China bishop, priest taken for ‘learning classes’

COADJUTOR Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou and his chancellor Fr. Paul Jiang Sunian were spirited away this week to attend “learning classes,” according to sources.

Bishop Shao, 49, was appointed by the Holy See in to lead Wenzhou’s “underground” community in 2007 and is not recognized by the government.

He and Father Jiang were taken on Monday.

If Bishop Shao and Father Jiang are “intelligent enough in their learning,” they will be allowed back soon; if not, they will be detained longer, local Church sources quoted government officials as saying.

“This implies their release depends on whether they accept the government’s religious policies,” one of the sources said.

Among 17 underground priests, a few of them have been summoned to meet with religious officials in the past two days, the sources said.

Some were told to remain behind while others were allowed to return home the same day, they added.

Though no official reasons have been given, the sources suspect the recent events may be linked to the secret Episcopal ordination in Tianshui diocese in Gansu province last year.

Government officials are investigating who was involved in the ordination, they said.

Report from ucanews.com