Public Security Officers Detain Two Priests in Zhejiang Province

December 1, 2005

Public security officers detained two priests who are leaders of the unregistered Catholic community in Zhejiang province on October 27, according to an October 28 AsiaNews report. The same day that officials detained Fathers Shao Zhumin and Jiang Sunian, the Italian newsmagazine L'espresso published an interview (in Italian) with the two priests and Father Wang Zhoufa, a fellow cleric. Public security officers detained Fathers Shao and Jiang in separate locations, shortly after they celebrated Mass to mark the close of the Year of the Eucharist before a congregation of about 600 Catholics. Father Wang apparently was not detained.

Public security officers detained two priests who are leaders of the unregistered Catholic community in Zhejiang province on October 27, according to an October 28 AsiaNews report. The same day that officials detained Fathers Shao Zhumin and Jiang Sunian, the Italian newsmagazine L'espresso published an interview (in Italian) with the two priests and Father Wang Zhoufa, a fellow cleric. Public security officers detained Fathers Shao and Jiang in separate locations, shortly after they celebrated Mass to mark the close of the Year of the Eucharist before a congregation of about 600 Catholics. Father Wang apparently was not detained.

In the L’espresso interview, the priests described the persecution of Catholics in Wenzhou diocese, where the unregistered Catholic community suffered from a government campaign of persecution that began in 1999. The anti-Catholic repression continued for several years, but since 2003 the situation has been “calm,” according to the October 28 AsiaNews article. AsiaNews reported earlier that in 1999 officials attempted to force unregistered Bishop Lin Xili and his clergy to join the official Catholic Patriotic Association. Authorities also demolished a number of Catholic churches and detained some unregistered priests and believers. Fathers Shao and Jiang were among those detained in 1999. In September of that year, Zenit news agency reported that officials detained Father Shao but released him without formal arrest. In a May 2000 article, Zenit reported that officials had detained Father Jiang in November 1999 and formally arrested him the following month. A court convicted the priest of illegally publishing hymnals, assessed a fine of about $32,000, and sentenced him to a six-year term. He was released in December 2003.

Sources do not agree about the current status of Bishop Lin. According to a Cardinal Kung Foundation press release dated July 31, Bishop Lin remains in prison, but a March 5 AsiaNews report says that Lin is free but under surveillance.

Additional information on the persecution of Chinese Catholics is available in the 2005 CECC Annual Report, Section III(d).