Vatican criticizes wave of arrests of underground Catholics in China

Published: 2004-09-13

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican criticized a fresh wave of arrests of Catholic clergy and faithful belonging to the underground church community in China. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls called the detentions a "serious violation" of the "the fundamental human right of freedom of religion." He also called for the release of those arrested so that they could return "to their pastoral duties" in their "respective Catholic communities." Catholics who maintained loyalty to the Vatican were forced underground in the late 1950s, when the Chinese government set up the state-sanctioned Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Today, harsh restrictions on religion are still imposed in some parts of the country.

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