Catholic experts warned that new rules on religion in China could severely hamper the Church's work by curbing its foreign contacts and imposing heavy penalties for unauthorised activity.
"Compared with previous drafts, these regulations are more restrictive, since they include references to national security," said Anthony Lam, executive secretary of the Holy Spirit Study Centre of Hong Kong's Catholic diocese.
"They may not make a great difference for China's underground Catholic Church, since it's illegal anyway. But they'll have a great impact on the Church's open community, which has to report everything to the government."
