A Catholic monk, who allegedly killed a priest and a nun of a Chinese Catholic Church in north China on July 6, had confessed that personal grudges was the motive for the murders, police said Friday.

Zhang Wenping, a Catholic monk aged 43, was arrested at 3 p.m. Thursday in Hohhot. He had confessed to the crime, said a spokesman for the Wuhai city public security bureau.

Priest Zhang Shulai and nun Wei Yanhui were found dead Tuesday in a church in a home for the elderly run by Wei in Wuhai City.

Zhang Wenping said he killed them because the nun, with whom he had a romantic relationship, broke up with him and he believed the priest persuaded her to do so.

Police said the case was an isolated criminal case.

The Wuda Catholic Church, where Zhang Shulai, Wei Yanhui and Zhang Wenping had served, is a legal church registered with the bureau of ethnic and religious affairs of Wuda District, Wuhai City, said bureau head Jia Zhiguo.

AsiaNews, a Vatican-based news agency, had reported they were members of an illegal church.

The church had suspended public activities due to the homicides. It would reopen after the investigation and funerals, Jia said.

Inner Mongolia has 159 registered catholic churches and preaching venues with 178,000 believers, according to statistics on the regional religious affairs bureau's website.

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