China:Chinese police have detained three "underground" Catholic priests in the north of the country for refusing to serve the state-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, a Catholic Church rights body said.
The detentions come against a background of ongoing thorny negotiations between Beijing and the Vatican about religious freedom and shifting official recognition from Taiwan to mainland China.
The three priests - Liang Aijun, Wang Zhong and Gao Jinbao - were caught by security officials in the northern Chinese Inner Mongolia region, having fled there from neighbouring Hebei province, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said.
"During the initial phase of the arrest, the priests were locked up in an iron cage. They were not allowed to talk to anyone. Water brought to them was refused by the police. They have now all been transferred to an undisclosed location," the foundation statement said.
A fourth priest, Cui Tai, has been held since early July when he was hospitalised after a minor motorcycle accident.
Communist China threw out foreign clergy in the 1950s and severed ties with the Vatican. Since then it has steadfastly refused to allow Catholics to recognise the authority of the Pope and instead they have to join the official Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which has five million members.
The Vatican estimates that about eight million Chinese Catholics worship secretly in underground churches not recognised by the government. The underground churches are particularly strong in Hebei province.
On June 30th, Pope Benedict issued a letter urging reconciliation between the two sides. But he said the church must have the power to run its own affairs, including appointing bishops, possibly with government consultation. Beijing rejects these claims, especially on appointing bishops, as "interference in domestic affairs" but there has been no response yet to the letter.
Most state-approved bishops have also won Vatican blessing, but occasionally Beijing appoints bishops who do not meet with Vatican approval.
The Vatican has not had diplomatic ties with Beijing since 1951 and instead recognises Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China regards as an renegade province.
The foundation says there are five bishops in jail in China, many others under house arrest and surveillance, while around 15 priests and an unknown number of lay people are also in jail.
"While we need to 'love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us', as Pope Benedict told us in his China letter, we also need to awaken the world to the ongoing persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in China," the foundation said.