|PIC1|A leading Catholic charity has issued a call to prayer for China's suffering Christians - in the same week that pressure from the authorities forced Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong to cancel a pilgrimage.

Aid to the Church in Need is asking Catholics to unite in prayer for the Church in China, which has suffered years of persecution under communism.

ACN's UK National Director, Neville Kyrke-Smith, underlined the need to highlight the ongoing oppression of China's Catholics, saying: "Aid to the Church in Need is not a campaigning organisation, but a Catholic charity offering the hope of the risen Christ to those in need.

"Yet, we are pleading and praying for the religious rights of the people of China to be respected."

The focal point of ACN's prayer appeal is a Day of Prayer on 10 May - a fortnight before the world day of prayer for China, when up to 600 pilgrims from Hong Kong were to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan, in Cardinal Zen's native Shanghai.

The Diocese of Hong Kong began planning the pilgrimage in July 2007, after Pope Benedict suggested 24 May as a world day of prayer for China in his letter to China's Catholics last June, which mentioned the shrine in Shanghai.

But Chinese authorities asked the diocese to change the date because of safety concerns over the large number of pilgrims expected to the shrine that day.

Some reports suggested the government's true concerns focused around Cardinal Zen's role.

His outspoken views on religious freedom are regarded as controversial by the authorities, and he has been banned from mainland China since he was made a bishop in 1996.

In a bid to allow the pilgrimage to go ahead after previous objections, Cardinal Zen had withdrawn from the trip and substantially reduced the numbers going on the pilgrimage, which was originally due to be 1,000.

Other pilgrimages have been curtailed by authorities - the annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Tianjiajing was halted last year after the historic sanctuary, built in 1903-05, was scheduled to be dynamited by local authorities.

Despite continuing oppression the Church in China is flourishing, with record numbers of people converting.

ACN is supporting this growth, helping to train seminarians, build new churches and chapels, and print religious literature.