Jun 7, 2007 / 09:52 am
An elderly bishop in China's underground Catholic church has been jailed again by police, nine months after his release from their custody, the Cardinal Kung Foundation reported.
Bishop Jia Zhiguo, 73, was taken away Tuesday by security agents in the northern city of Zhengding. However, it was not immediately clear why Jia was detained or where he was being held, the group said.
According to the Associated Press, a man who answered the telephone at the Zhengding Religious Affairs Bureau referred questions to the local government. Officials at the Zhengding government office and public security bureau said they had never heard of Jia and hung up without giving their names or any other details.
Jia was last released in September 2006 after being held for 10 months by local authorities. The reason was never made public but religious groups say Jia has been repeatedly detained over his refusal to affiliate himself with the Communist Party-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association.