The interior of the Catholic Church of St Joseph's became a forest of green early yesterday morning as members of the packed congregation held high twigs of cypress. These had been distributed as substitute palm fronds from cardboard boxes as people arrived for Palm Sunday Mass, many of them young and fashionably dressed, and including doctors, teachers and retired workers.
The sun shining through the clear glass of the arched windows - the stained glass was smashed during the Cultural Revolution - illuminated a long procession of priests and acolytes making its way up the aisle, its rays catching the flimsy curtain of a confessional where people queued to confide in a priest.
It was a routine Catholic service, opening a week of solemn ceremonies culminating in Easter. But the size of the congregation in the 94-year-old twin-spire church in central Beijing was evidence of what Catholic priests say is a burgeoning interest in religion in China since people began to turn away from strict communist ideology.
St Joseph's is affiliated to the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is approved by the government but not allowed to recognise the spiritual authority of the Pope, which the underground Catholic Church does.
For many of the congregation, the distinction was unimportant. "I come here because I believe in Catholicism, not because of the priest. I don't care what his allegiance is," said a middle-aged doctor, referring to the split between the four million "Patriotic" Catholics and the larger body of Catholics who attend unapproved services.
A man wearing a face mask against pollution said: "I don't think the Communist Party should take such a hard line against the Catholic Church. We are law-abiding and well-qualified citizens." On one point people agreed, as they emerged from the grey stone building. This was that the divisions in the Catholic Church in China could be smoothed over if the Vatican was allowed to re-establish diplomatic relations with Beijing.
"I would dearly like to see the day when 100 per cent of believers are made legal," said an elderly man in a leather jacket by a new grotto of St Joseph and Child.
For the first time in half a century, Catholic believers in China may be entitled to hope that their isolation from the Church of Rome is coming to an end. This month Vatican officials have begun to speak openly about their desire to restore relations with China, broken off in 1951 when the last apostolic nuncio, Antonio Riberi, was ordered out of the country by Mao Tsedong.
For decades, communication was frozen between the world's largest church and the world's most populous country. According to a new biography, in 1983 Pope John Paul wrote a heartfelt letter to the Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, seeking to re-establish direct contacts, to which Deng never replied.
But President Jiang Zemin has recently hinted at new thinking in the communist leadership. He said improved relations were desirable, though they would depend on two conditions: that the Vatican break off ties with Taiwan, and that it stop "interfering in China's internal affairs", e.g. attempting to appoint its own bishops. A senior Vatican official told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera last week that dialogue was possible on those two issues.
The Vatican understood that normalisation of relations with China would entail a change in its ties with Taiwan, where it maintains a charge d'affaires, said Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican foreign minister. Nor should religious contacts with Chinese Catholics be regarded as political interference, he said.
Chinese bishops in full communication with the Pope had not caused problems to the political authorities, and were strongly committed to promoting the good of the people and the country. Ordinary Catholics were also appreciated by the civil authorities for their social commitment, and in many villages were recognised as model citizens.
The increase in the number of Catholics and other Christian believers suggests a new atmosphere of religious tolerance in China, despite the government's wariness of groups strongly opposed to communism.
Mr Liu Bainian, vice-president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, pointed out recently that the clergy had been accepted into society: "Priests were once sent to labour camps, he said, "but now their contributions to society are much appreciated."
The punishment for those who organise the underground Catholic Church is still harsh. The Vatican Fides agency said last week that two Catholic bishops seized by Chinese police three years ago have never been released, tried or convicted of any crime, and that 11 priests are presently under arrest.
When asked, the parishioners at St Joseph's Church also said yesterday they would like to see a visit to China some day by the Pope. But they acknowledged that this was a distant prospect. "We'd like the Pope to come to China," said a retired driver in flat cap. "However, that will only happen when religion and the state are allowed to exist separately, so there is no chance just now."