FUJIAN authorities have arrested a group of Catholics amid growing signs of a fresh crackdown against unauthorised religious communities in China, according to a Catholic news agency. The Union of Catholic Asian News said two priests, three nuns and four seminarians were arrested on December 16 while celebrating Mass at a church in Fu'an city. The news agency identified the priests as Fathers Guo Xijing and Miao Lehua, who are members of the underground Catholic community in the city. The source said he was told by public security officers that four other priests would also be arrested. No other details were available since the arrest, the union said. A leader of an underground Catholic community in the Hebei province also told an overseas visitor early last month that a priest from Fu'an surnamed Guo was held after he attended a celebration in Baoding in Hebei province. A source in Hebei said Father Guo attended a celebration on November 18 to commemorate the 390th anniversary of the introduction of Catholicism into a village by Jesuit Matteo Ricci.
