Underground church priests released in China's Wenzhou Diocese

Published: 2006-01-27

HONG KONG (CNS) -- Two underground church priests, officials of Wenzhou Diocese in eastern China, were freed in mid-January after being detained for two and a half months. UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, reported Jan. 27 that Father Shao Zhumin, 44, vicar general of the diocese, and Father Paul Jiang Sunian, 36, diocesan chancellor, were released Jan. 11 and 13, respectively. Their diocese is based in Wenzhou, in China's Zhejiang province. After his release, Father Shao was rushed to a hospital for kidney treatment. A source told UCA News Jan. 25 that he was unlikely to be discharged before Jan. 29, the beginning of the lunar new year. Father Jiang underwent a medical checkup and is said to be in good health. Before Christmas, he staged a three-day hunger strike to demand that Mass vessels, confiscated when he was detained, be returned to him so he could celebrate Christmas Mass. The vessels have not been returned, the source said. Public security officers arrested the priests separately Oct. 27, hours after they celebrated Mass to close the Year of the Eucharist.

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