CHINA 16/6/2004 15:57 âUNDERGROUNDâ BISHOP AND PRIEST MISSING Church/Religious Affairs, Brief A bishop and a priest from the so-called âundergroundâ Church â which is loyal to the Pope but is not recognized by the Beijing authorities - in the province of Hebei (northeast China) have allegedly been missing since 13 June, the Asian Catholic news agency âUcaNewsâ has said. According to its sources, monsignor Julius Jia Zhiguo, aged 69, a âclandestineâ bishop with the Zhengding diocese, was taken away by religious affairs officials on the afternoon of 13 June, after celebrating Mass in a village in the city of Jinzhou. Monsignor Jia Zhiguo was last detained by the authorities in April, although he was allowed to celebrate Mass. The same happened in March 2003 (but he was released immediately on the grounds of ill health) and in March 2002, a few days before Holy Week. A bishop since 1980, the prelate has already spent a total of 20 years in prison. Instead, another source has told âUcaNewsâ that a Trappist friar, Father Placid Pei Ronggui, also from the diocese of Zhengding, has been missing since 13 June. Nothing has been heard from the two men since then. [LC]
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