The funeral and memorial Masses for two murdered Church workers provoked a rare show of solidarity between China’s "underground" and "open" Church communities in Bameng, Inner Mongolia on July 10.

About 700 Catholics from both communities attended the Mass for Father Joseph Zhang Shulai and Sister Maria Wei Yanhui, who were murdered in the Church-run aged home in Wuhai where they lived and worked.

The gathering then traveled to a Church cemetery in a procession of 120 vehicles, arranged with the help of police and other government departments.

While the Mass was not concelebrated by open and underground priests, they did pray together in the burial rite at the cemetery. A police official praised the orderly and respectful way in which the proceedings were conducted.

Open Bishop Matthias Du Jiang of Bameng, which covers Wuhai, has sent his condolences to the underground leaders of Ningxia diocese, for which the two deceased belong to, and memorial Masses have been held throughout the region.

A new underground priest has already been assigned to the aged home and Sunday Mass on July 11 went ahead there as normal Sundays.

Meanwhile, the official Xinhua news agency reports that Zhang Wenping, a former seminarian, has admitted the killings.

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