Fr Liu Maochun, 46, a priest of the diocese of Mindong (Fujian), has been in the hands of the Religious Affairs Bureau for 17 days. Fr Liu is not reco-gnized as a priest because he be-longs to the underground Church and refuses to sign up for membership in the independent Church (which is subject to the Chinese Communist Party).
In the late afternoon of September 1st, Fr Liu had gone to visit some sick people in the hospital. On leaving, around 6.30 pm, a group of people, sent by the Religious Affairs Bureau, arrested him and took him to an unknown location. His where-abouts is still unknown. Family members have lobbied for news of him, but to no avail. The authorities have only confirmed that he is in the hands of the Religious Affairs Bureau.
Father of Fr Liu is 86 years old and very ill and has limited mobility; his mother, 70, is also ill: both need his help.
According to information from Mindong, several priests – at least 20 – refuse to join the “independent Church.” For this they are under constant pressure from the local government and have been deprived of the freedom to treat the faithful. These pressures have grown stronger in the run-up to a possible renewal of the Sino-Vatican agreement.