ROME, SEPT. 16, 2002 (Zenit.org).- Underground Catholic Bishop Wei Jingyi of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang province, has been arrested in northern China, a religious-rights group reported.
Bishop Wei Jingyi, 44, who once served as secretary of a conference of Chinese bishops loyal to the Holy See, was detained by the authorities Sept. 9, the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation reported.
Bishop Wei was detained in a Chinese labor camp from 1987-1989 and from 1990-1992. The authorities and local police have given no further news on his whereabouts.
Joseph Kung, president of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, said: «Currently, every one of the approximately 50 bishops of the underground Roman Catholic Church is either arrested, under house arrest, under strict surveillance, or in hiding.»
«The persecution of the underground Roman Catholic Church is obviously getting worse,» Kung said in a statement.
ZENIT - The World Seen from Rome
16. september 2002