Another bishop was arrested in January. The Chinese Communist Party is working actively and on numerous fronts to destroy Christianity and replace it in the hearts, minds, and souls of the people of China.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in China, see here.
“Xi Jinping’s Easter: Another crackdown on the unofficial Church,” Asia News, April 11, 2022:
Rome (AsiaNews) – Before the Easter holidays, a new clampdown by the Chinese regime has arrived against the “unofficial” (underground) Church, recognised by the Vatican but not by Beijing, Catholic sources in China have revealed to AsiaNews.
On April 7, the authorities forced Msgr. Shao Zhumin, bishop of Wenzhou (Zhejiang) to board a flight. The local faithful are worried because they do not know where their pastor is at the moment; police have also reportedly commandeered his cell phone. The suspicion is that the government wanted to prevent him from celebrating the functions of Holy Week, especially the Chrism Mass.
Some time ago the police had also arrested the secretary of the diocese Jiang Sunian, but he has since returned. This is not the first time that the police have arrested Bishop Shao, making him disappear for months at a time. At the beginning of November he was released after being detained for several days. He is often subjected to sessions in an attempt to brainwash him into joining the “official” Church, controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Beijing’s axe also fell on the diocese of Xuanhua (Hebei). In January, before the Lunar New Year, the authorities seized more than 10 religious, including Bishop Augustine Cui Tai (under house arrest for more than 10 years) and his deputy Zhang Jianlin. At the moment there is no news on their eventual release.
The crackdown on the local diocese is explained by the unprecedented tensions in the area of Zhangjiakou, which hosted several competitions of the recent Winter Olympics in Beijing. In the eyes of the government, concerned that everything go smoothly, the Catholic Church represented a destabilizing factor….
