In the eastern province of Zhejiang, the government has put in force a set of regulations on centralized funeral arrangements, which bans priests from attending funeral prayers out-side a religious place, reported ucanews.com. The government claims the new rules aim to “get rid of bad funeral customs and establish a scientific, civilized and economical way of funerals.”

“Clerical personnel are not allowed to participate in funerals” at homes and “no more than 10 family members of the deceased are allowed to read Scriptures or sing hymns,” the rules state.

The new rules began to take effect recently, although enacted on Dec. 1, said a Catholic in Wenzhou Diocese in Zhejiang. The regulations strictly ban “religious activities outside religious places, so the priest will not be able to hold funeral prayers outside the church,” he told ucanews.com.

Huang Jian, also of Wenzhou, told ucanews.com priests could visit parishioners’ homes but could not conduct any religious ceremonies or prayers.

A priest identified only as Father Guo of Henan province said government officials have asked priests to strictly follow the new regulations on religious affairs. “Otherwise there would be penalties. The punishment could even be closing the church and canceling the priest’s priesthood certificate, letting the priest go home,” he said. But Father Peter Lee, a priest in eastern Shandong, told ucanews.com that government instructions had not come to him so far. “I still hold sacraments at the homes of dead parishioners. I sent a greeting to a church member from home to the cemetery. No one blocked it,” he said on Jan.30. “As a priest, we need to accompany church members to make them feel like everyone is a family. Particularly, baptisms and funerals are very important for families.”

Philippine prosecutors have exonerated four Catholic bishops charged with plotting to overthrow President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration.

The Justice Department dropped the charges, saying there was no evidence supporting police claims that the bishops intended to commit seditious acts.

The accused bishops were Archbishop Socrates Villegas, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, Bishop Honesto Ongtioco and Bishop Teodoro Bacani, retired prelate of Novaliches. Charges against Father Robert Reyes and La Salle Brother Armin Luistro were also dismissed.

Charges were, however, filed against Jesuit priest Albert Alejo and Divine Word priest Flaviano Villanueva and nine others for their involvement in the alleged plot to oust the president.

Bishop David of Kalookan said he was “both happy and sad” about the decision.

He said that while he welcomed the dropping of charges against him and the other church leaders, he was sad that prosecutors “found probable cause to indict the two priests.”

“I still hope and pray that the charges against them will also be dismissed soon by the courts,” he said in a post on social media.

The bishops’ conference earlier described the charges against the four Catholic bishops the priests, and several government critics as “beyond belief.”

Father Reyes said the charges were “a desperate move to suppress dissent.”

“The move is obviously meant to scare the hell out of these churchmen and eventually silence them,” said Father Jerome Secillano, chairman of the public affairs office of the bishops’ conference.

The charges stem from the release of a video that went viral on several social media last year that linked Duterte and his family to the illegal drug trade.