"My sheep hear my voice," Jesus promises in the Sunday gospel. For a week Tibetan Buddhist monks have been in the forefront of rescue operations, calling out the names of the missing after a strong earthquake hit one week ago in a remote Tibetan region.

But the monks, thousands of whom had poured into the quake zone from surrounding areas to help, were conspicuously absent from a silent tribute involving thousands of Chinese officials, soldiers, and civilians that was held in the region Wednesday, one week after the quake.

The monks said they had been ordered to leave the region, an apparent sign of the Communist Party's unease over the leading role they played in the relief effort. The quake has left at least 2,183 dead, 84 missing, and 12,135 injured.

Source: Articles by the Associated Press and www.chinadaily.com