Every Saturday a jeans-clad figure greets about 150 members of Beijing's expatriate community as they gather in a room in the Canadian embassy for the weekly Roman Catholic Mass.
Just before 5.30 p.m., Father Albert Haas pulls on his vestments and begins the service.
On the face of it, this is a Mass like millions of others being celebrated around the world every weekend. The congregation sings, and members of the community take their turn to read from the scriptures.
But this service is not too common in China. The only reason the Chinese authorities turn a blind eye to this "underground" Mass is that Chinese nationals don't attend, and the celebration is kept discreet and non-controversial.
There are no rants against the Chinese leadership during Father Albert's sermons.
There are an estimated eight million Catholics in China who are forced to worship in "underground" churches because Beijing refuses to accept their claim of allegiance to the Pope.
Communist China broke diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1951, kicked out missionaries and forced Catholics to sever ties with Rome. It established the rival Chinese Patriotic Association (CPA), which does not recognise papal authority, including the right to name bishops.
The CPA claims to have five million members and holds its own Masses in churches all over China every day. The CPA Mass is exactly the same as the Roman Catholic Mass, served by priests trained under the Roman Catholic system.
Roman Catholics in China who remained loyal to the Pope have been persecuted and pro-Vatican clergy have been jailed or placed under house arrest for leading their flocks.
Tension between the Vatican and China came to a head last year when the CPA ordained five new bishops and the Pope canonised 120 missionaries on October 1st, China's National Day.
According to China, the saints were "evil-doing sinners" who came to China on warships in the guise of missionaries to rape, loot, sell opium and collect intelligence for Western imperialists.
The Holy See is bitter about the imprisonment of Catholic priests in China and the persecution of millions of ordinary worshippers loyal to the Pope.
In the last week, however, there have been significant moves, which may in time lead to Chinese Roman Catholics being allowed practice their faith openly.
With the eyes of the world on Afghanistan, a statement by the Pope aimed at healing the 50-year-old rift between the Vatican and the Chinese authorities went virtually unnoticed.
Pope John Paul II called for the restoration of diplomatic ties between Rome and Beijing and apologised for any "errors" made by missionaries in the past.
He said he felt "deep sadness" for those errors.
"I regret that in many people these failings may have given the impression of a lack of respect and esteem for the Chinese people on the part of the Catholic Church, making them feel that the church was motivated by feelings of hostility towards China," he said. "For all of this, I ask the forgiveness and understanding of those who may have felt hurt in some way by such actions on the part of Christians."
The Pontiff said the "present moment of profound disquiet in the international community" called for a fervent commitment on the part of everyone to creating and developing ties of understanding, friendship and solidarity among peoples.
China replied that the Pope's apology for Church errors of the colonial past did not go far enough because he did not say sorry for canonising Catholic martyrs on China's National Day last year.
However, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said China would still resume talks on reopening diplomatic ties with the Vatican if the Holy See cut relations with Taiwan and agreed not to interfere in China's internal affairs.
The Pope's request for forgiveness and understanding for the errors of missionaries in colonial times was "a positive expression", he said.
Chinese Catholics have welcomed the Pope's overtures.
But scholars say a swift breakthrough is unlikely after half a century of bitterness, despite the Pontiff's expressed wish to visit China before he dies and to expand the reach of the church among the country's 1.3 billion people.
It is difficult to see any quick resolution of the 50-year stand-off but a move by the Vatican to downgrade its diplomatic presence in Taiwan would certainly be a start.
That said, the question remains whether Beijing would be prepared to remove all restrictions on the practice of the Catholic faith and even give its blessing to the inevitable papal visit that would follow such a development.
For now, close observers are satisfied to see a thawing in relations between Beijing and Rome and say that it highlights once more that the differences between the two are more about politics than theology.
No one expects a quick resolution, but there is talk now of a possible reconciliation in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands still gather every weekend around China to celebrate Mass, many risking a term in prison for doing so.
miriamd@163bj.com