China Arrests Priests, Seminarians.

This explains more of the relationship between churches and the government in China. And gives background info to the story about a man in China who was sent to prison for "illegally" distributing Bibles.

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China Arrests Priests, Seminarians
Link: http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/18/D8DUVLI01.html
or click here

November 18, 2005. Vatican City.

excerpts:
[On Nov 12] Chinese authorities have arrested a priest and 10 seminarians from that nation's underground Roman Catholic Church, a Vatican-affiliated news agency said Friday.
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Six of the seminarians were released later, but Yang and the four others remain in police custody, it said.
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The latest arrests apparently came shortly after security forces detained Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, 70, from the non-government controlled Catholic church for the eighth time in two years, a U.S.- based monitoring group said Nov. 10.
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Religious groups say Jia has been repeatedly detained over his refusal to affiliate himself with the Communist Party-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, which rejects Vatican authority over issues such as the naming of bishops.
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Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches, which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.

Many Chinese Catholics, however, remain loyal to the Vatican and risk arrest by worshipping in unofficial churches and private homes. They are frequently harassed, fined and sometimes sent to labor camps.

The government's Catholic church claims 4 million believers. The Cardinal Kung Foundation, a U.S.-based religious monitoring group, says the unofficial church of Chinese loyal to Rome has 12 million followers.
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