Reports Of Chinese Arrests Of Priests Loyal To Vatican Denied

In China, the government recognizes only the state-approved Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) churches. However a number of underground churches remain loyal to the Vatican, and reports (AsiaNews.it) say that nine priests from the underground Catholic church in Hebei province were arrested by police on Wednesday. Yesterday's Washington Post quotes Liu Bainian, vice chairman of the CPA, as saying he had not heard of any arrests. He denied there was a campaign on to crush the underground church movement and said underground churches that violate the law will be dealt with by police, not the Catholic Patriotic Association.