Sunday, August 28, 2011

China detains underground Church leaders

Security officials in China have detained a number of underground Church leaders from Tianshui diocese in the northwestern Gansu province, reports ucanews.com.

They include diocesan administrator Father John Baptist Wang Ruohan; retired Bishop Casmir Wang Milu; Father John Wang Ruowang; as well as several other priests and dozens of parish lay leaders.

Bishop Wang and the two Father Wangs are brothers.

Local Church sources believe they are being held separately at several locations.

Since being questioned, they have been ordered to attend study sessions for four hours a day, while the lay leaders have been allowed to phone their families, the sources said.

Tianshui's diocese's underground community, which has no affiliation with the government-sanctioned "open" Church, has maintained a peaceful relationship with government officials in recent years.

Sources suspect the latest incident may relate to the creation of a new bishop for the diocese - listed as a priority undertaking in a report published by the Communist Party's Gansu United Front Work Department last year.