Bishop Jia Zhiguo arrested for "study session"
This is the 70-year-old bishop's eighth arrest. He has spent nearly 20 years in prison. The police have also taken away two priests from his diocese.
Rome (AsiaNews/KF) Mgr Giulio Jia Zhiguo, unofficial bishop of Zhengding (Hebei), has been arrested by police. This is the eighth time that the bishop has been arrested since 2004. This time, police took him from his home in Beijing at 8am on 8 November. The officials ordered him to gather his things and took him to Jinzhou city, where other security officials were waiting for him to take him to Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital of Hebei.
Publicly, the police have said the bishop has been taken away for a "study session". Thus are described repeated attempts by the authorities to convince the bishop to join the Patriotic Association. No one has any idea how long the "session" will last.
The day before the bishop's arrest, 40-year-old Fr Li Suchuan, and Fr Yang Ermeng, 35 years, both hailing from Zhengding, the diocese of Bishop Jia, were arrested by security officials and taken away from their parishes in the villages of Zhoujiazhuang and Zhoutou, both of Jinzhou region. They have not returned since.
Jia, who is 70 years, was appointed bishop in 1980. He spent some 20 years in prison and otherwise has been kept under strict surveillance. He was subjected to particularly keen control at the time of John Paul II's death on 2 April, as the authorities were expecting internecine fighting among the bishops, like what happens when a party leader dies.
Bishop Jia, among other things, takes care of 100 handicapped orphans in his home.
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