STAMFORD, Connecticut, Sep. 18, 00 (CWNews.com) - A US-based religious rights watchdog group reported on Saturday that Communist China has once again stepped up the persecution of Catholics, listing several attacks on bishops, priests, and laypeople in recent weeks.
The Cardinal Kung Foundation said Bishop Zeng Jingmu, 81, of Yu Jiang in Jiangxi province was arrested by the government on September 11, along with two priests, Father Liao Haiqing and a Father Deng. Bishop Zeng had been under house arrest over the past two years. He had been imprisoned between 1955 and 1995.
The foundation also reported that Father Ye Gong Feng, 82, of Fujian province was beaten into a coma on September 11 by security police who had surrounded his home. On August 8, police stormed a church in the same province, destroying the altar and beating many of the parishioners. Seven catechists were also arrested at various times during August and held for 15 day sentences. Finally, the group said five priests from various parishes in Fujian were arrested, detained for short times, and beaten severely.
Joseph Kung, president of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, said the US Senate should consider the record of atrocities before voting on a bill that would grant "permanent normal trade relations" with China. "The United States should not grant such 'normal trade relations' to China, which routinely practice atrocity on defenseless citizens simply for their practicing religion according to their conscience," he said.
The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in illegal, underground churches following only bishops appointed by the Pope.
Kung also called on Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who heads the Vatican committee coordinating the Jubilee celebration and who is in China this week for a religious symposium, to denounce the atrocities and demand the release of all Catholic faithful in jails and prison camps.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs