Beijing Arrests Catholic Bishop

79-Year-Old Is Part of China's Underground Roman Catholic Church

Washington Post, Apr. 23, 2001
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BEIJING, April 23 – Beijing police have arrested Shi Enxiang, a 79-year-old bishop in China's underground Roman Catholic Church, according to the Connecticut-based Cardinal Kung Foundation.

Shi, the bishop of Yixian in China's northern Hebei province, had been in hiding from Chinese authorities since 1996. He was arrested on April 13 on a visit to Beijing, the foundation said.

Shi was ordained a bishop in 1982. He has spent a total of nearly 30 years in jail and was most recently incarcerated between 1990 and 1993.

China's citizens are promised freedom of worship by their constitution. But China's communist leaders have always been suspicious of organized religion, which it views as a potential threat to the legitimacy of the state. But they have grown particularly wary of non-approved religious activity during the past several years as ordinary citizens have turned to belief systems beyond communism to bring meaning to their lives.

Although Beijing claims to permit a variety of faiths, including Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity, it recognizes only five churches – each of which is required to register with and submit to oversight by the State Administration of Religious Affairs.

China's communist leaders have established a state-sanctioned church for Chinese Catholics, run by Beijing-appointed prelates who reject the legitimacy of the pope. An estimated 12 million Chinese loyal to Rome worship at clandestine prayer meetings often held in private homes.

Last year, authorities in a number of Chinese provinces demolished churches and places of worship used by scores of Protestant groups, and thousands of privately built temples for folk worship.
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