Vietnamese gov’t loosens seminary regulations – will allow new students every year, instead of every two years

New pressures on Catholics in one Chinese province:

While there are signs of improvement in ties between the Vatican and Bejing, the Hebei government has launched a new campaign of persecution against the clandestine Catholic Church throughout the region. The campaign aims to have all Catholics, especially bishops and priests, registered with the State Office for Religious Affairs and to make them sign up to the Patriotic Association. "It seems we have gone back to the times of the Cultural Revolution, with intransigence and persecution," was the view of one believer.

Hebei is the region with the largest number of Catholics (more than 1.5 million), where clandestine Catholics (not recognised by the government) are in strong majority. The campaign is backed by the Religious Affairs Office and by the police. Some government representatives have told unofficial bishops that "from now on, all the clergy, to distribute the sacraments, must have a special membership card conceded by the government." The motive behind this, say the representatives, is to unite the clandestine church with the official church which, in line with the prompting of the Holy See, are leaning more and more towards collaboration and unity. Many bishops of the unofficial church have given indications of participation in the Eucharist with official communities. Until a few years ago, such an admission would have been unthinkable.