China: China's fiercely secular Communist Party offered its sympathies on the death of Pope John Paul II and expressed hopes that his successor would improve ties between the Vatican and Beijing.
"China expresses its condolences on the passing away of Pope John Paul II due to his illness," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement.
There were Masses at many of China's main churches to mark the pontiff's passing.Despite the sympathy message from Beijing, relations between the Communist Party and Catholic Church have been strained for a long time. The Vatican says Catholics suffer repression in China and the foreign ministry statement came just one day after the Vatican confirmed reports that Chinese police had arrested leading clerics. The Vatican issued a written declaration by spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls on Saturday about a recent wave of arrests of top Catholic figures in China, without comment or explanations.
Among those the Vatican confirmed had been arrested was an elderly bishop, Zhao Kexun, of the Xuanhua diocese in the northern province of Hebei, on March 30th, and his superior, Bishop Filippo Pietro Zhao Zhendong, on January 3rd. The Vatican also said Bishop Giacomo Lin Xili (86) of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province had been arrested on March 20th.
Security officials make periodic crackdowns on some of the estimated 12 million Catholics who worship in secret in China.
China allows worship only in state-sponsored churches and the "official" Catholic Church does not recognise papal authority.