Funeral services held for dissident patriarch of banned Vietnamese Buddhist church

The patriarch of an outlawed Vietnamese Buddhist church, who promoted religious freedom and human rights during more than two decades in and out of house arrest, was buried Friday at his monastery.

The burial of dissident monk Thich Huyen Quang has caused tension with the government, which denies the existence of his Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam. But members of group were permitted to participate freely in the services.

Several thousand people paid respects to Quang, 87, who headed the church for 16 years, at the Nguyen Thieu Monastery in southern Binh Dinh province where he had been confined for the last years of his life. He died July 5 from …