Chinese authorities reportedly took an underground bishop who refused to join the communist party-controlled state church into custody, despite the Vatican’s recent capitulations to…
Chinese authorities reportedly took an underground bishop who refused to join the communist party-controlled state church into custody, despite the Vatican’s recent capitulations to Beijing.
Police seized Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin on the morning of Nov. 9 and are keeping him for a period of interrogation and indoctrination that authorities call a “vacation period,” reported a Catholic news service. Zhumin was officially appointed as a bishop by the Holy See, but serves in a Catholic community that is not officially recognized by the Chinese government as they refuse to join the state-sanctioned church under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. (RELATED: Vatican’s Deal With Communist China Spells ‘Annihilation’ For Chinese Church, Cardinal Zen Says)
Zhumin will allegedly be kept for “10 or 15 days” during which authorities will try to force Zhumin to submit to registration with China’s Patriotic Association, which would mean membership with a church that is technically independent from Rome.
Zhumin remains loyal to the Holy See, for which police have kidnapped and attempted to indoctrinate him at least five times over the past two years, according to AsiaNews, and last kidnapped him in May 2017, releasing him after seven months.
