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BEIJING (CNS) — He’s known as “the black pope of China” — a play on the “black pope” title given to the powerful head of the Jesuits — and whether or not people like his methods, they all agree that he is one of the most powerful laymen in China’s Catholic Church. Anthony Liu Bainian, 73, an ex-seminarian from Shangdong province, currently serves as vice president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. To some he is a man trying to ingratiate himself to government authorities; to others he is the man with power to sway government decisions about the church.

BEIJING (CNS) — China’s one-child policy, begun nearly 30 years ago, still provides pastoral challenges and is taking a toll on vocations, said some Chinese church leaders. Auxiliary Bishop Paul Pei Junmin of Liaoning said that, in the past, the diocese used to have 20 young men and women enter the seminary and convent each year, but that has changed because of the one-child policy and “the influence of materialism.” “Here the church in China is very traditional, conservative,” said Bishop Pei. “It’s very difficult to reconcile with the government regulations and church teachings,” especially when people can lose their jobs for having a second child.

BEIJING (CNS) — As Chinese Catholic seminaries and religious communities work to train a new generation of priests and nuns, many religious leaders say their greatest need is for people to learn religious formation — how to accompany a candidate in religious life. “We still have a great need for formation work,” said Auxiliary Bishop Paul Pei Junmin of Shenyang, in northeastern China’s Liaoning province. “We really do not have enough people for spiritual direction.” Sister Mary Pan Xiufang, a member of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary who works in the Shanghai Diocese, said that when priests and nuns do not have good training it becomes a big circle — the new people, in turn, do not train the others well.

SHENYANG, China (CNS) — For World AIDS Day, the nuns leafleted the train stations in Liaoning province, and members of parish youth groups handed out information at parishes. But while many agencies offer AIDS awareness programs for World AIDS Day each Dec. 1, the Diocese of Liaoning offers such programs year-round, said Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Fabian Han Fungxia, head of the HIV/AIDS program at the diocesan Catholic Social Service Center.

NANJING, China (CNS) — About two dozen students clad in red sweat suits danced around the small room, twirling brightly colored fans in rhythm with the music. The students ranged in age from 13 to 43, but their mental capacity did not surpass age 12. Thirty-two students attend the Ark-Nanjing Special Education Center, run by the Nanjing Diocese with support from the local government; about 10 students live at the center and go home every other weekend.

FUSHUN, China (CNS) — Ninety-year-old Sister Peter has worked in a bus factory, built houses, reinforced river embankments and spent time in jail and a mental institution. Bishop Pius Jin Peixian of Liaoning, 83, spent 10 years in prison and later was sent to a work farm. In 1966, at age 19, Cecilia Tao Beiling was sent to a work farm “for re-education,” because she was Catholic. She spent eight years and four months there. Today, she is the deputy chief editor of the Shanghai Diocese’s Guang Qi Research Center.

BEIJING (CNS) — As China’s veteran bishops die, the government appears to be stepping up pressure on the new generation of church leaders. Many of the older bishops spent time in prison during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and found the strength to resist government pressures once China began allowing Catholics to practice their faith in the early 1980s, said people familiar with the situation of the Catholic Church in China.

BEIJING (CNS) — Sometime after Easter, Pope Benedict XVI will issue a letter to Chinese Catholics that many hope will call for reconciliation and unity between those who have registered with the government and those who have not registered. In some places in China, that might cause surprise — but for different reasons in different areas. Some priests and nuns reported not even knowing there was more than one church community as they grew up.

Dr. Diane Dippold MacIntosh wanted to give something back to her high school because, she said, it gave so much to her. That’s the reason she funded a collection of books and library materials for the Mother Philemon Doyle Library in Notre Dame Preparatory School, Towson. The collection by, for, and about women consists of titles of biographies of famous women, studies of 18th century women in England, famous women scientists, and women in the Catholic church.

WASHINGTON – Results of a survey released April 30 show that the average age of the 475 priests expected to be ordained in the United States this year is 35 and one-third of this year’s new priests were born in another country, primarily Vietnam, Mexico, Poland or the Philippines. The national study of the ordination class of 2007 also shows that the men are well educated. More than six in 10 completed college before entering the seminary and some have advanced degrees in law, medicine and education.

LONDON – Catholic bishops from four continents are appealing to leaders of the world’s richest countries to honor their commitments to combat extreme poverty. The eight church leaders met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair April 30 and were scheduled to meet with government leaders in Germany and Italy before meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.