Chinese Catholics begin plans for religious needs of Olympic athletes

Published: 2007-03-22

BEIJING (CNS) -- Catholic leaders in China are making arrangements to meet the religious needs of foreign Christian athletes and visitors during the 2008 Olympic Games in China. Anthony Liu Bainian, vice chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, recently urged the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to "provide English-language Bibles in hotels." Liu is a member of the consultative congress, the top advisory body of China's central government. On March 21, he told UCA News, an Asian church news agency, that his proposal aims to meet "the religious needs of foreign athletes," since many of these visitors are Christians. The 2008 Olympic Games are scheduled Aug. 8-24, 2008. Most venues will be in Beijing. However Qingdao, a port city, will host sailing events, and Hong Kong will host equestrian events. Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao will host preliminary rounds of soccer.

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