China's state-controlled Catholic church is investigating the ordination of a bishop who announced he was quitting the government body.

POPE BENEDICT reaffirmed the Roman Catholic rule of priestly celibacy yesterday, rejecting suggestions that the way to confront the shortage of priests was to allow them to marry.

Seven priests of China’s underground Roman Catholic Church have been detained for attending an unauthorised retreat following the election of the new Pope, a US-based monitoring group said today.

China today congratulated newly-appointed Pope Benedict XVI and said it hoped Beijing’s strained relations with the Roman Catholic Church could improve during his tenure.