#BreakingNews Catholic Bishop who Refused to Join the Patriotic Association is Arrested by Police in China - Please Pray!

 Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou, age 61, was arrested in China, in the province of Zhejiang. Security forces took the prelate into custody at night, telling him to bring clothes for every season. Ordained coadjutor bishop with papal mandate in 2011, he is not recognised by the authorities for refusing to join the Patriotic Association. Since the death of his predecessor in 2016, he has been prevented from carrying out his ministry in one of China’s oldest and foremost Catholic communities. Now “the faithful are praying for him” and his release, a source told AsiaNews.
Bishop Shao is not recognised by the Chinese government and is therefore routinely jailed by local authorities to prevent him from carrying out his ministry serving the vibrant local Catholic community.
 “He was ordered to take clothes for spring, summer, autumn, and winter,” a source said. “This suggests that his situation is not promising and that he will probably be held for a long time. The faithful are worried because they don't even know where he will be detained.”
Bishop Shao was ordained coadjutor bishop with a papal mandate in 2011, and succeeded Bishop Vincent Zhu Wei-Fang when the latter passed away in September 2016.
Considering the see vacant, the government put in charge of the diocese a member of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, Father Ma Xianshi.

This year, however, things went a little differently. A few days before Christmas, on 16 December, Bishop Shao was taken away by security forces only to be released two days later.
Then, on December 24 and 25, he was taken to Taishun County to prevent him from celebrating Christmas Mass, but he still reported that he spent one of the most peaceful Christmases in his life.
His arrest came later, following a new letter that Bishop Shao wrote to Fr Ma on 31 December, in protest of the decisions about the diocese made without his authority.
"I have written to you," reads the letter that Bishop Shao made public, “expressing my desire to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss solutions to some of the complex problems of the diocese at this time.
“Your answer was that it was not convenient for you to meet me. So I am writing to ask you to pass on my opinions to my brother priests and to parishioners."
"In 2019, without my permission, there was a change in parishes and a transfer of priests from this Church, and the unauthorised downgrading of the Diocese of Lishui to parish status under the Diocese of Wenzhou.
"After four years, I read again about a division of parishes and the transfer of priests (decided by Fr Ma for 6 January) without the bishop’s permission. I wrote to you immediately to ask for a nomination.
“The same applies to the promotion of seminarians. According to the law of the Church, it is necessary to be ordained personally by the bishop of the diocese or to have power of attorney from him.
"Pursuant to the Code of Canon Law, anyone who receives holy orders from someone who lacks legitimate power to ordain is automatically suspended."

The letter appears to have caused a strong reaction on the part of "official" Church bodies in Wenzhou, which are seemingly behind Bishop Shao’s arrest.

"Now," the source told AsiaNews, "the faithful are praying for him, asking the Lord to bring him back to his community as soon as possible.”

Source: Asia NewsIT