Religion: Catholics in China

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Sizable Sprag. Last week the inevitable retaliations were going strong. In Shanghai the Catholic Central Bureau, the church's main organizational office in China, had been closed down. Communist papers were scolding Archbishop Riberi as "a resident of Monaco" (he was born in Monte Carlo) who had "interfered in the affairs of the Chinese government." The "people" were "demanding" his expulsion. It might not be long before Nuncio Riberi was escorted to the border, to join the swelling crowd of missionary priests and nuns being exiled by way of Hong Kong. Most notable recent exile was Bishop Gaetano Mignani, vicar apostolic of Kian in Kiangsi, deported for allowing the publication of two pamphlets exposing the government drive.

But the best available reports coming out of China indicated that Archbishop Riberi's letter had put a sizable sprag in the Communist wheel. The Independent Catholic movement, which a few months ago had looked like a threatening schism, seemed to be making little headway, with clerical support limited to a handful of obscure priests.

Word reached Hong Kong last week that Father Wang, once hailed by the Communists as the founder of the Independent Catholic Church, had publicly protested the use of his name by the Reds. The Communists' answer was prompt: Wang was taken out and executed.