ADHRRF – Only one day after Vatican and China signed an interim agreement, a Catholic priest was arrested by the authorities in mainland China.
According to Bitter Winter, on September 23, Longtian Catholic Church, which is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fuzhou, was holding a solemn mass when over 10 local plainclothes police officers suddenly broke into the church and arrested Father Lin Jing’en. The mass was forced to stop.
In addition, after the Vatican-China agreement was signed, nine other priests (including Guo Jinming) from Fuqing were continuously harassed and threatened by the authorities. According to an informed source, every day, the local National Security Brigade summoned the nine priests for questioning on the grounds that they were “endangering public security,” and asked them about their views on the Vatican-China agreement signed on September 22.
It is learned that during the questioning, the National Security Brigade even said threateningly, “Since 1998, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fuzhou has been classified by the state as an illegal organization. We have the right to arrest you at any time.”
One local Catholic said that the Chinese Communist government’s persecution of religious faith is getting increasingly worse. Even after Vatican and China signed the agreement, Catholics still see no hope for freedom of belief.
