-Caveat Lector- China says Vatican's newest saints were sinners, rapists By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN The Associated Press 10/1/00 12:22 PM BEIJING (AP) -- China on Sunday proclaimed its "utmost indignation" at the pope for bestowing sainthood on 120 Catholics who died under Chinese religious persecution, saying they were "evil-doing sinners" guilty of rape and plunder. The condemnation by the Foreign Ministry was echoed by the leader of China's state-run Catholic church, Bishop Fu Tieshan, who called the canonization ceremony led by Pope John Paul II on Sunday in Rome "intolerable." "Some of those canonized by the Vatican this time perpetrated outrages such as raping and looting in China and committed unforgivable crimes against the Chinese people," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency. In a separate statement, the government released the names of two saints it said "committed monstrous crimes in China." One was Albericus Crescitelli -- a Vatican Web site gave the first name Alberico -- described as an Italian missionary who died in the anti-Western, anti-Christian Boxer uprising a century ago. Crescitelli "was notorious for taking the 'right of the first night' of each bride under his diocese," the State Administration of Religious Affairs said in the statement, also run by Xinhua. The statement also brought up an example often cited by Western and Chinese scholars: Auguste Chapdelaine, a French missionary whose execution by the Chinese the French used as a pretext for attacks on China beginning in 1857. The pope declared the 120 -- 87 Chinese Catholics, the rest foreign missionaries -- martyrs because they died for their faith, mostly at the hands of the Boxers. The Vatican's choice of Sunday as the date for the ceremony also outraged Chinese officials and religious leaders because it falls on the 51st anniversary of communist rule in China. Earlier Sunday, Fu told worshippers in Beijing's South Cathedral that Sunday should be a rallying point for Chinese. "Today is National Day, and more than ever Chinese Catholics should stand with the nation," Fu said at morning services in the high-vaulted church, built in 1904 on a site where Catholics have worshipped in Beijing for more than 300 years. Fu's sentiments were repeated among worshippers at South Cathedral, which was burned to the ground by the superstitious Boxers, who are praised by the Communist Party as forerunners of the revolution. "Saints should be role models, but these were criminals against the Chinese people. This is an insult to China and an insult to the Chinese Catholics," a churchgoer said. China broke ties with the Vatican in 1951 and demands Catholics worship only in churches approved by the official China Patriotic Catholic Association. The official church claims 4 million believers but an equal number worship in an underground church loyal to the Vatican and relentlessly persecuted. The Vatican has denied that Sunday's ceremony was politically motivated. Vatican officials have said Sunday was chosen, not because it was China's National Day, but because it marks the feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux, patron saint of missionaries. Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
