HOHHOT, China - Catholics in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have called on fellow believers to pray for them May 24, the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, during what they say is their most difficult time in recent decades.

The Asian church news agency UCA News reported that church sources told them the Catholic community in the region has faced a series of suppressive acts by authorities aimed at forcing clergy from the clandestine, or underground, Catholic community to join the government-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association.