According to sources, Bishop. Shao did not want to join the official, Communist Party-controlled church as the 2018 Sino-Vatican deal did not end repression against Chinese Catholics, especially unofficial ones.
Newsroom (06/02/2023 10:24 AM, Gaudium Press) — There are mixed emotions for the Church in China, as they experience joy as three deacons were recently ordained for the diocese of Zhouzhi, but also there is sadness due to priestly persecution.
Communist authorities have detained the Bishop of Wenzhou, Most Rev. Shao Zhumir, so that he would not participate in the funeral of a 90-year-old priest, Fr. Chen Nailiang who died Jan. 29. The bishop was arrested along with the chancellor of the diocese, Fr. Jiang Sunian.
Father Chen was a symbol and a relic, as he had belonged to the “underground church” and had spent several years in “re-education” camps. Monsignor Shao already has ‘practice’ in these arrests by the communists.
In August 2016, he was detained for over a month for failing to attend the funeral of the former bishop, Mgr. Zhu Weifang. In October 2021, the police kidnapped him for about two weeks. Police reports said the bishop was on a “tourist” trip.
In April 2022, the Chinese communists had him ‘walking’ on a plane, certainly with the intention of “preventing him from presiding over the Holy Week celebrations”, reports Asia News. The resentment against Bishop. Shao is that he did not want to join the “official, Communist Party-controlled” church, yet another example that the 2018 Sino-Vatican deal did not “end repression against Chinese Catholics, especially unofficial ones.”
Compiled by Donna Smolders With information from Aciprensa
