Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Posted on 07/02/2005 10:47:03 PM PDT by phoenix_004
VATICAN CITY (AP) - A priest from China's nongovernment controlled Catholic church who has been under house arrest for nearly six years has been released, Vatican Radio and a missionary news service reported Saturday. The Rev. Vincent Kong Guocun, 34, was freed June 8 because of poor health, Vatican Radio reported, citing the news agency Eglises d'Asie. The Catholic missionary news service, AsiaNews, carried an identical report citing a Catholic church source in China.
Kong, from Wenzhou, on China's southeast coast, had been kept under house arrest since Oct. 20, 1999, the reports said. His parents were only allowed to visit him infrequently, they said.
China forced its Roman Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, shortly after the officially atheistic Communist Party took power. Worship is now allowed only in government-controlled churches, which recognize the pope as a spiritual leader but appoints its own priests and bishops.
Millions, 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.
In a sign of the confusion surrounding papal authority in China, the Roman Catholic bishop of a central Chinese city has denied speculation that he was secretly named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Sunday.
The late pope held back one of his choices for cardinal in 2003, a common practice for countries where the church is oppressed. Some believe a Chinese was appointed. China doesn't recognize the Vatican and only allows worship in government-sanctioned churches.
Recent speculation has pointed to the bishop of Xian, Li Duan. But the 78-year-old Li has reportedly denied he was named cardinal. "I have never received anything formal from the Vatican about this issue," Li was quoted as saying in the Ming Pao Daily News.
The Vatican has been seeking to improve relations with Beijing, but several sticking points remain - whether the Vatican's is willing to sever ties with China's archrival, Taiwan, and what relationship Beijing will allow the Vatican to have with Roman Catholics in China.
BTTT for the truth in China.
Finn, Siobhan's son
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.