deeper underground

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Sep 02, 2005

Our Olympic hosts put on another display of freedom of religion, Maoist style.

More than 10,000 faithful from both the official and the underground Catholic Church gathered on August 27 at a church in Luojiang (near Fu'an, some 1,500 km from Beijing) to take part in the funeral of Mgr James Xie Shiguang, underground Bishop of Mindong, who died of leukemia on August 25. ...

Local sources report that public security officers were stationed at the church during the funeral mass as well as a memorial mass held two days later.

An underground priest said police prevented clergymen from outside the province from going to the funeral. Catholic websites were blocked and webmasters were warned they would be closed if the obituary, condolences and photos of Bishop Xie were not removed.

According to the freedom of religion clause in China's constitution, "No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state." One might ask which of the above obituaries, condolences and photos of Bishop Xie puts in jeopardy.