Top cardinal says 'many questions' remain despite Vatican thaw with China

A top cardinal has said "many questions" remain despite the Vatican's diplomatic thaw with China, and that a deal paving the way to rapprochement was "only a starting point".

Cardinal Pietro Parolin's remarks -- in an interview with China's state-run Global Times, published Monday -- follow the signing in September last year of a historic bilateral agreement on the thorny issue of the appointment of bishops.

That deal came after decades of mistrust between Beijing and the Vatican. China's estimated 10 million Catholics are split between an underground church that swears allegiance only to the pope and a state-supervised body -- the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

The September agreement allowed both sides to have a say on the appointment of bishops, and paved the way for a rapprochement between the Vatican and Beijing, which broke diplomatic ties in 1951.

Parolin -- the Vatican's number two -- called the deal "a starting point" and that there were "elements which demonstrate .