HONG KONG -- Authorities in northern China have arrested a Vatican-appointed Catholic bishop, his seven priests and 10 seminarians in what is seen as part of a renewed crackdown on the underground Catholic Church in the communist country.

The power of prayer is being marshalled across Canada to call out abuse of power by China’s Communist Party in a national, ecumenical Zoom liturgy scheduled for March 21.

OTTAWA -- MPs voted overwhelmingly to condemn the Chinese government for engaging in genocide against religious minorities in that country.

DUBLIN -- The last governor of Hong Kong criticized the Vatican’s agreement with China on the appointment of bishops and said Pope Francis has been “exceptionally badly advised” in concluding the pact.

OTTAWA -- Religious and human rights groups have applauded a parliamentary committee’s condemnation of the Chinese government for its “genocide” on religious minorities.

The news that the Vatican and the Chinese government extended their ground-breaking but controversial 2018 provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops was met with a mixture of skepticism, hope and dismay.

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican and the Chinese government will extend an agreement signed in 2018 regarding the appointment of bishops.

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican has proposed to the Chinese government that they extend an agreement signed in 2018 regarding the appointment of bishops, Vatican Media reported.

VATICAN CITY -- About 10 days before he was expected in Rome, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that the Vatican "endangers its moral authority" by considering an extension of its 2018 agreement with China on the nomination of bishops.

VATICAN CITY -- As the expiration of a provisional agreement signed between the Vatican and China approached, the Vatican secretary of state said he hopes it will be extended.

China has been accused of hacking Vatican computers as well as those in the Diocese of Hong Kong and other Catholic organizations in May.

Government authorities in Shanxi, China, are ordering people who receive government assistance to replace religious symbols in their homes, including pictures of Jesus, with pictures of Chairman Mao and President Xi Jinping. Refusal to comply results in the assistance being taken away. 

VALLA BEACH, Australia -- China has announced that Bishop Paul Ma Cunguo of Shuozhou, a Vatican-recognized bishop, has joined the official state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

HONG KONG -- Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun has said that while he will remain prudent, he is prepared to suffer arrest and trials under Hong Kong's sweeping new national security law.

BEIJING -- Catholics are upset about a directive from China's communist government asking priests to "preach on patriotism" as a condition for reopening liturgical services, suspended earlier this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.