while santa anita is running on sunday april 1 along with golden gate sunland and gulfstream i have used my brute for e and caveman mind like mr xi to keep the catholics out of nassau otb and shown my disdain for the ortodox church which cebrates easter sunday on a different sunday
no chinese allowed to bet at nassau otb on sunday april 1 by order of the mr ci of new york
andrew cuomo
Sunday, April 1, 2018
| Track Code | Track Name | Entry | Scratch | 1st Post ET | 1st Post Local | Time Zone | Stakes Race(s) | Stakes Grade | T.V. Indicator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GG | GOLDEN GATE FIELDS | 72 | 0 | 3:15 PM | 12:15 PM | PDT | |||
| GP | GULFSTREAM PARK | 72 | 0 | 12:35 PM | 12:35 PM | EDT | |||
| SA | SANTA ANITA PARK | 72 | 24 | 3:30 PM | 12:30 PM | PDT | |||
| SUN | SUNLAND PARK | 168 | 24 | 2:30 PM |
Catholic worshipers attend Holy Thursday Mass at a government-sanctioned cathedral in Beijing on March 29. PHOTO: GREG BAKER/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
BEIJING—Chinese officials allowed an underground Catholic bishop to celebrate Holy Thursday Mass after concerns about his treatment risked upsetting efforts by Beijing and the Vatican to end a decadeslong rift.
Communist Party officials had summoned Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin on Monday, raising worries among his followers that he would be detained through Holy Week as he was at this time last year.
After two days of tense negotiations, the two sides reached a compromise over Bishop Guo’s Easter appearances, and he quietly celebrated Mass on Holy Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday, with priests in his diocese, people familiar with the matter said.
The role of Bishop Guo has loomed large in the broader negotiations regarding the appointment of bishops and the pope’s role in China’s Catholic Church. Bishop Guo is one of two Vatican-appointed bishops who have been asked by the Holy See to step aside and make way for Beijing-backed clerics, according to people with knowledge of the talks. He has said he would step down if the pope commands it.
Worshipers await communion at last year’s Palm Sunday Mass at an “underground” church in Hebei Province, China. PHOTO: KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES
The Vatican and Beijing have agreed on the terms of a deal on the appointment of bishops that would help end their rift, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
A Vatican spokesman said on Thursday that the signing of an agreement wasn’t imminent.
“The Holy Father Francis remains in constant contact with his collaborators on Chinese issues and follows the progress of the ongoing dialogue,” said the spokesman, Greg Burke.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed optimism that the negotiations would “lead to positive outcomes.”
At Holy Thursday Mass, Bishop Guo was allowed to wear the bishop’s white, pointed hat—a symbol of his position—after promising no photos would be taken of the event, the people familiar with the arrangement said.
Party officials will be escorting Bishop Guo for the rest of Holy Week, taking him away from his village on China’s southeastern coast for two days and then allowing him back to celebrate Mass on Saturday night, but not on Sunday, the people said.
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Last year, Bishop Guo was held in a house on a nearby mountain for 20 days. Some priests and other followers of the bishop warned local officials they would face unfavorable publicity this year if he was mistreated with a Vatican deal on the horizon, the people familiar with the arrangement said.
Officials with the party office that called Bishop Guo for talks and the office overseeing religion and the government-backed Catholic church didn’t respond to requests for comment. Bishop Guo didn’t answer calls to his phone.
Ever since Beijing set up a government-backed church in the 1950s it has tussled with the Vatican over bishop appointments, with each side sometimes appointing separate bishops and not recognizing each other’s picks.
Under a compromise agreement, the pope would have veto authority over bishop candidates selected by the government.
The deal has attracted criticism from some Catholics who say that the Holy See risks abandoning those who refuse to recognize China’s government-backed church.
While often referred to as underground, Catholic communities that reject control by Beijing often operate in the open, worshiping side by side with Catholics who accommodate the government-backed church. That is the case with the Mindong diocese where Bishop Guo presides and where Catholicism first took root in China four centuries ago.
Vincent Zhan Silu —the bishop recognized by the state-backed church whom Bishop Guo is being asked to step aside for—said he celebrated the Chrism Mass on Wednesday. Bishop Zhan said he wasn’t aware of the recent activities of Bishop Guo, but knew the latter wouldn’t want to celebrate Holy Week with him.
After the Mass on Thursday, officials with the United Front Work Department took Bishop Guo to the port city of Xiamen, 186 miles to the south, in part to keep him away from reporters who have descended on Luojiang with Easter’s approach and the Vatican-Beijing compromise looming, the people said.
—Kersten Zhang in Beijing and Francis X. Rocca in Rome contributed to this article.
Write to Eva Dou at eva.dou@wsj.com
