VATICAN, Aug 2, 01 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican news service Fides has reported that Chinese Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, who was taken into police custody in January, has apparently been released.
Bishop Zhang, who heads the Diocese of Xinxiang, is a leader of the "unofficial," or underground, Catholic Church. Because the Communist government regards the underground Church as illegal, Bishop Zhang has been repeatedly arrested and kept in custody for varying periods of time. Catholics in Xinxiang reported that the bishop's most recent release was prompted by his health problems.
The Beijing government recognizes only those Catholics who accept the authority of the government-sponsored Catholic Patriotic Association. Since 1995 the government has been engaged in a campaign to eliminate the underground Catholic Church, which has maintained loyalty to the Holy See.
There are an estimated 8,000 Catholics in the Xinxiang diocese, which is located in Henan, south of Beijing. It is difficult to say how many of these Catholics are active in the underground Church, since the lines between "official" and "unofficial" Catholic activities are often blurred.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
2. august 2001