Did you realize that about 50 Catholic priests and bishops are either in jail or in some other way prevented from bringing the Sacraments to the people?
Now, China’s Ministry of Public Security has issued a list of 43 “unwanteds” for the 2008 Olympics.
The banned groups will include members of religious groups not sanctioned by the state, including the underground Catholic and other Christian churches; “key individuals in ideological fields,” “counter-revolutionary” figures, the Dalai Lama and all affiliates, “individuals who instigate discontentment toward the Chinese Communist Party through the Internet,” and certain types of “handicapped” persons.
Members of the indigenous religious group Falun Gong would be barred, as would “family members of deceased persons” killed in “riots” — a euphemism for events such as the Tiananmen Massacre — and Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province, which the regime brands “national separatists.”
Foreign athletes, members of the media, Olympic staff members, referees, sponsors, dignitaries, and the International Olympic Committee itself, will all be investigated, to determine whether they fall into any of the 43 categories.
