A Vatican-approved Chinese bishop remains in detention more than one year after his arrest for allegedly violating the communist country’s repressive regulations on religious affairs.
Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang in Henan province was arrested on May 21 last year.
His arrest came a day after police arrested 10 priests and an unknown number of seminarians from a Catholic seminary in the diocese that was set up in an abandoned factory building.
About a year ago, authorities in Xinxiang shut down Catholic schools and kindergartens in line with a government ban on education by religious groups.
All those arrested were accused of violating China’s regulations on religious affairs and subjected to “political lessons” in detention, media re-ports said
The priests and seminarians were released after brief detention but remain under surveillance, while the seminary is still closed.
Since his secret ordination with a Vatican mandate in 1991, Bishop Zhang was under constant pressure and barred from carrying out his duties as Bishop.