China raises pressure on underground Catholics to join official church, Human Rights Watch finds

NEW YORK — Chinese authorities are increasing pressure on underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled official church while tightening surveillance and travel restrictions on all of China's estimated 12 million Catholics, a rights group said.The detailed report from Human Rights Watch said Wednesday the heightened pressure was part of a decade-old campaign to ensure that religious denominations and independent churches are loyal to the officially atheist Communist Party.China’s Catholics have been divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn’t recogni…READ FULL ARTICLE