Dozens of students at a Catholic seminary in Hebei province staged a rare protest yesterday outside a government office against the appointment of a non-Catholic government official to the school's leadership.
The show of defiance raised eyebrows, as the seminary is operated by the government-backed church.
It added to the mounting tension before a key national congress in Beijing on Tuesday, when the mainland church will select its new leaders.
The Vatican opposes the congress, saying it breaches Catholic doctrine about bishops' autonomy.
Sino-Vatican relations were already strained after Beijing's unilateral ordination of a bishop in Hebei last month.
Brandishing slogans and wearing their white uniforms, about 100 seminarians studying for the priesthood at the Catholic Theological and Philosophical Seminary of Hebei in Shijiazhuang staged a silent protest outside the offices of the Hebei Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau from early yesterday morning.
