Hebei Officials Detain Unregistered Catholic Clerics and Laypersons

September 1, 2006

Officials detained at least 2 unregistered Catholic clerics and about 90 Catholic laypersons in Hebei province between July 30 and August 2, according to an August 2 report of the Cardinal Kung Foundation (CKF), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China, and AsiaNews reports of August 3 and August 11.

Officials detained at least 2 unregistered Catholic clerics and about 90 Catholic laypersons in Hebei province between July 30 and August 2, according to an August 2 report of the Cardinal Kung Foundation (CKF), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China, and AsiaNews reports of August 3 and August 11.

Authorities detained Yao Liang, unregistered auxiliary bishop of Xiwanzi diocese in Hebei province on July 30, after inviting him to Zhangjiakou city to discuss the restitution of church property, the reports said. Officials also detained and released Li Huisheng, an unregistered priest of the same diocese, on August 1. Catholics who subsequently encountered Father Li reported that he apparently suffered severe physical injuries during his detention. Thereafter, a large group of Catholics protested at a police station and petitioned for the bishop's release. Police dispersed and beat the protestors, injuring two severely enough that they required hospitalization. A pregnant woman protestor reportedly suffered a miscarriage. Officials detained approximately 90 Catholics and detained Father Li again, according to the reports. Wang Zhong, another unregistered Catholic priest from Xiwanzi diocese, has been reported missing, and may have been detained. A Chinese government official later denied that Catholic protestors and police officers had clashed, and also denied that anyone had been arrested or injured, according to an August 3 Reuters report. The official claimed that there had been "a dispute between two different groups of Catholics," and that the Catholics had been "deliberately provocative" and caused "chaos."

According to AsiaNews, the clerics were detained because they had organized a diocesan pilgrimage to Mount Muozi in Inner Mongolia. The pilgrimage may have been scheduled to occur on or about August 15, when Catholics celebrate the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a major holy day. The Chinese government has prevented other gatherings of Catholic pilgrims, according to previous foreign news reports. In 2004, for example, AsiaNews noted the Chinese government’s continuing efforts to prevent Catholics from making pilgrimages, particularly to Donglu village in Hebei province.

The Chinese government detains Catholic clerics more often than it detains lay Catholics, and has concentrated its effort to control the unregistered Catholic community on the unregistered Catholic clergy of Hebei province. Thirty-one of 40 Catholics in prison, under house arrest, or under surveillance as of February 2006 were clerics from Hebei province, according to the CKF's list of Prisoners of Religious Conscience for the Underground Catholic Church in China.

Bishop Yao was previously detained in March 2005, according to an April 2005 CKF report. For more information on Bishop Yao, see the CECC Political Prisoner Database. For more information on Catholics in China, see the CECC 2005 Annual Report, Section III(d).