CATHOLIC CHURCH SERVICE IN BEIJING

Chinese Catholic worshippers attend an early morning mass at the government-sanctioned South Cathedral in Beijing May 09, 2006. The Vatican has excommunicated two bishops ordained by China's state-approved Catholic church, as well as the two bishops who presided over the ceremony without Vatican consent. In a statement, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said on Thursday the Roman Catholic Church's canon law states that in such a case excommunication is automatic. Earlier the Vatican strongly criticized the ordination of the bishops, saying they represented a "grave violation of religious freedom" and hindered dialogue between the Vatican and Beijing. (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver)