Cadre réglementaire afférant à la religion

Actualités de l'Eglise catholique clandestine en Chine

Jurisprudence de la Commission des Recours des réfugiés (CRR), du Conseil d'Etat et des Tribunaux Administratifs concernant des catholiques chinois appartenant à l'Eglise clandestine

Exemple de motivation d'un recours devant la CRR fondé sur l'appartenance du requérant à l'Eglise catholique clandestine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

    L'OFRPA a considéré comme établi que XX est un catholique pratiquant.

    Sur la base de cette observation, il y aura lieu de déclarer fondée la demande de XX.

     En effet, il y a lieu de s'interroger sur les risques au regard des lois pénales chinoises pour déterminer si la libre pratique de sa religion par XX, s'il devait rentrer en Chine, l'exposerait à des brimades officielles.

     Pour autant que l'examen des lois chinoises confirme l'existence de diverses lois soumettant l'exercice de la religion catholique guidée par le Pape à des répressions, les craintes de XX doivent dès lors être considérées comme réalistes et fondées juridiquement.

    Tout catholique fidèle à Rome pratiquant sa religion en Chine est susceptible d'être arrêté et poursuivi en application de la loi pénale chinoise parce que

1. son Eglise n'est pas enregistrée en conformité avec les lois nationales auprès du Religious Affairs Bureau (Règlement N° 145 afférant à la gestion des lieux pour les activités religieuses, Décret du State Council de la République Populaire de Chine, articles 13 et 14),

2. il pratique sa religion en dehors des lieux de culte autorisés à cette fin par le Gouvernement (Règlement N° 145, article 2),

3. cette Eglise prête allégeance à une autorité suprême étrangère (Règlement N° 145, article 5),

4. sa religion détruit l'unité de la nation, l'unité parmi les minorités ethniques, la stabilité sociale, ou cause un préjudice physique aux citoyens ou crée une obstruction au système d'éducation national (Règlement N° 145, article 5),

5. la pratique de sa religion peut être assimilée au recours à la superstition (article 99 de la loi pénale) ou à la pratique d'un « culte » (article 300 de la loi pénale),

6. l'article 16 de la loi relative à l'éducation obligatoire interdit à la religion d'interférer avec les activités éducatives. Le gouvernement communiste justifie sa politique d'interdiction de formation religieuse pour les mineurs par une conjugaison malaisée de l'article 34 de la Constitution qui garantit le droit de vote sans discrimination sur la base de la religion aux personnes ayant atteint l'âge de la majorité (18 ans) et l'article 36 de la Constitution garantissant la liberté de religion.

    Le 18 décembre 2004, le State Council a promulgué les Regulations on Religious Affairs qui entreront en vigueur le premier mars 2005. Le Règlement comporte 48 articles répartis en 7 chapitres régissant les entités religieuses, les activités religieuses, le personnel religieux et les biens religieux. Il résulte d'un processus en cours depuis 6 ans et qui a impliqué une gamme d'autorités et de personnes concernées. Tout en remplaçant le règlement de 1994, il ne le modifie que peu. Surtout il précise les conditions d'obtention d'une licence de construction de tout lieu d'activités religieuses comportant des démarches aux niveaux du comté, de la ville et de la province.

    Le Secrétaire d'Etat du Vatican, l'Archevêque Giovanni Lajolo, a officiellement reproché au nouveau règlement que « l'immatriculation des communautés religieuses ne peut pas être considérée comme une condition préalable à la jouissance de cette liberté ».

    Dans les débats devant la Commission, cet état de fait est désormais un lieu commun. Mais, si ce n'est que de manière surabondante, nous joignons à notre dossier une compilation de sources officielles et de reportages de presse attestant la discrimination endémique pratiquée à l'encontre des catholiques pratiquant en Chine au sein de structures sous contrôle étranger, comme l'Eglise catholique fidèle au Pape à Rome.

    Ayant constaté que la Commission, au moins dans certaines de ses compositions, ne prête "aucune valeur probante" à de telles informations, nous tenons à préciser que leur intérêt n'est pas d'établir que XX a été victime en Chine avant son départ de persécutions à cause de sa religion, mais qu'il le serait s'il y retournait tout en continuant sa pratique de la religion catholique.

    Dans ce dernier contexte, les reportages disent quelles sont les persécutions subies par les catholiques en donnant de nombreux exemples avec des citations de noms de personnes notoirement connues dans la communauté catholique chinoise. En ce sens, ces reportages établissent que tout catholique est susceptible de faire l'objet de persécutions en Chine.

    Si la Commission convient que XX est un catholique pratiquant, la conclusion est inéluctable qu'il serait exposé personnellement à des persécutions à cause de sa religion s'il devait rentrer en Chine.

    Dans ces conditions, la demande de XX d'admission au statut de réfugié sera considérée comme fondée.

    XX cite comme précédents de la Commission les affaires suivantes en tant que décisions d'admission au statut de réfugié pour cause de persécutions en tant que catholique:

1. Madame C (N° 438691, le 10 octobre 2003),

2. Monsieur C (N° 435977, 10 mars 2004),

3. Monsieur L (N° 454505, 28 janvier 2004),

4. Mademoiselle C (N° 498264, 17 février 2005),

5. Monsieur Y (N° 503002, 17 février 2005),

6. Mademoiselle C (N° 485630, 10 mai 2005,

7. Monsieur L (N° 508556, du 23 mai 2005).

    Dans l'affaire de Monsieur Y, le Rapporteur a recommandé à la Commission son admission au statut de réfugié parce que son appartenance à l'Eglise clandestine avait été prouvée et que la crainte de persécutions était dès lors fondée.
 
 

COMMISSION DES RECOURS DES REFUGIES

Mme C. (438691, 10 octobre 2003)

Dans ces affaires, la Commission des Recours a reconnu comme démontrés les faits suivants :

- dans la région de Wenzhou, Province de Zhejiang, entre 1995 et 2001 des persécutions de catholiques fidèles au Pape, consistant selon les cas en emprisonnement (mort s'en étant suivie dans un cas), en menaces, en actes de harcèlement empêchant l'organisation du culte; des arrestations de fidèles après une messe clandestine;

- dans la région de Ruian, Province de Zhejiang, depuis 2000, les autorités ont poursuivi l'organisateur de l'impression et de la distribution non autorisées de 20.000 exemplaires d'un livre de chants catholiques; il a été condamné à 4 ans d'emprisonnement;

- dans la région de Changle, Province de Fujian depuis 2003, s'agissant d'une étudiante en théologie dans l'Eglise clandestine, son arrestation et détention pendant une semaine et des menaces pour obtenir qu'elle renonce à sa foi;

- dans la région de Tieling, dans la Province de Liaoning, depuis 2003, s'agissant d'un jeune catholique, il a été poursuivi pour avoir emmené à une messe clandestine un mineur, la messe ayant été célébrée au domicile d'un fidèle;

- dans la région de Wenzhou, Province de Zhejiang, un jeune catholique a été accusé d'avoir organisé un rassemblement religieux non autorisé; il a été menacé pour obtenir qu'il renonce à sa foi; détenu pendant 24 heures, il a reçu une convocation devant le Tribunal pour sa participation à des activités religieuses non autorisées;

- dans la région de Wenzhou, Province de Zhejiang, depuis 2000, s'agissant d'une jeune catholique, pour sa participation ardente au culte et plus particulièrement pour l'enseignement du culte à des enfants, pour sa participation à un pèlerinage au tombeau de Monseigneur Bai, et après une réunion de prières et de chants pour les 120 Martyrs, elle a été poursuivie par la police chinoise; et

- dans la région de Changle, Province de Fujian, depuis 2002, s'agissant d'un jeune catholique qui animait une association de jeunes paroissiens, à l'issue d'une messe clandestine, son placement en garde-à-vue pendant quelques jours, et alors qu'il rendait visite à des paroissiens âgés, interpellation et mauvais traitements pendant une garde-à-vue de 24 heures, menaces pour obtenir sa renonciation à sa foi.

 Dans une de ses décisions, la Commission a tenu les propos suivants concernant la situation des catholiques clandestins :

Les autorités publiques chinoises ont regardé les responsabilités laïques de l'intéressée au sein de l'Eglise catholique catholique romaine et son refus réitéré de dénoncer les fidèles refusant leur affiliation à l'Eglise chinoise sous contrôle de l'Association Patriotique comme la manifestation d'un prosélytisme spirituel sous influence étrangère destiné à promouvoir dans la sphère privée une activité socialement condamnable.
 

CONSEIL D'ETAT

Préfecture de Police de Paris c. C, 09/07/2001

This decision rendered by the Conseil d'Etat in France represents a correction by the Courts of an excess of jurisdiction of the Préfecture for having decided to send out of the country a Chinese clandestine at the origin a candidate for asylum based on his exposure to official persecution as a Catholic faithful to Rome. A major consideration was the lack of proportionality of the administrative decision against a man with more than 10 years of presence in France and who by virtue of his age would not easily be reintegrated in China.

Cette décision du Conseil d'Etat fait progresser la jurisprudence en ce quelle corrige une décision préfectorale pour excès de compétence pour avoir cherché à éloigner du territoire un clandestin chinois qui à l'origine avait été candidat au statut de réfugié pour cause de son exposition à des persécutions officielles pour sa pratique de la religion catholique fidèle à Rome. Un motif déterminant a été fondé sur le manque de proportionalité de la décision administrative compte tenu en particulier de l'ancienneté de la présence sur le territoire de l'intéressé (plus de 10 ans) et aussi de son âge avancé (plus de 60 ans).

texte de l'arrêt / text in French of the decision
 

TRIBUNAUX ADMINISTRATIFS

1. - Monsieur C., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, Paris N° 0415446/8, 10 juillet 2004
2. - Monsieur Z., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, 19 janvier 2005
3. - Madame Z., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 0506137/8, 13 mai 2005
4. - Madame L., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 0512909/8, 22 août 2005
5. - Monsieur X., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 0515078, 19 septembre 2005
6. - Monsieur C., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 0520404/8, 17 décembre 2005
7. - Madame F., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 0520766/8, du 10 janvier 2006
8. - Monsieur C., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 0615675, du 9 janvier 2007
9. - Madame G., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 0705531/8 du 14 avril 2007
10. - Madame G., Tribunal Administratif de Paris, N° 071499988/5/8, du 22 novembre 2007
 
 

retour au début de la page

 

DANIEL ARTHUR LAPRES

Cabinet d'avocats

contacts
 
 

ACTUALITES DE L'EGLISE CATHOLIQUE CLANDESTINE EN CHINE

New regulations, November 2004

Decree No 426, State Council, November 30, 2004, announcing the Regulations on Religious Affairs - Rules safeguard religious freedom in China

New regulations for controlling religions

 

General sources of information

Radio Blogs

Religious Freedom Page

Human Rights Watch: East Asia

Catholic Information Links

 

Religion and human rights in China

International Religious Freedom Report, Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, United States Department of State

A Brief Historical and Legal Description of Religious, Religion and Law Research Consortium

Multinational Corporations and Human Rights Spin-off in China

China Jamming Falungong Websites in New Crackdown

Pope Lauds Heroism Of China's Rebel Cardinal

China Unsparing In Attack On Late Catholic Priest

Pope Lauds Heroism Of China's Rebel Cardinal

Chinese Police Detain Seven Over Theatre Fire

China Spiritual Group Urges UN to Censure China

Three Falungong Followers Held for Collecting "Tongs"

China Sect Adherents Detained on Eve of Key Date

Chinese Government sources
Freedom of Religious Belief in China, Information Office of the State Council of the PRC, October 1997, Beijing
English version
Chinese verion
Religions in China - China Internet Information Center
 

Freedom of religion before the European Court for Human Rights
Judgments of the European Court for Human Rights invloving freedom of religion
 
 

News stories on religious freedom in China
 

Chine: un nouvel évêque pour le diocèse de Canton, avec l'accord du Vatican (in Le Monde)
AFP 04.12.07 | 11h58
Le nouvel évêque de Canton, dans le sud de la Chine, a été ordonné mardi par l'Eglise catholique officielle chinoise, apparemment avec le soutien du Vatican, a-t-on appris de source officielle.
La cérémonie d'ordination de Joseph Gan Junqiu, 42 ans, s'est déroulée dans la cathédrale du Sacré-Coeur de Canton mardi matin, a indiqué à l'AFP le porte-parole de l'Eglise catholique officielle, Liu Bainian.
Gan Junqiu remplace Lin Bingliang, décédé en 2001, a précisé M. Liu.
Sa désignation intervient après celle, intervenue vendredi, de Francis Lu Shouwang, 41 ans, comme nouvel évêque de Yichang, dans la province du Hubei (centre), ont indiqué les autorités religieuses chinoises.
Selon l'agence spécialisée dans l'information religieuse Asianews, la nomination de Gan est intervenue en novembre 2006, puis approuvée par le pape, mais la cérémonie a été longtemps retardée, car le prêtre avait fait publiquement allégeance au pape.
Tout comme celle de l'évêque de Canton, celle de Francis Lu Shouwang a reçu le feu vert du Vatican, a affirmé l'agence.
Le porte-parole de l'Eglise officielle chinoise a refusé de se prononcer à ce sujet, indiquant seulement que de telles informations étaient un signe encourageant.
"Si ces informations sont vraies, c'est de bon augure pour les relations entre la Chine et le Vatican", a-t-il dit.
Il a également précisé que durant la cérémonie, Mgr Gan s'était engagé à respecter "les lois de l'Etat, à sauvegarder l'unité sociale et la stabilité sociale et à contribuer à l'édification d'une société socialiste harmonieuse".
Tous les responsables de l'Eglise officielle sont tenus à de tels engagements, a précisé M. Liu.
Asianews souligne que le nouvel évêque de Canton "a de bonnes relations avec le gouvernement, qui a participé à la restauration de la cathédrale de Canton, dédiée au Sacré-coeur et rouverte au public en février".
La Chine a rompu ses relations diplomatiques en 1951 avec le Vatican, qui venait de reconnaître Taiwan. La rupture est devenue définitive en juillet 1957 avec la création d'une Eglise officielle contrôlée par le régime communiste.
Il y a, selon le Vatican, entre 8 et 12 millions de fidèles catholiques qui sont restés fidèles au Saint Siège et font partie de l'Eglise "clandestine".

China's Official Catholic Church To Ordain New Bishop (WSJ)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
December 3, 2007 7:45 p.m.
GUANGZHOU (AP)--China's official Catholic church planned Tuesday to appoint a new bishop who has publicly declared his loyalty to the Vatican, religious officials said.
The Rev. Joseph Gan Junqiu's appointment will be held at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the booming southern city of Guangzhou, once known as Canton, said Lu Guocun, a vice chairman of the state-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
Appointing bishops has been a major sore point between Beijing and the Vatican. China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power.
Chinese authorities have repeatedly refused to consult with the Holy See when choosing new bishops, saying the pope should not meddle in the country's internal affairs. But there has been growing consultation between the official church and Rome on appointments. Many bishops named by China have later sought - and received - the Vatican's blessings.
Lu told The Associated Press he did not know whether the Vatican supported Gan's ordination.
"Our Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association really doesn't concern itself with such things," Lu said.
In Rome, however, a Vatican official who requested anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity told the AP that Gan, 43, has the Holy See's approval because he has publicly declared his fidelity to Pope Benedict XVI. The pope requested the loyalty of Chinese bishops in his letter to the faithful earlier this year.
AsiaNews, a Vatican-affiliated missionary news agency, has also reported that Gan had publicly declared his loyalty and that the Vatican thus approved his appointment.
The Chinese Catholic Web site http://www.cncatholic.org said that Gan was a native of the southern province of Guangdong and had studied in Belgium, France and Hong Kong.

Olympics Bible ban 'blatant lie' (SCMP)
Bocog slams religious censorship reports
Peter Simpson in Beijing
Updated on Nov 08, 2007
Beijing Olympic organisers have accused European newspapers and religious global news agencies of "blatantly lying" after claims that Bibles are to be banned from the Games next year.
The Catholic News Agency published a report drawn from the popular Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport and the Spanish daily La Razon, which said Bibles and other personal religious items carried by athletes, coaches and managers were banned at Olympic venues.
The allegations were also circulated on the Christian Broadcasting Network.
"This is not true. There has been a misunderstanding," said Wang Hui , executive deputy director of Bocog. "Athletes and other individuals can bring with them their own Bibles. But no one can bring in multiple copies for public distribution."
Earlier, another official from the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games gave an angrier response to an inquiry by the South China Morning Post.
"These reports are nothing but blatant lies," the official said. "Bibles and religious scriptures of the major faiths brought by athletes into the Olympic village are allowed, as are places of worship within the Olympic Village. This is the same as in all other Olympiads."
La Razon said the Bible-ban "rule" was "one of a number of signs of censure and intolerance towards religious objects, particularly those used by Christians in China".
The reports appeared to contradict policies released at an Olympic world press briefing last month, during which Bocog revised its religious promotion policy paper for the purpose of clarity. It stated that individual Bibles and other religious items would be allowed, while promotional material, banners and mass copies of religious literature meant for distribution would be banned.
While the policy is clearly aimed at Falun Gong members threatening activism, groups advocating Tibetan independence and the like, the reports - which have been widely circulated among the world's 1.1 billion Catholics - have angered Bocog.
Such claims are likely to put further strain on the already tense ties between the Vatican and Beijing.
"Currently in China, five bishops and 15 priests are in prison for opposing the official church," the Catholic News Agency said in its version of the report.
An International Olympic Commission spokeswoman said Article 61 of the Olympic Charter prohibited religious, political and commercial propaganda but allowed faiths to be worshipped by individuals.
She blamed a misunderstanding, "maybe from the translation service", for the "incorrect reports".
"We have been in contact with the journalists who originally wrote these stories and clarified the policy. Athletes will be allowed personal religious items in Beijing."
Beijing does not have diplomatic ties with the Vatican and has clashed frequently with it over the right to appoint bishops on the mainland.
 
La mort suspecte d'un évêque chinois clandestin suscite l'inquiétude du Vatican (le Monde)
Article publié le 12 Octobre 2007  Par Henri Tincq Source : LE MONDE Taille de l'article : 388 mots
Extrait : DANS un commentaire critique de L'Osservatore romano daté du 9 octobre, le Vatican a exprimé son étonnement et son inquiétude après la mort et l'incinération, jugées suspectes, de Mgr Jean Han Dingxiang, évêque « clandestin » du diocèse de Yongnian (Hebei), décédé le 9 septembre à l'âge de 68 ans dans un hôpital de Shijiazhuang, capitale de la province. Le Vatican aura mis un mois à réagir, sans doute pour des besoins de vérification de l'information venue de la Fondation dite du « cardinal Kung », siégeant aux Etats-Unis. Selon cette source, Mgr Han s'est éteint sans avoir reçu les derniers sacrements.

Activists arrested and beaten in 'worst crackdown in five years' (SCMP)
Didi Kirsten Tatlow in Beijing Oct 12, 2007
The weeks before a major political meeting on the mainland are traditionally tense, but activists say the run-up to the Communist Party's 17th National Congress, which opens on Monday, has been marked by the severest wave of repression in years.
Dozens of arrests, detentions, beatings and abductions have taken place since August, peaking during the week-long holiday following National Day on October 1, activists say.
Targets have included Christians, lawyers, petitioners, Olympics critics, writers and democracy activists.
"My husband Hu Jia says that this year's National Day, which we normally call guoqingjie [national celebration day], has been a guoshangjie [national mourning day]", said 24-year-old Zeng Jinyan, eight months' pregnant with the couple's first child. Mr Hu and Ms Zeng, well-known campaigners on a range of issues including Aids, the environment and free speech, are finalists for the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, to be announced at the end of the month.
Mr Hu has been under house arrest since May. On October 5, police permitted him to accompany his wife for a regular pre-natal checkup - along with 12 plainclothes policemen. Since October 7 he has been confined to home again.
"I don't know what will happen when she gives birth, if I am allowed to go to hospital, or what if I need to go out and fetch something for her when she's in hospital?" Mr Hu said.
Ms Zeng said: "The police always say, `if you take the opportunity of going out to do anything else or meet anyone else, don't be surprised if we turn nasty'."
Christian activist Hua Huiqi, who was beaten by police yesterday, had suffered weeks of harassment beforehand, his family said.
Their troubles began on October 1, when a dozen policemen surrounded their Beijing home, trapping Mr Hua, his wife Wei Jumei and their 11-year-old child inside. Last week police smashed windows in their home and turned away Mr Hua's brother, who tried to deliver badly needed food supplies.
"We're down to eating garlic," Ms Wei said on the telephone. Then the line went dead.
Nicholas Becquelin of Human Rights Watch said it was the most severe crackdown in years. "This crackdown came very gradually, very systematically. They are proceeding layer by layer," he said. "Earlier this year they tightened up the media, then universities were told what meetings and workshops they could not hold. Then they took out the petitioners and the thuggish tactics we are seeing now are the last wave."
Mr Hu said it was "the worst I've seen in five years".
"Things are always tight before, say, a National People's Congress meeting," he said. "But this time it's worse, because it's the party congress, and power in China resides with the Communist Party, and they are determined to hold on to complete power."
Nor are the authorities seemingly reined in by considerations of their image a year ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Mr Hu said they were rushing to get rid of people they considered trouble-makers before the world focused on China next year. "They are doing 80 per cent of the work now in order to only have to do 20 per cent next year."
Mainland authorities generally justify such sweeps in the name of maintaining social stability and harmony. Beijing police refused to comment.
Other high-profile victims include Christian and rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. Gao's family say he disappeared on September 22.
Also missing is Yao Lifa, a well-known election activist from Qianjiang in Hubei province, whose son, Yao Yao , says he has been unable to contact his father since Sunday. Olympics-related eviction protester Ye Guozhu, his brother, Ye Guoqiang and son Ye Mingjun, have been arrested or unofficially detained, family sources said.
Lawyer Li Heping, an advocate for people he says are victims of miscarriages of justice, says he was abducted and beaten for four hours on September 29. Mr Li believes the attack was linked to moves to build a case against the use of laojiao, or re-education through labour, a form of extra-judicial punishment.
Major targets of the laojiao system are petitioners, tens of thousands of whom travel to the capital every year to seek justice for abuses of power by local officials.
"Locking up petitioners in laojiao camps is illegal and against our constitution", said Mr Li, who says he began gathering evidence against the widespread practice in June. Currently, thousands of petitioners are on the run in Beijing, the hostels they normally stay in closed or knocked down. Petitioners are a major target of the pre-congress sweep, with the government fearing they may stage demonstrations.
Still others who have disappeared include Huang Yan, 36, reportedly kidnapped on September 22. Mr Hu says he received a panicked phone call from her during which she said she had been beaten in police custody for three days before being taken back to her native Jinzhou, in Hubei, on September 26. There she slipped out of custody while her captors played mahjong but was recaptured soon afterwards.
Similarly, Zheng Dajing, a Beijing resident and native of Yunxi county in Hubei who is active in the defence of petitioners, was reportedly abducted at the end of August and has not been heard of since.
Pastor Liu Fenggang, reached by telephone at his home in Beijing's Haidian district, said he, his wife and eight-year-old son were allowed out only after lengthy negotiations with police.
"I have to tell them where I'm going, who with, to do what, and promise I won't meet other people," said Mr Liu, who was released in February after a three-year jail term related to his Christian activism.
"Since I got out it's been like this all the time. They lock me up for National Day, when there are foreign dignitaries in town. The other day there was an Olympics cycle race and they locked me up for that. It's endless."
While Mr Liu's case is known to international rights activists, other, less well-known people have also disappeared, such as 50-something Beijinger and internet democracy activist Zhang Wenhe, last seen by his family on September 29. Mr Zhang's family believes he is being held in a psychiatric hospital. Other high-profile arrests include Hangzhou writer Lu Gengsong and land activist Yang Chunlin, who collected signatures for a petition calling for "Human rights, not Olympics". Mr Yang's sister said he had been tortured in jail in Heilongjiang province.
Outspoken internet commentator Zhang Zuhua was asked to leave Beijing during the congress, sources said.

Activist beaten as rival police clash in melee (SCMP)
Campaigner knocked unconscious Didi Kirsten Tatlow in Beijing
Oct 12, 2007
Dozens of police from rival city districts in Beijing fought a pitched battle yesterday over Christian activist Hua Huiqi, who was knocked unconscious during the melee and admitted to hospital.
Four factions took part in the battle that saw Chongwen district police and security guards, whom witnesses said worked for New World China Land (SEHK: 0917) - a subsidiary of Hong Kong's New World Development - squaring off against police from Fengtai district and plain-clothes national security officers, who had been monitoring Mr Hua for weeks.
"You killed my brother!" Hua's sister, Hua Yaping , screamed at men in street clothes believed to be officers from Mr Hua's local police station who had beaten him.
Mr Hua lay immobile on a gurney in Tiantan Hospital for an hour, eyes shut, before being treated. His trousers were wet from urine and dirty from the beating, according to another sister, Hua Huilin .
A woman answering the telephone at the district police station declined to comment, adding the officers were all in a meeting. She also declined to take questions.
Attempts to contact New World in Hong Kong and its office in Beijing for comments were not successful because office staff said the managers responsible were not available.
The incident, a complex one involving police and private security forces representing both political and economic interests, illustrates what human rights activists say is a growing trend on the mainland - attacks by private security guards, often representing companies involved in property deals with local governments, are on the rise.
Mr Hua, under scrutiny by the authorities due to his long history of underground church activism, also has a history of opposing home evictions in the capital.
He has been detained repeatedly in recent years for leading a house church, as well as for his rights defence efforts on other issues.
Recently, Mr Hua began helping petitioners from the provinces who travel to Beijing seeking justice. He was released from jail in July after serving six months for "obstructing justice".
Under heavy police guard, Mr Hua moved out of his Chongwen district home on Monday and was taken to Fengtai district, in the southwest of the city.
But Fengtai police did not want him in their jurisdiction, and yesterday he returned to Chongwen with a dozen Fengtai policemen.
He was greeted by Chongwen policemen and the developer's security guards, according to witnesses.
Both those groups were equally intent on not letting him return to his home, which is slated for demolition.
Late yesterday Mr Hua was still in hospital. Family members said doctors were refusing to discuss his condition, and the family was being watched by police.

Christian group: Businesses closed in western China for 'religious infiltration' (IHT)
The Associated Press Wednesday, October 10, 2007 BEIJING: China has closed two businesses whose owners allegedly sought Christian converts in traditionally Muslim western China, and revoked the visa of an American citizen for illegal proselytizing, a rights monitoring group said Wednesday.
The companies' business licenses were pulled last month by authorities in the Xinjiang region after they were accused of distributing religious material, converting Muslims and conducting "infiltration activities," the U.S.-based China Aid Association said in a news release.
The group did not identity the American, citing ongoing legal issues within China. It wasn't immediately clear whether the individual had been deported.
The report follows word this summer that China had kicked out more than 100 suspected foreign missionaries, including many in Xinjiang, in a campaign to prevent proselytizing ahead of next year's Beijing Summer Olympics.
Christian mission groups from around the world say they plan to quietly defy the Chinese ban on foreign missionaries and send thousands of volunteer evangelists to Beijing next year.
Evangelicals worked the crowds at the Olympics in Athens, Sydney and Atlanta but the groups say the Beijing Games offer an opening like no other, in a communist country that conservative Christians have long reviled.
China bans open proselytizing and worship outside the Communist Party-controlled official church. However, foreign faithful who live in China are often able to evangelize privately while working as English teachers, humanitarian workers or in business.
Efforts to contact the companies cited by the association on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
At one, a branch of Xinjiang Pacific Agricultural Resources Development Company, Ltd., no one answered the phone. The other company, Xinjiang Jiaerhao Foodstuff Company Limited reportedly owned by a Muslim convert, had no listed number.
A woman who answered the phone at the regional government's religious affairs bureau said she had no information about the companies or the accused American.

L'ordination d'un nouvel évêque à Pékin marque un dégel des relations avec le Vatican (Le Monde)
LE MONDE | 22.09.07 | 15h38  ´  Mis à jour le 22.09.07 | 15h38
PÉKIN CORRESPONDANT
L'ordination, vendredi 21 septembre, du nouvel évêque de Pékin, Mgr Joseph Li Shan, 42 ans, est sans doute le signe d'un réchauffement des relations entre la Chine et le Vatican. Membre de l'Association des catholiques patriotiques de Chine - l'Eglise "officielle" -, Joseph Li Shan avait été élu le 16 juillet par un collège de prêtres, religieux et laïcs du diocèse, pour succéder à Mgr Michael Fu Tieshan, décédé en avril.
Cette élection n'est pas conforme au mode de désignation des évêques qui est le seul privilège du pape. Mais l'Osservatore Romano, organe officiel du Saint-Siège, a déclaré, vendredi, que Benoît XVI avait " concédé la communion" à ce nouvel évêque de Pékin, considéré comme un homme de foi et un vrai pasteur, ainsi qu'à Mgr Xiao Zejiang, ordonné évêque coadjuteur de Guiyang le 8 septembre.
C'est un geste de "bonne volonté", dit-on à Rome, vis-à-vis du fonctionnement de la partie officielle de l'Eglise chinoise qui compterait, au total, 12 millions de fidèles, clandestins et officiels. Cette double approbation par le pape d'un évêque dans la capitale et à Guiyang démontre le souci de Rome de poursuivre un processus menant au rétablissement des relations diplomatiques interrompues depuis 1951.
En 2006, trois évêques avaient été nommés autoritairement par le régime, sans consultation de Rome. Le pape avait réagi à cette " provocation". La lettre envoyée en juin 2007 à tous les catholiques chinois par Benoît XVI, dans laquelle il appelle de ses voeux la libre nomination des évêques et la réunification des deux Eglises avait été accueillie avec réserves par les autorités de Pékin.
Le Vatican laisse régulièrement entendre qu'il est prêt à rompre ses relations diplomatiques avec Taïwan afin de reconnaître la République populaire. Mais l'un des points d'achoppement reste cette épineuse question de la nomination des évêques, dont le Saint-Siège veut faire son domaine réservé. Pékin ne peut se résoudre à cette issue et met en avant le concept de "non-interférence" dans ses affaires intérieures. Le régime veut continuer à contrôler le choix de ses cadres catholiques.
Une nouvelle génération se lève d'évêques "officiels" nommés par Pékin, avec la fiction d'une élection par la base, mais ayant reçu a posteriori l'approbation du pape. Les élus cherchent même à recueillir la bénédiction du pape avant leur ordination, mais ils le font discrètement de peur de provoquer l'Eglise officielle. Le pouvoir sait que le rétablissement de liens diplomatiques avec le Vatican contribuerait à rehausser le prestige de la Chine à l'étranger, mais les responsables de l'Association patriotique redoutent qu'une telle perspective ne les dépouille de leurs prérogatives.
Bruno Philip
Article paru dans l'édition du 23.09.07
 
Beijing's Catholics tread carefully in installing a bishop (FT)
By Mure Dickie and Tom Mitchell
Published: September 21 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 21 2007 03:00
Acolytes at Beijing's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception have been practising hard for today's planned ordination of a new bishop,even if the man about to lead China's highest-profile diocese has remained out of the public eye. "Father Li is on a retreat. We don't know where he is," one member of the cathedral staff offered during a visit this week.
Li Shan's retreat has not taken him out of the spotlight, however. His planned enthronement puts him at the heart of one of the most sensitive issues in ties between communist Beijing and the Vatican: a battle for the loyalties of a new generation of Chinese bishops.
If all goes to plan and he reappears for his ordination today, Father Li will be the seventh bishop installed since April last year, when the elevation of a cleric approved by the Chinese government - and not Pope Benedict XVI - ruptured a fragile truce. He will also be the latest 40-something bishop to replace octogenarians and nonagenarians who have been dying at the rate of about one a month.
China and Rome have for two years been discussing the possible restoration of diplomatic relationssevered in 1951 and Chinese Catholics make clear they want to see an end to hostilities.
"We all hope the government and the Vatican can resolve their differences," said one Beijing parishioner who asked to be identified only as "Maria". "As Catholics we will of course obey the Pope, but as Chinese we also have to listen to the Chinese government."
The appointment of a bishop of Kunming, in south-western Yunnan province, was the first of three installations last year without Pope Benedict's approval. Three other recent appointees have enjoyed both Beijing's and Rome's blessing, illustrating the complex relationship between China's state-sanctioned church, overseen by the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, and an "underground" church loyal to Rome.
The Vatican has remained silent on Fr Li's status. Liu Bainian, CCPA vice-chairman, told the Financial Times he did not know whether Rome's ap-proval had been secured "because there is no official communication channel be-tween China and the Vatican".
However, one person fam-iliar with the situation says Fr Li is in possession of a papal bull, drafted in Latin, confirming the Pope's approval. "He has been approved and he has been informed," the person said. "It is a good augur for the future. The Holy See didn't want another Bishop Fu."
Fu Tieshan, the capital's last Catholic bishop, died in April. Never approved by the Vatican, Bishop Fu held a senior government position - vice-chairman of the Nat-ional People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament - and was buried with full state honours.
The former bishop of Beijing was 76 when he died - young compared with some. One bishop, Meng Ziwen, died in January at the age of 104.
The huge generation gap between China's elderly bishops and their 40-something successors arises from decades of church persecution under Mao. But it has also ensured that Fr Li, who is 42, and his peers will lead the church in China for decades to come. About eight new appointments, all expected to be acceptable to the Vatican and in their 40s, are expected in the next six months.
While the schism between China's official and underground church often appears stark, the relationship is in fact more complex.
"It's no good talking about two churches - they are so intertwined," says Audrey Donnithorne, a retired scho-lar and expert on China's underground church, who estimates that more than80 per cent of bishops in the country are recognised by both the CCPA and Rome.
For bishops who refuse to have anything to do with the CCPA, however, the consequences remain severe. The US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation says: "Every one of the approximately 45 bishops of the underground Roman Catholic Church is either in jail, under house arrest, under strict surveillance or in hiding."
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

Freedom to worship a fundamental right, says Beijing (SCMP)
Reuters
Sep 21, 2007
Beijing yesterday denounced as groundless a US report that accused it of curbing religious freedoms, calling it interference in its internal affairs.
In an annual report, the US State Department last week accused Beijing of persecuting Tibetan Buddhists, Uygur Muslims and Christians outside state-sanctioned churches.
"During the period covered by this report, officials continued to scrutinise and, in some cases, harass unregistered religious and spiritual groups," the State Department said.
Beijing expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with and "firm opposition" to the report, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said yesterday.
"Respecting and protecting citizens' right to worship freely is a long-standing, fundamental policy of the Chinese government. It is a fact that cannot be denied," Ms Jiang said.
"We demand the US side stop interfering in China's internal affairs and do more things that help boost mutual understanding and trust."
While the US report listed cases of abuse, it also noted some "improvements" in Beijing's respect for religious freedom as the government emphasised the role of religion in promoting a "harmonious society".

Vatican approval for new bishop (SCMP)
Ambrose Leung
Sep 20, 2007
The Vatican has given its approval for the ordination of Father Joseph Li Shan as bishop of Beijing, after a last-minute effort to ensure the mainland's selected priest gained recognition by the Holy See.
The approval came as Catholics in the capital prepared for a Mass tomorrow at which Father Li will become the first mutually recognised bishop in Beijing in almost 50 years.
Last night, church sources confirmed that the Vatican had given its approval, although officials from the Holy See have made no announcement of the decision.
It has brought relief to church members, who had been concerned that the ordination could be considered "illicit" by the Vatican - as were three cases last year - if papal approval could not be granted in time.
Father Li, who is known as a down-to-earth priest with strong pastoral experience in the diocese, was named bishop-elect by Beijing in July. However, the Vatican had difficulty contacting him, which was a condition for the approval process to proceed.
Last night, Anthony Liu Bainian , a vice-chairman of the state-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which controls the mainland's church, said he had heard about the Vatican's decision. But he stressed that there had been no official contact between Beijing and the Holy See due to a lack of diplomatic relations. He added that the Holy See's recognition of Father Li's status was a gesture of goodwill.
"I am sure this will be beneficial to improving Sino-Vatican relations," Mr Liu added.
The Union of Catholic Asian News agency reported that several mainland bishops were invited to participate in the ordination Mass, with Bishop Fang Xingyao of Linyi as principal celebrant.
The episcopal see of Beijing is considered important and politically sensitive. The position was left vacant after the death of Michael Fu Tieshan earlier this year, a cleric who was unilaterally ordained by Beijing in 1979 without Vatican approval.
 
Vatican to pursue Beijing ties (FT)
By Guy Dinmore in Rome
Published: September 12 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 12 2007 03:00
The death in Chinese custody, and hurried secular funeral, of a Roman Catholic bishop who was operating "underground" in the country have cast a shadow over efforts by Pope Benedict XVI to normalise relations between the Vatican and China.
However, observers said that in spite of the crude treatment of Bishop Han Dingxiang at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the trend towards closer ties between the Vatican and China - one of the pope's diplomatic priorities - appears set to continue.
Bishop Han Dingxiang of Yongnian in Hebei province, who spent a total of 35 years in prison, died on Sunday, aged 71, a Vatican source confirmed. He had been ill with lung cancer and had spent the last eight years in custody.
However, in a further sign of rapprochement between China's officially recognised Catholic church and the Vatican, a new bishop was ordained on Saturday in Guiyang in southern China by the state organisation with the approval of the Vatican.
AsiaNews, which is affiliated to the Vatican, reported that bishops and priests from the underground church, knowing of the Vatican's approval, decided to participate with the official church in the ordination of Paolo Xiao Zejiang. This was possibly the first joint celebration and marked an important step in reconciliation as requested by the pope in his landmark letter of June 30 to the Chinese people, AsiaNews said. The letter urged the underground faithful and followers of the state-run church to overcome decades of animosity and distrust.
The Vatican's insistence on its right to appoint bishops is one of the most significant obstacles preventing restoration of the relations severed by the Chinese Communist party in 1951.
The US-based Cardinal Kung Foundation, which has close ties to China's "underground" Roman Catholic movement, said Chinese authorities hurriedly summoned a few close relatives to Bishop Han's bedside in the hours before his death.
He was cremated and his ashes buried within six hours of his death in a public cemetery with no priests present. The Foundation says four underground bishops remain in prison.
Liu Bainian, the conservative head of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association which risks losing authority and wealth through reconciliation, last week accused the Vatican of wanting to impose anti-communist bishops. He said China should accelerate the appointment of new bishops to meet a serious shortage in the country.

China Says Vatican Trying To Appoint Anti-Communist Bishops (WSJ)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
September 5, 2007 11:32 p.m.
BEIJING (AP)--The Vatican is pushing to get anti-communist bishops appointed on the mainland, a senior official in China's state-sanctioned Catholic Church said in comments published Thursday.
Pope Benedict XVI has been reaching out to Beijing, eager to bring China's estimated 12 million Catholics under Rome's wing. But the two sides have been at loggerheads over the Vatican's insistence on naming bishops.
"While Chinese Catholics want to select those (bishops) with good religious knowledge and love toward the country and the people, the Vatican wants those who oppose the Communist Party (of China)," Liu Bainian was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper.
No specific examples of Vatican bishop choices were mentioned. The two sides have no formal ties but are believed to quietly confer on some bishop choices.
Liu told the paper the dispute over the bishop selection process remained the key obstacle to improving Sino-Vatican relations.
China wants to speed up the bishop selection and ordination process because many of the country's current bishops are elderly and 40 of the country's 97 official Catholic diocese have no bishop, Liu said.
"We are in dire need of bishops," Liu was quoted as saying.
China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power. Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches, which recognize the Pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.
Millions of Chinese belong to unofficial congregations that are not registered with the authorities.
China has said before it also wants the Vatican to cut ties with Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing considers part of its territory.

Bishop Of Underground Chinese Catholic Church Detained (WSJ)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
August 23, 2007 4:02 a.m.

BEIJING (AP)--An elderly bishop in China's underground Catholic church has been detained by police for the second time this year, a U.S.-based monitoring group said Thursday.

Bishop Jia Zhiguo, 73, was taken away Thursday by security agents in Zhengding, a city in northern Hebei province, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement.

It wasn't immediately clear why he was detained, the group said.

A woman from Zhengding Public Security Bureau, who refused to give her name, said she wasn't aware of the case. The phone of Zhengding Religious Affairs Bureau rang unanswered.

China broke ties with the Vatican in 1951 and demands that Catholics worship only in government-controlled churches, which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.
Millions remain loyal to the pope and worship in secret, but priests and members of their congregations are frequently detained and harassed.

In June, Pope Benedict XVI made his most significant attempt to unite China's Catholics, issuing a letter urging the underground faithful and followers of the state-run church to overcome decades of animosity and distrust.
The foundation said that since the release of the letter, Jia was told several times by the religious affairs bureau that he wasn't allowed to publicly support and promulgate the letter.

It said more police had been watching Jia in the last five days and that anyone visiting him was questioned.
The statement said the action "by the Chinese government is not only contrary to the spirit of the China letter issued by the Pope almost two months ago, but also contrary to the generally accepted principles of human rights and to the spirits of the Olympic games."

Jia, who was ordained in 1980, has been detained at least 11 times since January 2004, according to the Kung Foundation. The most recent time was in June, but it isn't known for how long he was detained.
Jia's Zhengding diocese, 240 kilometers southwest of Beijing in Hebei, is a traditional stronghold of Catholic sentiment in northern China.

The rights group said a priest, Father Wen Daoxiu, of Qingyuan County in Hebei, was also detained on Aug. 15 for unknown reasons.

It said Wen, in his mid-50s, was in poor health.

A man named Li who answered the phone at the Qingyuan Public Security Bureau and another official surnamed Zhao from the Qingyuan Religious Bureau said they weren't aware of Wen's case. Both refused to give their full names.
The Cardinal Kung Foundation is named for the late Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pinmei of Shanghai, who spent 30 years in Chinese prisons and died in the U.S. in 2000 at age 98.

Report:Bishop Of Underground Chinese Catholic Church Detained (WSJ)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
August 23, 2007 4:02 a.m.
BEIJING (AP)--An elderly bishop in China's underground Catholic church has been detained by police for the second time this year, a U.S.-based monitoring group said Thursday.
Bishop Jia Zhiguo, 73, was taken away Thursday by security agents in Zhengding, a city in northern Hebei province, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement.
It wasn't immediately clear why he was detained, the group said.
A woman from Zhengding Public Security Bureau, who refused to give her name, said she wasn't aware of the case. The phone of Zhengding Religious Affairs Bureau rang unanswered.
China broke ties with the Vatican in 1951 and demands that Catholics worship only in government-controlled churches, which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.
Millions remain loyal to the pope and worship in secret, but priests and members of their congregations are frequently detained and harassed.
In June, Pope Benedict XVI made his most significant attempt to unite China's Catholics, issuing a letter urging the underground faithful and followers of the state-run church to overcome decades of animosity and distrust.
The foundation said that since the release of the letter, Jia was told several times by the religious affairs bureau that he wasn't allowed to publicly support and promulgate the letter.
It said more police had been watching Jia in the last five days and that anyone visiting him was questioned.
The statement said the action "by the Chinese government is not only contrary to the spirit of the China letter issued by the Pope almost two months ago, but also contrary to the generally accepted principles of human rights and to the spirits of the Olympic games."
Jia, who was ordained in 1980, has been detained at least 11 times since January 2004, according to the Kung Foundation. The most recent time was in June, but it isn't known for how long he was detained.
Jia's Zhengding diocese, 240 kilometers southwest of Beijing in Hebei, is a traditional stronghold of Catholic sentiment in northern China.
The rights group said a priest, Father Wen Daoxiu, of Qingyuan County in Hebei, was also detained on Aug. 15 for unknown reasons.
It said Wen, in his mid-50s, was in poor health.
A man named Li who answered the phone at the Qingyuan Public Security Bureau and another official surnamed Zhao from the Qingyuan Religious Bureau said they weren't aware of Wen's case. Both refused to give their full names.
The Cardinal Kung Foundation is named for the late Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pinmei of Shanghai, who spent 30 years in Chinese prisons and died in the U.S. in 2000 at age 98.

China and its Catholics
Cardinal principles (The Economist)
Jul 5th 2007 | BEIJING AND HONG KONG
From The Economist print edition

An historic chance of reconciliation with Catholics, if not democrats

IF THEY were seeking to justify their deep suspicion of Catholics, Chinese officials would have felt vindicated. On July 1st tens of thousands of Hong Kong citizens chose to mark their first decade under Chinese rule by marching through the streets to demand more democracy. Among them was Hong Kong's top Catholic, Cardinal Joseph Zen. But once easily riled, China is learning to swallow its anger.

So too are some of its critics. Pope Benedict, whose church has long upbraided China for its suppression of religious freedom, is now trying to make friends. In a rare and lengthy letter to Catholics in China last week the pope wrote in conciliatory terms about China's state-controlled Catholic church and bishops in it who have been appointed without the Vatican's approval. He also stressed that the church in China had no mission to change the country politically.

Ten years ago, when the British left Hong Kong, many Chinese officials expressed fears that pro-democracy politicians would plunge the territory into turmoil. They worried that they would also step up pressure on the Communist Party to change its dictatorial ways. But much has changed. After ten years of rapid economic growth, and with little social unrest, the party today seems less plagued by thoughts of its possible sudden demise.
There were far fewer pro-democracy marchers this year than in 2003, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets on July 1st in what has since become an annual ritual. The Hong Kong Transition Project, an academic group studying the impact of China's takeover, believes China's image has improved. In a survey in April it found nearly 70% of 800 respondents were satisfied with China's management of Hong Kong's affairs. Just before the British withdrawal, only 45% thought China was handling things well.

The demonstration was part of a well- oiled series of events marking the ten-year anniversary that day. As dragon-dancers and marching bands wound up their street celebrations, the democrats began their protest. They stuck to an authorised route finishing outside the Hong Kong government's headquarters. Few in Hong Kong believe the local authorities have much say in the territory's political development. But mainstream democrats diplomatically refrain from protesting outside the central government's local offices.

Such restraint allowed China's president, Hu Jintao, three days in Hong Kong largely untroubled by signs of dissent-he left just before the march. Mr Hu's duties included swearing in Donald Tsang, knighted by the British and a devout Catholic, for another five years as Hong Kong's chief executive. Also sworn in, as the new financial secretary, was John Tsang (no relation), a former private secretary to Hong Kong's last British governor, Chris Patten. Ten years ago China was nervous about giving top jobs to those with colonial links. Now it is far less concerned. Among those deployed to marshal the demonstration was a sprinkling of British officers.

Cardinal Zen's participation was condemned by a senior official from China's state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. The official, Liu Bainian, was quoted by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post as asking how the Vatican could win China's trust if it appointed people like the cardinal.
China's response to the pope's letter has been muted, which Cardinal Zen sees as a good sign. In fact, China may well be quietly pleased. One of the letter's aims was to discourage Catholics in China from shunning the state-sponsored church. This was established in 1957, six years after China severed ties with the Vatican and expelled foreign priests. Many local priests were imprisoned. Several are still in jail because of their opposition to the government church. China says it now has about 5m Catholics, but there are believed to be many millions more who worship in "underground" churches with priests not recognised by the state. The pope's letter said Catholics could worship in state churches, even if their priests had no links with the pope, if finding Vatican-approved clergy caused "grave inconvenience".
One of the main obstacles to improved relations between China and the Vatican has been the Vatican's insistence that it appoint bishops. China objects, fearful of losing control of the church. But there are signs of a possible compromise. In recent years it has often allowed names to be submitted to the pope in advance for his secret approval before its "official" ordination takes place. Last year, however, China made three appointments without Vatican clearance. Many believed this was partly prompted by Pope Benedict's decision to make Joseph Zen a cardinal in February 2006. Cardinal Zen, who dismisses any link with his appointment, described the ordinations as "acts of war".

The pope's letter was more tactful. It said some bishops who had been ordained under pressure without the Vatican's approval had subsequently asked for the pope's acknowledgement. He said he had granted this, taking into account "the sincerity of their sentiments and the complexity of the situation". The letter said the "very small number" of bishops who had not asked for or received the pope's blessing were "illegitimate". But they were still considered "validly ordained" as long as it was by validly ordained bishops.

Taiwan vaut bien une messe

China has strong motives to work out a deal. A rapprochement with the Vatican would do a lot to improve its human-rights image in the West. It would also deal a huge diplomatic blow to Taiwan. Last month Costa Rica switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, leaving Taiwan with just 24 states that still officially recognise it. The Vatican is by far the most influential of them.

For all Cardinal Zen's misgivings, China is not in a pugnacious mood. As it prepares to host the Olympic Games in Beijing next year, it is anxious to project a softer image. In Hong Kong Mr Hu, normally stiff and uncharismatic, briefly played table-tennis with a 13-year-old in front of television cameras.

China has railed against a proposal by Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, to hold a referendum next year on whether Taiwan should apply to join the UN under the name Taiwan instead of the island's official title, the Republic of China. (To China, this sounds too much like a cutting of links with the mainland.) But so, in more diplomatic terms, have the Americans, who have much to lose if the Chinese get truly angry. For now, they are not.
 

Vatican Letter Tries to Bridge Chinese Divide (WSJ)
By ANDREW BATSON
July 2, 2007

BEIJING -- Pope Benedict XVI published an open letter to Chinese Catholics that seeks to resolve decades of rancorous division among the nation's believers and to speed the restoration of official ties between the Vatican and Beijing.

In his most significant statement on China since becoming the head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, Pope Benedict reached out to Chinese officials long suspicious of Catholicism. He said the church doesn't aim to challenge the Chinese government's authority, and he praised China's ancient civilization and recent progress. While calling for greater religious freedom, he said the Vatican is open to negotiations and believes an agreement for restoring relations with China is possible.

"This situation of misunderstandings and incomprehension weighs heavily, serving the interests of neither the Chinese authorities nor the Catholic Church in China," Pope Benedict wrote in the letter, dated May 27 and made public Saturday.

The letter marks the culmination of Vatican efforts in recent years to heal a decades-old rift that has hindered the growth of Catholicism in China. The Vatican and China haven't had formal ties since the 1950s, when the officially atheist Communist Party expelled foreign priests and placed Catholics under the direction of a state-sponsored organization. That official repression has led China's estimated 12 million Catholics into an often-bitter split between those who accept government supervision and those who reject it. Many Catholics worry that those internal divisions, and the uncertainty over relations with the Vatican, have handicapped the church's ability respond to a growing interest in religion in China.

Catholics are heavily outnumbered in China by various Protestant denominations, which have expanded rapidly. Pope Benedict seemed to share that assessment, calling such splits "a weakness in the church that causes concern."

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry said officials were aware of the letter, but didn't comment on its contents. China is "willing to continue frank and constructive dialogue with the Vatican in order to seek a solution to the two sides' differences," the spokesman, Qin Gang, said in a statement.

The pope's letter, addressed to individual believers and clergy, urged Chinese Catholics to put aside past grievances and focus on their shared faith. He praised adherents of underground churches, who have often been harassed and imprisoned in China.
 

Pope to mend relations with Beijing (FT)
By Robin Kwong in Hong Kong
Published: July 1 2007 16:22 | Last updated: July 1 2007 16:22

Pope Benedict XVI has expressed confidence that the Vatican and China can resolve their differences over bishop appointments, one of the long-standing barriers to normalisation of relations between the two.

The Pope extended the olive branch in a letter issued at the weekend. In the first official papal letter addressed to all Chinese Catholics in 49 years, he also renewed calls for "respectful and constructive" dialogue between the Holy See and Beijing, which have not had official diplomatic relations since 1951.

China's 11m Catholics are courted by both "underground" churches loyal to Rome and state churches operating under the auspices of the Catholic Patriotic Association. Unilateral bishop appointments, which China resumed in 2006 after a six-year hiatus, exacerbated tensions between the world's most populous nation and the Vatican, which claims a global following of 1.1bn Catholics.

According to an informal arrangement dating back to 2000, the Holy See was given time to review and tacitly endorse bishopric candidates before their anointment by the CPA. But that truce was broken last year when Beijing ordained two of its own bishops. China appeared to be reacting to Pope Benedict's elevation of Hong Kong bishop Joseph Zen, an outspoken advocate for democracy and religious freedom, to cardinal.

In his letter, Pope Benedict maintained that the right to appoint bishops was "a constitutive element of the full exercise of the right to religious freedom", but hoped an agreement could be reached regarding choice of candidates, the publication of bishop appointments and the government's recognition of new bishops.
He gave individual bishops in China's underground churches the right to decide whether they should seek formal recognition from Beijing ? provided church principles were observed.

The Pope also issued new directives allowing Catholics to attend mass celebrated by "illegitimate", or state-appointed, bishops.
China's foreign ministry reiterated that diplomatic ties cannot be resumed unless the Vatican ceases its recognition of Taiwan and forswears "interference" in China's internal affairs.
Liu Bainan, the hardline vice-chairman of the CPA, said the official church would continue unilaterally appointing bishops until Sino-Vatican relationships were normalised.
 
 

Benoît XVI défend ses ouailles en Chine (Libération)
Pékin critique les accusations portées par le pape sur la liberté de culte. Par P.N. (avec AFP, Reuters)

QUOTIDIEN : lundi 2 juillet 2007

La Chine est un pays officiellement athée, et le Vatican n'a pas à s'immiscer dans ses affaires intérieures au nom de la religion, rappellent les autorités de Pékin à Benoît XVI. Dans une longue lettre envoyée samedi aux catholiques chinois, le pape a critiqué les restrictions exercées par le pouvoir chinois sur la liberté de culte, qui «étouffent l'activité pastorale»  et sèment la division parmi les fidèles, réclamant «une authentique liberté religieuse».

«Réaliste».  «S'il est prêt à améliorer les relations avec la Chine, le Vatican doit agir plutôt que de créer de nouveaux obstacles»,  a répliqué dans un communiqué très court le ministère des Affaires étrangères, rappelant son leitmotiv : «Le Vatican doit interrompre ses prétendues relations diplomatiques avec Taiwan et reconnaître que la République populaire de Chine est le seul gouvernement».  Une attitude «réaliste»,  selon Pékin. Benoît XVI, qui souhaite «une normalisation»,  a pourtant mis les formes, dans sa lettre publiée en mandarin sur le site du Vatican et surtout destinée aux 8 à 12 millions de pratiquants chinois : «Il est vrai que, ces dernières années, l'Eglise jouit en regard du passé d'une plus grande liberté», «le Saint-Siège demeure ouvert aux négociations qui sont nécessaires pour dépasser le difficile moment présent»,  ajoute-t-il, «mais on ne peut nier que demeurent de graves limitations qui touchent le cÏur de la foi». «Je suis conscient que la normalisation demande du temps et qu'elle présuppose la bonne volonté des deux parties»,  dit aussi Benoît XVI, qui a raison sur ce point.

Durcissement. L'histoire est déjà longue entre les deux Etats. En 1951, le Vatican a reconnu Taiwan, où s'était enfui le nonce apostolique. Le gouvernement de Pékin, obsédé par le retour de l'île rebelle dans la «mère patrie»,  a alors obligé les -catholiques à couper tout lien avec le Saint-Siège, et a cessé ses relations diplomatiques. Depuis 1957, les fidèles ne sont autorisés à pratiquer qu'au sein de l'Association -catholique patriotique de Chine, entièrement contrôlée par l'Etat communiste. Persécutés -durant la Révolution culturelle, ils ont profité des -années 80 pour se réorganiser, certains dans le giron de l'Eglise -patriotique. Les autres, 30 à 40 % selon le -Vatican, ont créé des Eglises -clandestines, qui sont plus ou moins tolérées aujourd'hui en Chine.

Il y aurait 130 diocèses, 80 évêques officiels en Chine, dont 90 % sont reconnus par -Rome, selon les spécialistes. Le principal écueil, pour des -relations normalisées, reste la nomination des évêques, dont Pékin veut garder la prérogative. En 2006, l'ordination de trois évêques de l'Eglise -patriotique sans l'accord du Vatican a provoqué un durcissement très net. Après deux millénaires européens et américains fastes pour les catholiques, le pape espère que le troisième sera asiatique : « Une grande moisson de foi sera recueillie dans le vaste et vivant continent asiatique»,  écrit-il dans sa lettre aux Chinois. Cela ne semble pas entrer dans les projets immédiats de -Pékin.
http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/monde/264649.FR.php
© Libération
 

Guiding China's Catholics (WSJ)
July 3, 2007

The Vatican released a pastoral letter from Pope Benedict XVI to China's Catholics on Saturday, and its major theme was, as expected, reconciliation. Most commentators will focus on what that means for diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China. But the Pope's more important advice is aimed squarely inside the Chinese Church itself.

Since the Party expelled the Vatican's representative in 1951, many Catholics in China have worshipped in underground churches. They had good reason to do so; as it did to other religious groups, the Party unleashed waves of terror onto the Catholic community that exists to this day. The Communists then set up their own, state-run churches -- no small irony for a godless ideology.

The situation created a conundrum for the Catholic faithful: Should they worship underground, at personal risk, or above ground, at a church not recognized by the Vatican? Many parishioners view the state-run churches as heretical; others didn't believe underground bishops who claimed to be recognized by the Vatican -- as most are. The Vatican further confused matters by maintaining that Beijing-ordained priests could give communion in some circumstances.

Enter Pope Benedict. China's bishops, he writes, can pursue reconciliation with the state-run church so long as it's safe to do so and they can maintain their devotion to the Vatican. "The clandestine condition," he writes, "is not a normal feature of the Church's life." And, "especially where there is little room for freedom . . . to evaluate the morality of an act it is necessary to devote particular care to establishing the real intentions of the persons concerned."

Benedict's letter may upset Chinese Catholics who have suffered at the hand of the Party. It might also distress those in the Vatican who would prefer to take a harder line, insisting that China ease religious curbs before the Vatican strikes a softer note. In any event, the Pope is stepping out on a limb, as his advice to underground bishops to come out in the open may encourage the Party to crack down harder on those who remain in hiding.

Still, the Pope's broader message carries a nugget of advice for China's Communist policy makers, too. After all, how moral are the Party's intentions toward its faithful? And how will those policy makers be judged?
 
 

Le ton monte entre le pape et la Chine (le Figaro)
L.S. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP.
 Publié le 30 juin 2007
Actualisé le 30 juin 2007 : 14h58

Pékin oppose une fin de non-recevoir aux demandes de Benoît XVI sur la liberté religieuse.

« Il faudra du temps et de la bonne volonté des deux parties pour parvenir à la normalisation des relations avec la République populaire de Chine », avait prévenu Benoît XVI, en adressant une lettre à la Chine et aux Chinois. Le pape ne se trompait pas, mais Pékin ne semble pas disposé, à l'heure actuelle, à afficher sa « bonne volonté ». En guise de réponse, la Chine a en effet a appelé le Vatican à adopter une « attitude réaliste », à ne pas créer de « nouveaux obstacles » à l'amélioration des relations bilatérales, et à « ne pas s'ingérer dans les affaires intérieures de la Chine au nom du catholicisme », selon un communiqué du ministère chinois des Affaires étrangères.

Dans sa lettre rendue publique samedi, le pape demandait à la Chine « le respect d'une authentique liberté religieuse » et rejetait l'idée d'une Eglise soumise aux autorités chinoises et indépendante du Vatican.

Le Saint-Siège et la Chine n'entretiennent plus de relations diplomatiques depuis 1951 et la reconnaissance de Taïwan par le Vatican. La Chine a rappelé dans son communiqué les deux conditions du rétablissement de ces relations : la rupture des relations diplomatiques entre le Vatican et Taïwan, que la Chine considère comme une province, ainsi que le pouvoir de nommer les membres du clergé. Le souverain pontife indique de son côté ne reconnaître aucune légitimité au collège des évêques catholiques de Chine constitué sous l'autorité du pouvoir politique, ni à « l'association patriotique » qui contrôle l'Eglise officielle, et réclame de pouvoir nommer seul les évêques chinois
 

Le pape veut renouer le dialogue avec la Chine, mais exige la liberté totale des catholiques(le Monde)
LE MONDE | 02.07.07 | 14h50  ¥  Mis à jour le 02.07.07 | 14h51

Renouer le dialogue avec la Chine est l'une des grandes ambitions de Benoît XVI. Depuis la rupture de 1951, un pape a publié pour la première fois, samedi 30 juin, un document complet, précis, sans langue de bois, pour signifier à la Chine sa volonté de dialogue, en maintenant toutes ses exigences. Les catholiques de Chine sont un "petit troupeau" (8 à 12 millions), exemplaire par sa "fidélité", témoin d'une foi "persécutée", écrit le pape, mais sa "normalisation" serait un pas de géant pour les libertés.

Indépendance par rapport à l'Etat, unité des fidèles et du clergé dans une seule Eglise, liberté de nomination des évêques : tels sont les trois messages que le pape a adressés à Pékin.
Concernant l'indépendance, l'Eglise en Chine ne réclame "aucun privilège". Elle n'a d'autre ambition qu'un "service humble et désintéressé" de toute la population. Les catholiques se conduisent comme "de bons citoyens, des collaborateurs respectueux et actifs du bien commun". En contrepartie, ils exigent un exercice totalement libre de leur religion.
Le pape admet qu'"au regard du passé, l'Eglise de Chine jouit d'une plus grande liberté". Mais il ajoute que "de graves limitations touchent le coeur de la foi" et "étouffent" encore l'activité des croyants. Il ne veut plus de la situation de "conflit permanent", sans pour autant tomber dans la "complaisance". Jamais un pape n'avait établi aussi fermement l'agenda de reprise d'un dialogue.

Le deuxième message est celui de la réunification d'une Eglise coupée en deux depuis la Révolution chinoise : d'une part, les catholiques "officiels", dépendant de l'Association patriotique créée il y a cinquante ans - organisme étatique de direction et de surveillance du clergé et des fidèles - ; d'autre part, les catholiques "clandestins". Benoît XVI dénonce "la prétention de ces organismes imposés, voulus par l'Etat, de se placer au-dessus des évêques et de vouloir guider la vie de l'Eglise". Pour lui, l'Association patriotique est une anomalie, de même que le "Collège des évêques catholiques de Chine", qui ne peut pas se prévaloir du statut d'une Conférence épiscopale.

DES ÉVÊQUES LIBREMENT NOMMÉS

Le pape lance donc un appel à l'unité des fidèles et du clergé chinois au sein d'une seule Eglise indépendante de l'Etat, libre de sa direction et de ses relations avec l'Eglise universelle, symbolisée par le pape à Rome. "La clandestinité ne rentre pas dans la normalité de la vie de l'Eglise", insiste-t-il. Les actuels prêtres et évêques clandestins doivent être reconnus sans tarder par les autorités civiles.
Reste l'irritante question de la nomination des évêques, soit le contrôle à la base des communautés, prétexte à des démêlés réguliers. La plupart des évêques "officiels" sont nommés par les autorités et leur situation est régularisée a posteriori par Rome au cas par cas. Pékin n'entend pas renoncer à cette prérogative qui, pour le pape, est intolérable. C'est à lui qu'il appartient de nommer les évêques (4 500 dans le monde), afin de garantir l'unité de direction de son Eglise. Tout contrevenant s'expose à des sanctions.

Pékin accuse le Vatican d'ingérence dans les affaires chinoises. Benoît XVI répond qu'il n'a aucune intention de "léser la souveraineté" de la Chine. Des nominations d'évêque ont pu se faire récemment d'un commun accord entre Pékin et la diplomatie vaticane. Mais l'ordination de trois d'entre eux en 2006, sans l'accord préalable de Rome, a provoqué un rude conflit. Le pape rêve d'une "liberté totale" de nomination des évêques chinois, d'un accord définitif pour résoudre les contentieux liés au choix des candidats, à la publication de leur nom, à leur reconnaissance. Il y a urgence. La Chine compte 148 diocèses : 49 évêques sont morts depuis 2000 et les deux tiers ont plus de 80 ans !

Cette lettre de Benoît XVI avait été d'abord soumise aux dirigeants chinois. La première réaction du ministère des affaires étrangères n'augure pas d'un changement d'attitude. Elle rappelle les deux conditions que pose Pékin à tout rétablissement des relations : la rupture du Vatican avec Taïwan (Pékin sait que le Vatican n'y fait plus obstacle) et sa souveraineté sur les nominations. Un an avant les Jeux olympiques, le ton ouvert de cette lettre est pourtant une chance inespérée de reprise d'un dialogue.

Henri Tincq  Article paru dans l'édition du 03.07.07
 

Benoît XVI demande à Pékin de garantir aux citoyens catholiques le plein exercice de leur foi (le Monde)
LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | 30.06.07 | 14h12  ¥  Mis à jour le 30.06.07 | 14h17

Dans une lettre au clergé et aux catholiques de Chine publiée samedi 30 juin, le pape Benoît XVI demande à Pékin "le respect d'une authentique liberté religieuse" et rejette l'idée d'une Eglise soumise aux autorités chinoises et indépendante du Vatican.

Cette lettre du pape était attendue depuis le 20 janvier, quand s'était tenue au Vatican une réunion sur la situation de l'Eglise en Chine, où vivent 8 à 14 millions de catholiques. Le Saint-Siège et la Chine n'entretiennent plus de relations diplomatiques depuis 1951 et la reconnaissance de Taïwan par le Vatican. La rupture entre les deux Etats s'est encore aggravée en juillet 1957 avec la création sur le continent d'une Eglise catholique patriotique ("Association catholique patriotique de Chine"). Les persécutions de la Révolution culturelle visant tous les croyants aggraveront encore la situation. Avec les années 1980, et début de l'ouverture et des réformes économiques, les catholiques de l'Eglise clandestine se renforcent et un début de normalisation des rapports entre les deux églises prend forme.

"DU TEMPS ET DE LA BONNE VOLONTÉ"

Dans sa lettre, le pape adresse des signes de bonne volonté au pouvoir chinois, demandant aux fidèles d'être "de bons citoyens, des collaborateurs respectueux et actifs en faveur du bien commun de leur pays".  En contrepartie, il appelle l'Etat chinois à "garantir à ces mêmes citoyens catholiques le plein exercice de leur foi, dans le respect d'une authentique liberté religieuse". Benoît XVI demande ainsi à Pékin la liberté de nommer les évêques et souligne que l'idée "d'une Eglise indépendante" du Vatican "est incompatible avec la doctrine catholique".
En ce sens, Benoît XVI ne reconnaît aucune légitimité au collège des évêques catholiques de Chine constitué sous l'autorité du pouvoir politique, ni à "l'association patriotique" qui contrôle l'Eglise officielle. "La prétention de certains organismes, voulus par l'Etat et étrangers à la structure de l'Eglise, de se placer au-dessus des évêques et de guider la vie de la communauté, ne correspond pas à la doctrine de l'Eglise", répète-t-il.

"Ouvert aux négociations", le pape souhaite cependant "que l'on trouve un accord avec le gouvernement pour résoudre certaines questions concernant soit le choix des candidats à l'épiscopat".  Réaliste, le souverain pontife souligne cependant qu'il faudra "du temps et de la bonne volonté des deux parties" pour parvenir à "la normalisation des relations avec la République populaire de Chine".
 

Wednesday, 27 June 2007 (11 hours ago)
BosNewsLife News Center
NEWS ALERT: China Detains Eight House Church Leaders in Shandong and Shaanxi Provinces (in the Economist)

BEIJING, CHINA (BosNewsLife)-- Eight Chinese 'house church' leaders from China's Shaanxi and Shandong provinces remained detained and faced the prospect of serving time in labor camps Wednesday, June 27, after a police crackdown on Bible distribution and worship services, rights watchers and fellow Christians said.
 

Shanghai Bishop Hopeful For Vatican-China Progress (WSJ)
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
June 11, 2007 9:29 p.m.

ROME (AP)--The government-backed Catholic bishop of Shanghai says he hopes the Vatican and China can restore ties, but warns that reconciling believers from the official and underground churches won't be easy.

In an interview with the Italian religious affairs magazine 30 Days, Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian said the faithful from China's official church were eagerly awaiting an upcoming letter from Pope Benedict XVI on the state of the Catholic church in China.
But the faithful in the underground church were worried, he was quoted as saying.

"They underground faithful cannot help but have some concerns, or the fear of being repudiated," he said, according to the magazine.

China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheist Communist Party took power. Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches, which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader but appoint their own priests and bishops.

Millions of Chinese, however, belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome. Many unofficial congregations hold services openly, but in some regions they are routinely harassed and their priests and bishops arrested.

Benedict has been reaching out to Beijing, eager to bring China's estimated 12 million Catholics under Rome's wing. But the two sides have been at loggerheads over the Vatican's insistence on naming bishops.

In a landmark move, the Vatican and the Chinese government agreed on the nomination of Jin's auxiliary bishop, Joseph Xing Wenzhi, who was consecrated in 2005. But not even that nomination has gone over smoothly with the underground faithful, Jin said.
"We had at first hoped that the underground faithful would recognize him, because he was nominated by Rome. But reality isn't so simple," Jin was quoted as saying.

Many Catholics in Shanghai reject the authority of Jin and others in the official Church. They regard another elderly priest in the underground church, Joseph Fan Zhongliang, as Shanghai's true bishop.

"Reconciliation and the return of unity of the registered and non-registered community will find great difficulties," Jin reportedly said.

Jin, 91, said he was hoping Rome would name Xing coadjutor bishop of Shanghai and make him his successor. "I truly hope that his consecration becomes a model," he said, according to the magazine
Jin said he hoped the Beijing government would understand the Vatican's insistence on naming bishops, and said the pending nomination of Beijing's new bishop would be something to watch.
Beijing Bishop Fu Tieshan of the official church died April 20.
"I hope that the Holy See and the Chinese government will develop good contacts to avoid unnecessary problems" in naming Fu's successor, Jin was quoted as saying.

Jin acknowledged that some officials of the official Patriotic Association were opposed to any restarting of ties between the official church and the Vatican.

"But I personally believe that the Patriotic Association cannot intervene in China's political decisions. All we need is some high-level political official to decide to relauch relations with the Vatican, and the Patriotic Association won't have the ability to create obstacles," he was quoted as saying.
 

Chinese priests in property dispute return home
The Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/12/26/chinese_priests_in_property_dispute_return_home/
By Ben Blanchard and Chris Buckley | December 26, 2005

BEIJING (Reuters) - A group of Chinese Catholic priests and nuns locked in a property dispute with a city government went home over the weekend, but another group of nuns remain holed up in a historic chapel demanding that its ownership be returned to the Church.

Nuns belonging to the Sisters of Charity have occupied the abandoned chapel in the northern port city of Tianjin since August, demanding the building be returned to their hands, one of the nuns, who gave her surname as Liu, said on Monday.

It is the second land dispute in Tianjin between the city government and the Catholic Church, highlighting the tensions between religion and government control in China, even as Beijing courts diplomatic ties with the Vatican.

The priests and nuns are all members of China's official Catholic Church, which respects the Pope as a spiritual leader but rejects his administrative authority.

Liu said the chapel has "historic significance" for her order. In 1870, the building, an adjoining orphanage and nunnery, as well as other Tianjin churches were burned down in anti-Western riots, and 10 nuns were killed.

In 1903 the chapel was rebuilt and it remained in Church hands until after the Communist takeover in 1949. In later decades the chapel disappeared behind new buildings and the nuns, who regrouped in 1980, assumed it was destroyed.

But in 2003 the demolition of a handkerchief factory revealed the chapel had survived, and the nuns have since been demanding its return, Liu said.

About 10 nuns have occupied the chapel day and night since August, when developers moved to demolish it.

"If we didn't move in, they would have taken it away from us," said another nun, who asked not to be named. "The place means a lot to us, but officials have just ignored our requests for its return."

HEADING HOME

The other religious property protest in Tianjin petered out over the weekend when the last of a group that originally numbered almost 50 returned to their home province of Shanxi.

The mayor promised that if the remaining 13 priests, nuns and seminarians went home, he would deal with the dispute, one of the priests said.

"We've not given up our demand," the priest said by telephone from Shanxi. "But we had to give the mayor face. He said the deadlock could not go on as it would make the situation even harder to solve."

The low-rise, colonial-style building in the former Italian concession in Tianjin, southeast of Beijing, was owned by the Shanxi Catholics before the 1949 Communist revolution.

The building was then seized by the government and has never been handed back despite a 1993 promise to do so, the priest said.

"We believe that if the Tianjin government has given their word, it will be solved soon. We still want them to give the building back so we can manage it," he said, before the line was abruptly cut. He could not be reached again.

The Tianjin city government declined comment, but sent a fax of an article from the official Xinhua news agency dated December 23 on the dispute.

"The Tianjin government has a firm and clear policy on religious properties and the protection of the legal rights of religious groups," it quoted a spokesman from the State Bureau of Religious Affairs as saying.

Chinese police regularly harass members of the underground Roman Catholic Church, but generally leave religious services alone.

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 claims as its own.

Since China restored officially controlled religion in the 1980s, it has selectively returned confiscated land to Catholic churches. But in many places land remains in dispute.
 

Chrétiens en ombres chinoises (le Monde)
LE MONDE | 23.05.07 | 14h45  ¥  Mis à jour le 23.05.07 | 14h45
ENVOYÉ SPÉCIAL À FENGXIANG ET DANS LA PROVINCE DU HEBEI

Mgr Li Jinfeng est un drôle de paroissien : l'évêque de Fengxiang, gros bourg poussiéreux de la province du Shaanxi, fait partie de la mouvance catholique de l'Eglise clandestine chinoise et exerce illégalement son ministère tout en s'étant assuré du soutien bienveillant des responsables locaux du Parti communiste... Une situation singulière mais plus si inédite dans la Chine d'aujourd'hui : les rapports évoluent entre l'Etat et certains "résistants" d'une communauté de catholiques pour lesquels seule comptait autrefois l'autorité du Vatican.

L'évêque vit dans le petit presbytère situé derrière une église de style pour le moins baroque, sorte de monumentale pâtisserie architecturale que personne ne pourrait qualifier de clandestine. Elle domine de sa vingtaine de mètres une grande cour ouverte sur l'une des grandes rues de la ville. Plantée au coeur de Fengxiang, mais dépourvue de toute existence légale, l'église symbolise ces "zones grises" qui, en Chine, bousculent les lignes séparant l'interdit, l'autorisé et le toléré.

Les relations qu'entretient l'évêque avec les autorités sont le signe de changements intervenus entre les deux Eglises : l'officielle, dépendante du régime, non reconnue par Rome, et la souterraine, qui obéit au Vatican et résiste depuis des lustres au pouvoir chinois. Quatre millions de fidèles appartiennent à la première, entre cinq et neuf millions à la seconde. Monseigneur est un petit homme de 87 ans, bon pied, bon oeil malin derrière une grosse paire de lunettes. Il parle et lit le latin, a appris des rudiments d'italien et même de français en solitaire.

Son passé résume à lui seul les vies brisées des catholiques de Chine populaire. Arrêté en 1958, sept ans après la rupture des liens entre le Vatican et Pékin et alors que la répression s'était durcie contre les croyants de toutes religions, il sera, jusqu'à la fin de sa peine, en 1973, ballotté de prisons en camps de travail. Puis il est forcé d'intégrer une unité pour anciens détenus. Il devient mineur.

"J'ai réussi, grâce à Dieu, à traverser toutes ces épreuves sans trop de mal, observe-t-il aujourd'hui, assis dans son petit bureau croulant sous les livres. A la mine, j'étais gardien et l'on ne m'obligeait pas à descendre au fond du trou, même si je le faisais parfois pour gagner un peu d'argent supplémentaire."

Mgr Li retrouve la liberté en 1979. Son prédécesseur, malade, très âgé, lui demande de prendre la succession. Le 25 avril 1980, il est nommé évêque, dans la clandestinité absolue. "La bulle du pape en peau d'agneau annonçant ma nomination a été envoyée à Hongkong, car je ne pouvais directement la recevoir ici..."

Le prélat n'a jamais accepté d'adhérer à l'Association patriotique des catholiques, créée en 1982. Celle-ci rassemble les catholiques d'une Eglise aux ordres du pouvoir, qui nomme elle-même ses évêques le plus souvent au mépris du Saint-Siège. "Les envoyés de l'Association, qui connaissaient évidemment mon existence, m'ont demandé de les rejoindre à plusieurs reprises. J'ai toujours refusé, estimant qu'il ne m'était pas possible de devenir membre d'une organisation ne reconnaissant pas le Saint-Père..."

Mais, malgré sa résistance au "formatage", l'évêque a forgé "une très bonne relation avec les cadres locaux", selon son expression. Un modus vivendi qui lui permet de garantir la sécurité de ses 20 000 fidèles, de ses 40 prêtres - dont 10 étudient à l'étranger, l'un d'eux en France - et de ses 39 moines et religieuses. "Cette situation est un cas assez unique", admet-il.

Un jour, des cadres communistes sont venus le voir pour lui demander de coopérer avec le gouvernement. Après moult discussions et négociations, on a fini de part et d'autre par choisir le compromis, le refus d'une confrontation stérile. Après tout, Mgr Li est aussi le garant pour le pouvoir de la bonne conduite de ses fidèles... Des catholiques de l'Eglise souterraine sont venus le voir il y a quelque temps. Ils n'arrivaient pas à croire qu'il était encore membre de leur mouvance. "Je ne menace pas le pouvoir en portant la mitre et la crosse, dit-il avec malice. A l'exception des questions religieuses, je suis tout à fait d'accord avec les autorités !" Quel contraste pour le vieil évêque ! En novembre 2001, des policiers avaient fait irruption au presbytère, lui enjoignant "de prendre beaucoup de vêtements", l'arrêtant pour plusieurs semaines avant de lui conseiller vertement de suivre des "sessions de rééducation" !

La situation de Mgr Li est "inédite". Mais il n'est plus le seul à avoir choisi la voie du compromis, comme le prouvent plusieurs exemples de "collaboration" avec les autorités de la part de prélats autrefois clandestins. Ce nouveau type de relations a contribué à détendre l'atmosphère dans tout le district. Il suffit de sortir de Fengxiang pour s'en convaincre. Non loin de la ville, à environ une demi-heure de piste à travers les hauts plants de maïs, une église à deux clochers, construite en 1995, rompt la monotonie du paysage. Au bout, c'est le village de Wa Yaoutou, 400 âmes dont 300 catholiques.

"Nous n'avons aucun problème avec les autorités", explique M. Wang, un paysan dont le père et le grand-père étaient catholiques. Assis dans le minuscule salon de sa maison bâtie dans l'unique rue, au pied de l'église, il se félicite qu'en "cas d'éventuelles difficultés il suffit d'aller en parler à l'évêque". A quelques centaines de mètres de là, les religieuses "clandestines" d'un couvent tiennent un discours semblable. La Mère supérieure se souvient qu'"il y a trois ans des gens du gouvernement local sont venus nous demander de ne pas habiter ensemble. Ils venaient de découvrir qu'ici c'est un couvent ! Mais depuis deux ans, tout va bien. Des cadres du parti viennent même discuter tranquillement avec nous." A quelques dizaines de kilomètres de là, plus loin dans la campagne, dans un autre couvent de moines franciscains, les Frères admettent que leur situation de "clandestins" s'est considérablement améliorée. Le couvent s'organise autour d'un ensemble assez vaste de bâtiments, une grande chapelle, un réfectoire, une cuisine, des cellules monastiques, des salles de travail, un potager... tout ce qu'il faut pour garantir à la dizaine de reclus un certain degré d'autarcie.
1 | 2 | suivant
Bruno Philip
Article paru dans l'édition du 24.05.07.
 
 

Une explosion des religions sous étroite surveillance (le Monde)
LE MONDE | 23.05.07 | 14h45

Garantie par la Constitution depuis 1980, après la fin des années du maoïsme athée radical, la liberté de croyance en Chine suscite un grossissement continu des rangs de presque toutes les grandes religions.

Sous l'oeil sourcilleux d'un pouvoir qui a relâché son contrôle sur l'individu mais reste très attentif à l'émergence du fait religieux, le désir spirituel renaît. Mais le régime est autant soucieux d'instrumentaliser les religions à son bénéfice quand il exalte les "valeurs morales" que de se prémunir contre l'émergence incontrôlable de groupes religieux pouvant menacer le monopole du parti. Les chiffres officiels concernant le nombre de fidèles, toutes religions confondues, sont très inférieurs à la réalité. Un sondage récent, réalisé par l'Université normale de Shanghaï, fait état d'un total de 300 millions de croyants en République populaire, soit trois fois plus que les chiffres du régime...
De source officielle, il y aurait ainsi 5 millions de catholiques. En fait, si l'on y ajoute le nombre des croyants appartenant à l'Eglise clandestine, 11, voire 14 millions de Chinois seraient catholiques. Même chose pour les protestants. Officiellement, ils sont 16 millions. En réalité, les différentes sectes pentecôtistes, évangélistes, anglicanes ou luthériennes ont le vent en poupe et pourraient totaliser une quarantaine de millions de fidèles. Ici comme ailleurs dans d'autres régions du monde, le protestantisme séduit de plus en plus, notamment parce qu'il fait miroiter à l'individu les avantages d'une religion plus personnelle, déconnectée des commandements temporels d'une "superstructure" autoritaire comme le Vatican.

Le nombre de musulmans, que cela soit les Huis, descendants de commerçants arabo-persans, ou les Ouïgours, turcophones de la province occidentale du Xinjiang, est estimé à une vingtaine de millions de personnes. Les Ouïgours, souvent hostiles à la colonisation des Chinois hans sur leur territoire et dont une minorité est tiraillée par des velléités d'indépendance, suscitent la méfiance de Pékin, qui réprime sans pitié religieux et militants séparatistes dans ces lointaines marches de l'empire. Les Huis, dispersés dans tout le pays, ne sont en revanche pas perçus comme une menace politique, même si un nombre croissant de jeunes musulmans partis faire des études coraniques en Arabie saoudite ou dans d'autres pays arabes reviennent en Chine ragaillardis par les préceptes d'un islam plus rigoureux, voire plus intégriste sur le plan des valeurs morales.
La liste serait incomplète si elle ne mentionnait pas des religions plus... chinoises qui, elles aussi, redeviennent de plus en plus populaires. Les bouddhistes sont les plus nombreux en Chine, leurs fidèles étant estimés à 8 % de la population, soit plus de 100 millions de personnes, par un rapport du service des libertés religieuses du département d'Etat américain. Officiellement, les statistiques sont inexistantes. Mais un nombre croissant de Chinois hans se rendent au Tibet, pas seulement pour des motifs commerciaux liés aux opportunités offertes par le Grand Ouest chinois, mais aussi pour des raisons liées à la fascination exercée par le bouddhisme lamaïque...
Quant au taoïsme, qui est autant une religion qu'une philosophie, il ferait continuellement de nouveaux adeptes sans que les fidèles des préceptes de Lao Tseu puissent être répertoriés.
Article paru dans l'édition du 24.05.07.
 

Top Law Firm for Human Rights Suspended After Filing Parole Papers for Jailed Beijing Church Leader

To: National & International Desks

Contact: Bob Fu, China Aid Association, 267-205-5210, 432-689-6985, bobfu@ChinaAid.org

MIDLAND, Texas, Nov. 4 /Christian Wire Service/ --China Aid Association learned that November 4, 2005, a top law firm in Beijing known for defending human rights was ordered closed for one year by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice.

According to reliable reports, Mr. Gao Zhisheng, the director of Beijing Shengzhi Law Firm, received a formal government notice that all of his law firm operations are suspended for one year. Hours before receiving the closure notice, Mr. Gao filed parole documents with the Beijing People's Court of Haidian District for Ms. Xiao Yunfei, the wife of jailed house church leader Pastor Cai Zhuohua. He is one of the defense lawyers for Pastor Cai, his wife Ms. Xiao Yunfei and two other family members who were arrested last September. The Chinese government accused them of "illegal business practices" for printing and distributing hundreds of thousands of copies of the Bible and other Christian literature. They are being held following their trial and awaiting a verdict.

In an interview with Bob Fu, president of CAA the morning of November 4 following the parole paper filing he stated that the arrests of Pastor Cai and other family members and the more than one year continuous detention following a trial without a verdict is illegal according to Chinese law.

It's widely believed that the retributive actions taken against Mr. Gao and his law firm by the Chinese government is due to his active role in defending human rights and religious freedom cases like Pastor Cai's case. He also defended several other high profile cases including persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. After days of intensive investigations and interviews with numerous victims, he issued an open letter to both Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao a few weeks ago demanding that they stop persecuting peaceful Falun Gong practitioners.

"It is a very dark day and a devastating blow to the rule of law in China," said Bob Fu, President of CA. "Instead of holding the human rights and religious freedom violators accountable, the Chinese government chooses to suppress these conscientious defenders of human rights."

People of conscience around the world are urged to pray for and protest against the barbaric actions by these related government agencies.

Emails and phone calls of encouragement can be sent at the following address:

Mr. Gao Zhisheng  +86-10-81990759 Email: gaozhisheng@263.net

Issued by China Aid Association, Inc. November 4, 2005
 

Two Chinese priests detained
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Vatican_China_Priests_Detained.html
Sunday, October 30, 2005 · Last updated 5:52 p.m. PT, Associated Press

ROME -- Two priests from China's underground Catholic Church have been detained, a Vatican-affiliated missionary news agency reported. The two had reportedly just given a rare interview to a foreign journalist.

The AsiaNews missionary agency said Friday that the Revs. Shao Zhumin and Paul Jiang Sunian, from the underground church in Wenzhou on China's southeast coast, were detained Thursday after celebrating Mass.

The report said the detentions were unusual because the situation of underground priests in Wenzhou had been "calm" for some time.

On Friday, however, the Italian newsweekly Espresso published a two-page article in which it said it had interviewed the two priests, as well as a third, and that they had "risked arrest" by speaking to a foreign journalist.

The article said that two days after the interview was conducted, Chinese police followed the reporter and took her interpreter to the police station.

In the interview, the priests spoke of previous detentions, with Shao saying he had been asked after his Sept. 7, 1999, detention to make a declaration "to evaluate whether I had become patriotic."

China allows worship in government-controlled churches and appoints its own priests and bishops. Chinese Catholics who meet outside the sanctioned churches are frequently harassed by authorities.

Pope Benedict XVI has been reaching out to the Beijing government in hopes of restoring diplomatic relations and bringing all of China's estimated 12 million Catholics under Rome's wing.
 

China releases Protestant church activist
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Wednesday, September 28, 2005 · Last updated 6:08 a.m. PT

SHANGHAI, China -- A prominent activist in China's underground Protestant church has been released from a labor camp after serving a two-year sentence, a U.S.-based monitoring group reported Wednesday.

Zhang Yinan, 47, left a camp near the central China city of Zhengzhou on Sunday, according to the China Aid Association, headquartered in Midland, Texas.

China's officially atheistic Communist authorities allow worship only in tightly controlled state churches, and those who meet outside - often in members' homes - are routinely harassed and fined, and sometimes sent to labor camps.

While underground church organizers can receive sentences of several years in prison, China Aid Association President Bob Fu said international attention given to Zhang's case had persuaded China to give him a relatively light punishment.

"We urge the Chinese government to release all the prisoners of conscience like Mr. Zhang," Fu said in an e-mailed statement.

After Zhang's release, police confiscated his identification card - needed to check into hotels and board planes - apparently to restrict his travel, the group said.

Officers who answered phones at Zhengzhou's two labor camps for men said they were not authorized to release any information about prisoners.

Zhang was sentenced in 2003 without trial as permitted by Chinese regulations on the charge of attempting to subvert China's government and political system.

Zhang had been active in documenting the history of the underground church movement and advocating unity among its various sects, which often compete for converts and bicker over religious dogma.

Up to 50 million Chinese are believed to worship in unofficial Protestant congregations, far more than the 10 million followers claimed by the official Protestant church, which is called the "Three-Self Patriotic Movement."
 

Xinjiang: Apparent Tolerance of religious belief, but with tight state controls
April 4th 2005 - China (PRC)

Religious believers in Ghulja (Yining in Chinese), a Xinjiang provincial town with Muslim, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox communities, do not on first glance currently appear to experience difficulties from the Chinese state. Authorised Christian and Muslim places of worship are frequently built at state expense, Forum 18 News Service has found. But the state tries to keep all religious organisations under complete control, and also, so Forum 18 has been told, limits the size of Catholic and Muslim places of worship, as well as restricting the number of mosques. "I have land and the money to build a mosque, but the authorities think it inexpedient to open a religious building in the new housing districts," Abdu Raheman, Muslim owner of Ghulja's largest honey-producing company, complained to Forum 18. Unregistered Chinese and Uighur Protestant communities do exis