Chinese underground Catholics tell pope, 'Do not forget us'

Published: 2005-05-02

ROME (CNS) -- Members of the underground church in China have sent messages of congratulations to the new pope while urging him not to forget that they are a persecuted community in a country that lacks religious freedom. One underground community of Catholics in northwest China wrote to Pope Benedict XVI asking him "not to forget the suffering church in China" because it struggles "without any freedom at all," said an April 29 report by Asianews, an Italian-based missionary news agency. "Ever since China's religious affairs regulations came into effect March 1, underground Catholic priests must report weekly to religious affairs officials on their activities and must ask public security officials for permission to leave the parish," the Catholic community said in its message to the pope.

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