Security Officers Detain Unregistered Catholic Priest, Seminarian in Hebei Province

Public security officers in Hebei province detained Pang Yongxing, an unregistered Catholic priest, and Ma Yongjiang, a Catholic seminarian, on September 2, according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation (CKF), a U.S. NGO that monitors the religious freedom of Chinese Catholics. Father Pang has been active in evangelizing in the Hebei countryside, and served three years in a labor camp between 2001 and 2004 for "disturbing the peace of society."

Hebei province has the largest concentration of Catholics in China and the unregistered Catholic community is particularly strong there. Thus, unregistered Catholic clergy and lay believers in Hebei province have been a focus of government repression. The CKF publishes a list of Catholic clergy who currently are prisoners of conscience. As of July 31, 2005, 34 of 42 clerics imprisoned in China are from Hebei province.