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Several priests and laymen in China’s underground Catholic church have been detained in a struggle over the appointment of a new bishop.
Independent Catholic Asian news agency, ucanews.com, believes that dozens of lay people as well as Tianshui diocesan administrator, Fr John Baptist Wang Ruohan; retired Bishop Casmir Wang Milu; Father John Wang Ruowang and several other priests are being held at separately at several locations.
The detentions appear aimed at persuading the men to support the official candidate to fill the bishop’s seat in Tianshui.
However, an official with the local government’s Religious Affairs Bureau said the men were merely taking part in a routine training session.
“There was definitely no detention at all,” said the man, who refused to give his name because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.
The Tianshui bishop’s seat has been vacant since 2004.
The previous bishop’s nephew, Zhao Jianzhang, has been acting bishop and has been nominated by the official church to formally take over the position, but he faces competition for the loyalty of parishioners from the administrator of the underground community.
China has no formal relations with the Vatican and insists on the right to appoint its own bishops in defiance of Rome.
Underground and government-recognised communities exist in tandem in China.
The underground diocese and the official Church had generally good relations until recently, mirroring a rise in tensions between the Vatican and Beijing.
Sources
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News category: World.
