China ‘kidnaps’ bishops to stage Catholic ordination
16th July 2011
Thursday’s ceremony was particularly controversial after four bishops loyal to the Vatican were taken away by Chinese police and allegedly forced to participate.
The Rt Revs Liang Jiansen, Liao Hongqing, Paul Su Yongda disappeared from their dioceses in Guangdong province on Sunday, while the Bishop of Guangzhou, the Rt Rev Joseph Junqi, has been missing for even longer.
According to AsiaNews, a Vatican news agency, one of the bishops was seen “sobbing as he was dragged away by government representatives”.
I imagine everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they showed back up again without a bullet in the back of the head. In mainland China, you really never know.
Why does it always surprise people when a Communist government acts like, well, a Communist government? The Russians tried to destroy the Church; that obviously didn’t work, and the Chinese (who aren’t stupid), learning from history, have instead opted to keep it safely under their thumb.