Beijing (CNN) -- Many of China's Catholics are awaiting the election of Pope Benedict XVI's successor with high expectations. "We pray for the new pope," said Father Francis Zhang, a Beijing priest. "We hope he will be spiritual, dynamic and open minded. We hope he will be more open to China, more pragmatic, and someone who understands very well the Chinese Catholic church." In recent days, Father Zhang, the parish priest of the Yongning Catholic church in the northern suburbs of the capital, has been travelling to several Chinese cities, giving lectures to jam-packed audiences of priests, seminarians and laymen.
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Catholic Church and government authorities uneasily coexist in China
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More than six million Catholics attend government-sanctioned churches
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Experts say millions more practice Catholicism in underground "house-churches"
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Chinese Catholics hope the next pope can reconcile church's differences with Beijing
Francis Zhang
Zhang
Last autumn, I watched @placeholder preside over an elaborate wedding of 62 couples from across China.
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I asked one groom, a white-collar worker in @placeholder, "Why turn Catholic?"
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Catholic Church
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I asked one groom, a white-collar worker in Beijing, "Why turn @placeholder?"
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Catholic Church
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"We follow China and we also follow the @placeholder way," said Father Zhang, who for years attended an underground church before joining the mainstream "patriotic church."