Vatican City, Apr 6, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Director of the Vatican Press Office, harshly criticized Communist China on Wednesday for the arrest and imprisonment of Bishop Jia Zhi Guo.
“We have learned that a Catholic Bishop, previously held in prison for 20 years, was arrested again by the authorities of the People’s Republic of China,” said the spokesman.
“Once again, a member of the Catholic hierarchy has been deprived of his personal freedom without any juridical motives being provided. This is inadmissible in a State of law that declares that it guarantees ‘freedom of religion’ and ‘respects and safeguards human rights’,” Navarro-Valls concluded.
The 69 year-old Bishop of Shijiazhuang, who belongs to the underground Catholic Church faithful to Rome, was arrested on Monday at his home in the town of Wuqui, 175 miles south of Beijing.
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