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Chinese priest, nun from underground
church found dead
AP, BEIJING
Friday, Jul 09, 2010, Page 1
A priest and nun who belonged to an unauthorized congregation
in northern China were found slain in the hospice where they worked, a local
priest said yesterday. Police have made no arrests.
The pair were found dead on Tuesday at the hospice in Inner Mongolia¡¦s Wuhai
City, said Zhang Pengyao, a priest with the country¡¦s official Church. The
hospice was still cordoned off by police, he said.
A report by AsiaNews, a missionary news agency close to the Vatican, said priest
Zhang Shulai (±i®Ñ¨Ó) and nun Wei Yanhui (ÃQÆA¼z) were found stabbed to death in the
hospice, which was part of the church residence.
Hospice workers found their bodies in a pool of blood after the pair failed to
show up for morning mass.
Wei had a stab wound to the chest. Zhang had seven knife wounds and his body
showed signs of a struggle, the report said. It was not clear where they were
found in the hospice and whether the bodies were together in one room.
An officer in the Wuhai police department, who refused to give his name, said by
telephone that the authorities had not made any arrests.
He refused to give additional information and hung up.
Zhang and Wei worked in the region¡¦s unofficial diocese.
The Chinese Communist Party allows worship only in state-approved churches, but
many Catholics belong to unregistered congregations. Such ¡§house churches¡¨ are
subjected to varying degrees of harassment by the authorities.
Christians worshipping in China¡¦s independent churches are believed to number
more than 60 million, compared with about 20 million people who worship in the
state church, numbers provided by scholars and church activists showed.
Zhang Pengyao said the victims¡¦ status with the unofficial church hindered him
from helping.
¡§Since they¡¦re underground, our priests have concerns participating in their
activities. And they¡¦re also reluctant to contact us and do things on their
own,¡¨ he said.
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