- Title: Catholics celebrate Christmas Eve in Beijing
- Date: 24th December 2019
- Summary: RELIGIOUS PAINTING EXTERIOR OF CHURCH VARIOUS OF CUSTOMER BUYING APPLE VARIOUS OF PRODUCTS DISPLAYED ON TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 30-YEAR-OLD ATTENDEE, JING ZHE, SAYING: "I feel very excited and very honoured that I can attend an activity like this to feel and enjoy the festival. And also want to feel different vibes of different festivals." BEIJING, CHINA (DECEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF STREET INSIDE YARD OF CHURCH SANTA CLAUS IN A SNOW BOX PICTURE OF MARY ON WALL RED CROSS
- Embargoed: 7th January 2020 16:18
- Keywords: Catholicism in China China religion Chinese church Christmas Eve Mass Christmas in China Pope and China
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- City: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA006BBC2YPZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of Catholic followers attended a Christmas Eve mass in Beijing on Tuesday (December 24).
China has 12 million Catholics, who have been split between an underground church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.
In September last year, the Vatican and China signed a landmark agreement giving the Pope a long-desired say in the appointment of bishops in China.
Critics said the deal was a sellout to the Communist government as new candidates will be provided by the party before being sent to Vatican to make final decision.
In a country where Catholicity is in the minority, Christmas has come to mean getting together with friends, giving presents and hosting big dinners.
(Production: Fang Nanlin) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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