmas message, reflecting the tense relations between the Vatican and Beijing. While he pleaded for an end to persecution in Iraq and peace in the Middle East in his Urbi et Orbi address on Christmas Day, the pontiff also encouraged communist China to resist persecution. The Pope's comments followed an attack by China earlier this week, when it called the Vatican “imprudent” for criticising the state-sanctioned Chinese church, which is not recognised by the pontiff. The Vatican had said appointments of clergy by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association had “unilaterally damaged the dialogue and climate of trust” with Beijing. The Vatican and China have not had formal diplomatic ties since 1951, when the Holy See angered Mao Zedong's Communist government by recognising the Nationalist Chinese regime as the legitimate government of China.