Religion: February 2006 Archives

Reuters | The Epoch Times International
February 25, 2006

BEIJING — Chinese police detained two underground Roman Catholic priests this week and has held a 70-year-old bishop for three months, the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation said.

Word of the Feb. 17 detentions of Lu Genjun, 44, and Guo Yanli, 39, while waiting for a friend at a train station in Baoding in northern Hebei province, came ahead of a visit to the United States by President Hu Jintao, expected in April.

It is unclear why the pair were taken into custody. Lu was being held at an undisclosed location, while Guo was sent to a detention centre in Xushui county, the foundation said in a statement seen on Friday.

Beijing has had no ties with the Vatican since 1951 and insists relations cannot be resumed unless the Holy See severs links with self-ruled Taiwan, which China has claimed as its own since their split at the end of their civil war in 1949.

China says its Catholics must belong to a state-backed church that does not recognise the Pope's authority. The United States has often criticised China for its intolerance of religion.

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