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W O R L D Communists Arrest Bishop and Priests as Condolences are Sent to Vatican Bishop Yao Liang, Fr. Zhao Kexun and Fr. Wang Jinling Are Seized in Week Before Death of Pope Vol. III, No. 5, April 13, 2005 (Compiled by Staff) THREE
Chinese Catholic clergymen who refuse to join the official state-run
catholic church were arrested in the week previous to John Paul II’s
death. Father Zhao Kexun was arrested on March 30, Bishop Yao
Liang on March 31, and Fr. Wang Jinling on April 1. Bishop Yao is the
auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Xiwanzi in the Hebei province, and
both he and Fr. Wang are in their early eighties.
Following the death of John Paul II on the evening of April 2, China’s Communist authorities permitted the state-run Catholic Patriotic churches to publically mourn the Pope, while the government of the People’s Republic sent a brief message of condolence to the Holy See. In addition to the arrests, Hao Jingli, the Bishop of Xiwanzi, and Jia Zhiguo, the Bishop of Zhengding, are now under 24-hour surveillance by the Chinese Security Bureau. “Since 1949, there have been thousands of martyrs in China because they refused to cut off their relations with the Pope,” says Joseph Kung, the director of the Cardinal Kung Foundation which aids the underground Catholic Church in China. “Today, we still have numerous Roman Catholic bishops, priests, and other religious and faithful in jail because they will not join the Chinese government-established official church or the Catholic Patriotic Association.” “Pope John Paul II said,” Kung continued, “’even in the most difficult times, the fidelity of the Catholic Church in China has never waned.” Recently, pressure on China’s Communist government has increased. A campaign led by AsiaNews, U.S. Catholics, and Mario Mauro, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, for all Catholic clergy imprisoned by the Chinese Communists to be released. By the Vatican’s estimate, there are 10 million Catholics loyal to Rome, while the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association has about 4 million members. In addition to these, there are an estimated 12 million evangelical Christians who are members of house churches. The authorities persecute all Christians who refuse to join either of the two state-run ‘patriotic’ Christian organizations. Return to Contents T
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