Pope reflects on persecuted Catholics

By Phil Stewart

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict reflected on the persecution of Catholics across the world during a Good Friday procession around Rome's Colosseum that threw the spotlight on suffering among China's faithful.

The Pope, who has made improving relations with China one of the goals of his pontificate, presided over the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession commemorating Christ's crucifixion and death.

Attended by tens of thousands of people, the solemn, night-time ceremony is one of the main services ahead of Easter -- the climax of the Christian year.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong, who has criticised a lack of religious freedom in China, wrote the meditations for this year. They paid tribute to those "living martyrs" who suffer for their faith.

"In many parts of the world, (the Church) is undergoing the dark hour of persecution," Zen wrote in one of the meditations.

China's 8 to 12 million Catholics are split between a church approved by the ruling Communist party and an "underground" church wary of government intervention. Beijing and the Vatican severed ties two years after the 1949 Communist takeover.

Even though there was no explicit reference to China's Catholics on Friday, the cardinal said last week his meditations honoured China's Catholics, who "are truly a people that have suffered a lot and are suffering".

PERSECUTION, AL QAEDA THREAT