11 Chinese Catholic Priests Still in Jail

Eleven Catholic priests from the "underground" church in China remain imprisoned in regions throughout China, Catholic-affiliated news media reported this past Thursday.

Meanwhile, conditions for the priests reportedly worsened because of a recent letter by Pope Benedict XVI, reported Italy-based Asia News, which has ties to the Vatican. The letter in June maintained that the papacy had sole right to ordain bishops, directly challenging Beijing's frequent ordainment of bishops without papal authority.

Virtually all house church activities in China's Hebei province, China's Zhejiang province, and central Mongolia were supposedly halted by government intervention, which included the arrests of several priests who were in the process of organizing youth gatherings.

In July, police rounded up three visiting priests from Hebei Province in the Ximeng region of Inner Mongolia. After their arrests, the priests – who Asia News identified as Wang Zhong, 41; Gao Jinbao, 34; and Liang Aijun, 35 – endured solitary-confinement in labor camps while police forbade visits from relatives.

Police have also arrested Fr. Liu Tai, 50, in Hebei Province's Zhoulu county, and in a separate incident arrested the diocese chancellor of Wenzhou city, Fr. Jiang Sunian. Jian, who is scheduled for release in August due to ill health, was detained last August for falsifying his passport to allow him to travel on pilgrimage to Rome.

Six other priests continue to serve prison time for alleged illegal religious activities, Asia News reported.

China's estimated 12 million Catholics are currently split between the state-approved "above-ground" church and the unregistered "underground" church that rejects government ties and answers only to Rome.

Government reaction to underground churches range from physical harassment to imprisonment of followers.

Beijing's relations with the Vatican ended after the ruling Communist Party forced the nation's Roman Catholic Church to sever ties with the papacy in 1957. Those choosing to side with the state's Catholic church came to affiliate themselves with the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

The issuance of bishop ordainments has been the main barrier for normalizing Sino-Vatican relations, even though the pope has already approved most of the state-assigned bishops.

The CPCA has overseen the ordainment of several bishops without Vatican-approval, including the recent selection for Bishop of Beijing candidate, Li Shan.

In addition, China has also demanded that the Vatican sever ties with Taiwan, which Beijing sees as an illegitimate breakaway.