News Archive China Knock, Knock: Pope Seeks Diplomatic Ties Looks to China, Vietnam, North Korea, Saudi Arabia VATICAN CITY, MAY 12, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican currently enjoys full diplomatic relations with 174 countries, and Benedict XVI is looking for more. In his first address, today, to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See, the new Pope sent a sign of openness to countries that do not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See, such as China, Vietnam, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. The Holy Father addressed "a deferential greeting to the civil authorities of those countries, formulating the desire to see them represented as soon as possible in the Apostolic See." The Pope thanked those countries that do not have diplomatic relations, which "associated themselves to the ceremonies on the occasion of the death of my predecessor and my election to the See of Peter." The new Bishop of Rome revealed that "from those countries, in particular those in which the Catholic communities are numerous, I received messages that I appreciate particularly." "I would like to express the great appreciation I feel for these communities and for the ensemble of peoples to which they belong, assuring all that they are present in my prayer," he said. Also present were representatives of the Russian Federation, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Order of Malta. The last countries to establish relations with Rome are the Republic of East Timor and the Emirate of Qatar. ZE05051203 Church Requests Whereabouts of Chinese Bishop Authorities Deny Knowing Anything about His Fate BEIJING, MAY 10, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Four years ago a bishop of the Chinese underground Church disappeared, and the government denies knowing anything about his fate. There is grave concern that Bishop Cosmas Shi Enxiang, 83, might end his days like Bishops Fan Xueyan and Li Lifang, who died in prison. Wanting information, the Chinese underground Church -- which recognizes the Pope's authority, but is not officially approved by the Beijing authorities -- made another public request to the government for confirmation of the detention of Bishop Shi Enxiang from Yixian, in the province of Hebei, explained AsiaNews. On Feb. 12, 2002, Fides news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, published an incomplete list with 33 names of bishops and priests detained or not free to exercise their ministry (see ZENIT, Feb. 21, 2002) because they refuse to belong to the "Patriotic Association" or "official Church," with which the Chinese government seeks to control the Church, creating an institution that is independent of obedience to the Pope. Among the arrested prelates, mention was made of Bishop Shi Enxiang, ordained bishop in 1982. His last known detention was in December 1990, from which he was released in 1993. The authorities were after Bishop Shi Enxiang since 1995. He eventually disappeared, at 81, from his niece's home in Beijing on the morning of April 13, 2001. According to eyewitnesses, two cars bearing license plates from Xushui, in Hebei province, drove the Bishop away. The family went to the police for information on his whereabouts, but were met with the latter's refusal. Beijing's police also denied knowing anything. Even more recently, the bishop's family went to the Xushui police again to ask for information, but received nothing. Four years have gone by without any information on the bishops' incarceration, with the authorities refusing to acknowledge knowing anything about it, reported AsiaNews. The underground Church also asked for news about Father Liu Deli, 42, of the same Chinese diocese, whose fate has been unknown since March 1999. He was taken into custody by the government, after being invited to a meeting. There are no signs that he might be released any time soon. In March, AsiaNews published an incomplete list of bishops and priests in prison, isolation, or condemned to labor camps. It included a petition to be sent to the Chinese government asking for the clergymen's release. The petition found support in Europe, the United States, on websites and in the press. Among its supporters include Mario Mauro, vice president of the European Parliament, and Bishop John H. Ricard of Tallahassee, Florida, chairman of the Committee on International Policy of the U.S. bishops' conference, who wrote a letter to China's ambassador in Washington asking for "information about the jailed bishops and priests" in China. Beijing severed relations with the Holy See in 1951, expelling the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Riberi. China stipulates two conditions to resume relations: that the Pope not interfere in the country's religious situation (among other things, that he not name bishops), and that he sever relations with Taiwan. China Releases 7 Priests From Detention STAMFORD, Connecticut, MAY 3, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Chinese authorities have released seven priests of the Diocese of Zhengding who were arrested April 27 while on a spiritual retreat with their bishop, says a U.S.-based watchdog group. Joseph Kung, president of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, said that the priests in Hebei province were released from various security bureaus. No other details were given. The priests belong to the "underground Church" which recognizes the Pope's authority but is not officially approved by Beijing. They were on retreat in a village near the city of Jinzhou with their "non-official" Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo. The prelate, a bishop since 1980, has spent some 20 years in prison. Bishop Jia has been warned previously by the Public Security and religious offices not to engage in any religious activity. Vatican Denounces Arrests in China 2 Bishops, Priest, Layman Detained VATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See denounced the arrest of two bishops, a priest and a layman in China. The Vatican received "the news that on Wednesday, March 30, Reverend Thomas Zhao Kexium of the diocese of Xuanhua, in the province of Hebei, was arrested by the police as he was returning from a funeral," said spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls today in a statement to the press. "His whereabouts and the reason for his arrest are unknown," stated the Vatican press office. "Also the bishop of the same diocese, Bishop Philip Peter Zhao Zhendong, 85 years old, was arrested Jan. 3, and is detained in the city of Jiangjiakow," added the text. "On Palm Sunday, March 20, the national security forces seized Bishop James Lin Xili, 86 years old, Bishop of Wenzhou, in the province of Zhejiang. The reasons for his arrest are unknown," said Navarro Valls. Lastly, the statement reported that "in the diocese of Wenzhou, two days later, Gao Xinyou, collaborator in the pastoral care of the laity in the Longgang area, was arrested in the same way." Bishop Lin Xili is on the list of 18 bishops and 19 priests arrested or subjected to isolation, which was published recently by the AsiaNews agency, and which was handed to the Chinese Embassy in the United States by a representative of the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference. He is "one of the bishops of the underground Church who have been abducted and brain-washed in alternating phases to force them to register in the Patriotic Association, the organization controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, among whose objectives is the creation of a Church independent of the Pope," explained Father Bernardo Cervellera, director of AsiaNews. In a press conference on Friday, Liu Jianchao, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry, wished the Pope a "speedy recovery." On Friday, Xinhua agency and the People's Newspaper, reported extensively on the Pope's health, according to sources of AsiaNews. On Saturday, however, the news disappeared from all Internet sites, television channels and newspapers. Beijing severed its relations with the Holy See in 1951, expelling the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Riberi. To resume relations, China requests two conditions: That the Pope not interfere in the country's religious situation (among other things, that he not appoint bishops), and that he sever relations with Taiwan.ZE05040202 China Tightens the Screws on Religion Believers Continue to Face Tough Restrictions BEIJING, MARCH 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- On March 1 a new law governing religious freedom entered into force in China. According to human rights groups the new regulations promise little improvement for believers who do not wish to follow the official government policy. In fact, the government in recent months seems determined to keep a firm control over religious activities. A Jan. 17 analysis of the new law by the U.S.-based rights group Compass Direct noted that the "Religious Affairs Provisions" were hailed by the government-run New China News Agency as "a significant step forward in the protection of Chinese citizens' religious freedom." But a close look at the provisions of the new law reveals that, apart from minor modifications, very little is different. Some of the new regulations, in fact, are even more restrictive than the ones they replace, observed Compass Direct. The guiding principle of the law is contained in Article 3: "Religious bodies, religious venues and believers must uphold the constitution, laws and regulations to safeguard national unity, harmony between the national minorities, and social stability." The same article also explains that the state will protect normal religious activities. But what is "normal" is never defined, leaving such a judgment completely in the hands of authorities. Registration of religious groups is still required and restrictions on publishing religious material continue. And for those believers who participate in organizations that do not have official approval the regulations contain severe measures, including heavy fines and the confiscation of property. The improvements include a safeguarding of property rights, but only of those religious groups with official registration. Recognized organizations are now allowed to set up social service projects, such as schools and clinics. The law also maintains China's determination to prohibit overseas contacts. The regulations ban the unofficial organization of overseas pilgrimages, a measure aimed at the more than 20 million Muslims who may wish to travel to Mecca, according to Compass Direct. In its Jan. 18 analysis of the new law, the Norway-based rights group F18 observed that the regulations maintain the requirement that Chinese religious organizations should function independent of "foreign forces." This places severe strains on Catholics in China, since it means "they must either sever all ties with the Vatican or seek papal recognition privately," F18 noted. Another organization, Human Rights in China, published its analysis of the new law last Monday. The group, founded by Chinese scientists and scholars, affirmed that "the Chinese central government has again drafted a document not to protect, but to regulate all religious activities." The organization also noted that the regulations are framed in such a way to leave the door open to arbitrary interpretation and implementation. Overall the group judged that "the premise for the Chinese government to adopt this new set of regulations is not based on the desire to make freedom of religion available to its citizens, but is motivated by its overarching need to regulate freedom of association in the name of national security and public order." Persecution continues Recent events show the government's determination to keep a firm control over religious activities. BBC last Nov. 9 reported on Peter Xu Yongze and his encounter with torture in prison. "They hung me up across an iron gate," he told BBC, "then they yanked open the gate and my whole body lifted until my chest nearly split in two. I hung like that for four hours." A evangelical Protestant and leader of a large group, Xu, who now lives in the United States, was imprisoned on five occasions. Wilfred Wong, a parliamentary officer for the interdenominational lobby group Jubilee Campaign, told BBC that in spite of difficulties the number of Christians in China has continued to rise. But, he added, "China's new generation of leaders are trying to consolidate control of the country as it goes through rapid social and economic changes." Two days later, the Washington Times reported that government officials arrested a Protestant minister. Cai Zhuohua, a minister to six unofficial congregations, was detained in Beijing last September, according to the China Aid Association. The association said that Cai, his wife, and other members of the family were being held at the Qinghe detention center in Beijing. His arrest came after authorities discovered 200,000 Bibles and other Christian literature in a warehouse under his control. On Dec. 19 the London-based Telegraph newspaper published an article based on an interview with one of the unofficial Catholic bishops in China, Julius Jia. The bishop has been detained by authorities on more than 30 occasions and overall has spent more than 20 years in jail. Bishop Jia, 69, is based in Hebei province, in northern China, home to an estimated 1.5 million Catholics. Here, according to the Telegraph, divisions between the government-backed Catholic patriotic church and the underground Church are sharper than anywhere else in the country. The government has placed the bishop under house arrest near Wuqiu. But he frequently circumvents the order by going out to say Mass, often hiding in the back of a car, according to the Telegraph. Hard-line policy Amnesty International, in a report Dec. 21, also noted that Beijing was continuing its hard-line policy against believers. AI commented that the official China Daily had referred to the new law as "a significant step forward in the protection of Chinese citizens' religious freedoms." However, this is in contrast to official actions AI observed, citing the Dec. 1 arrest of church leader Zhang Rongliang in Henan province. The leader has already been imprisoned five times for his beliefs, for a total of 12 years, during which he was severely tortured, declared AI. The police also raided at least three unofficial "house" churches in nearby Fangcheng county, around the time they detained Zhang. Action against these unofficial churches has been common. The AI press release noted that in July 2003 more than a dozen house churches were reportedly destroyed and at least 300 Christians arrested, some ill-treated and beaten. Moreover, "the new regulations do nothing to reduce the restrictions on underground churches or the persecution that accompany them," AI said. More recent news came in an article published Feb. 15 by the Christian Post. During a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., members of underground house churches in China detailed the increasing persecution and torture of Christians. Among those who gave their accounts was Liu Xianzhi, a member of the South China Church who was arrested in 2001. Liu recounted her experience of torture, abuse and arbitrary imprisonment by police. The article also noted that the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that China's arbitrary detentions are a violation of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. On March 10 the group Human Rights Watch issued a declaration calling on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights to condemn China during its current annual meeting in Geneva. In addition to violations of political rights and ill treatment of racial minorities, Human Rights Watch cited worries over the new law governing religious expression that took effect March 1. The requirements placed on organizations by the regulations "are vaguely worded, allowing authorities extraordinary leeway to shut institutions, levy fines, dismiss personnel and censor texts," said Human Rights Watch. Religious tolerance in China remains elusive. ZE05031903 Chinese region 'must conduct 20,000 abortions' By Damien Mcelroy in Hong Kong (Filed: 05/08/2001) A CHINESE county has been ordered to conduct 20,000 abortions and sterilisations before the end of the year after communist family planning chiefs found that the official one-child policy was being routinely flouted. The impoverished mountainous region of Huaiji has been set the draconian target by provincial authorities in Guangdong (formerly known as Canton). Although the one-child policy is no longer strictly enforced in many rural areas, officials in Guangdong issued the edict after census officials revealed that the average family in Huaiji has five or more children. Many of the terminations will have to be conducted forcibly on peasant women to meet the quota. As part of the campaign, county officials are buying expensive ultrasound equipment that can be carried to remote villages by car. By detecting which women are pregnant, the machines will allow Government doctors to order terminations on the spot. At the Huaiji county hospital, where most of the operations will take place, it is not only women with unauthorised pregnancies who are facing traumatic surgery in insanitary conditions. Officials said that, as part of the drive to meet the quota, doctors had been ordered to sterilise women as soon as they gave birth after officially approved pregnancies. The drive to perform 20,000 abortions and sterilisations in six months in a county with a population of fewer than one million represents a heavy assault on the women of child-bearing age in its population. It is equivalent to the number of legal abortions that take place each year in Hong Kong, a city with a population of seven million, where women face no family planning restrictions. Demographers believe that China has one of the highest rates of abortion in the world, with estimates running at up to 80 terminations for each 1,000 live births. In Western Europe, the figure is just 10 abortions per 1,000 births. Claiming to be strapped for funds, the local county leadership decided that it could buy the ultrasound machines only if it withheld part of the salaries of its 15,000 employees. One government official said: "We are a very poor county. As our budget is very small, we don't have the money to buy new equipment." Employees of the county government have spoken out against the leaders who have implemented the bizarre levy. Teachers, policemen and clerks, who already find their 600 yuan (£50) monthly stipend inadequate, now have to support their families on half that amount. One official said: "Party members and officials are people, too. We don't know why we should pay for such a heartless drive." Beijing's 20-year campaign to curb the country's population has had a marked effect. The 2000 census produced a tally under 1.3 billion; the number would have been much higher without the one-child policy. Sven Burmester, the United Nations Population Fund representative in Beijing, said: "For all the bad press, China has achieved the impossible. The country has solved its population problem." That "bad press" has included reports of babies drowned in paddy fields by officials. There was also the testimony of Gao Xiaoduan, a former family planning official, who told an American congressional committee in 1998 that heavily pregnant women were often forced to have abortions. Most recently, a woman was reported to have died while trying to escape from officials who were attempting to sterilise her. Many of the operations carried out by the hated Family Planning Association are forced on women, sometimes as late as eight and a half months into pregnancy. The most common method of inducing birth is to inject a saline solution into the womb. Abortion in Guangdong is increasing sharply as a result of a combination of a new campaign to strengthen implementation of the one-child policy and a trend for young women in the cities to have multiple terminations from an early age as a form of birth control. Hospitals use the operations to generate cash both from local women and visitors from neighbouring Hong Kong who think it is easier to travel across the border and pay £40 for the procedure than to go through the formalities required under the laws of the former British colony. The clinics catering for Hong Kong and Chinese city-dwellers are a far cry from the primitive facilities in Huaiji. Dozens of young women sit restlessly on benches waiting for their names to be called. Once inside, the theatre they are given a general anaesthetic before undergoing the 10-minute operation. Within hours, they are back on the streets or boarding the train back to Hong Kong. If they went to the Hong Kong Family Planning Association, they would have to face background checks and be forced to accept a cooling-off period. There are no such time-consuming demands in southern China, where abortion is not considered an ethical issue. In Hong Kong, they would also have been offered counselling, something that the doctors in China insist that there is no demand for. 8 Underground Priests and 2 Seminarians Arrested in China STAMFORD, Connecticut, AUG. 17, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Eight priests and two seminarians of the underground Catholic Church in China were arrested Aug. 6 in Hebei province while attending a religious retreat, the U.S.-based Cardinal Kung Foundation reported. Among those arrested in Sujiazhuang village were Father Huo Junlong, the administrator of Baoding Diocese in Hebei; Father Zhang Zhenquian of Baoding; and Father Huang of Sujiazhuang. The names of others arrested were not immediately known. About 20 police vehicles and a large number of security policemen surrounded Sujiazhuang and conducted a house-to-house search to arrest the priests and seminarians. Those seized are now detained in the Baoding Security Bureau. Nine out of the ten religious arrested this time belong to the Baoding Diocese. Bishop Su Zhi-Ming, the underground Catholic Bishop of Baoding, was arrested by the government in October 1997. He was last seen publicly last November, while hospitalized in a Baoding hospital. Auxiliary Bishop An Shuxin of Baoding vanished after his arrest by the government in March 1996. ZE04081701 China's Crackdown on Christians Authorities Step Up Hard-line Measures BEIJING, JULY 31, 2004 (Zenit.org).- China seems determined to restrict the spread of Christianity in the country. Authorities are now using the same tactics against Christian churches that they deployed to quash the Falun Gong spiritual movement, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The crackdown, ordered late last year by the China's political leadership, according to the Journal, is being carried out by an offshoot of the task force that coordinated the campaign against the Falun Gong. The main focus is on the rural zones, where religious fervor is on the rise. "The spread of Christianity is really worrying the government, so it has become a target," said Kang Xiaoguang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the Wall Street Journal. The government is targeting what it terms "cults," which are only loosely described. In practice the term is applied to whatever groups have not received official permission to operated. Apart from the continued persecution of Catholic groups that do not submit to official control, the government is particularly worried about evangelical and Protestant groups, who have been rapidly expanding. Chronicle of persecution Two groups active in documenting religious persecution, the Center for Religious Freedom, a division of Freedom House, and Compass Direct, have collected news on the crackdown by authorities from a wide range of sources. Among the reports from past months are the following items. -- July 22. More than 100 religious leaders were arrested in the western province of Xinjiang. The arrests came during a meeting organized by the Ying Shang Church, a large house-church network headquartered in Anhui Province. The arrests came shortly after 40 house-church leaders were arrested while attending a training seminar in Cheng Du City in the province of Sichuan. -- July 19. Chinese authorities detained and interrogated house-church leader Samuel Lamb after worship services on June 13. Ten of his co-workers were also detained and interrogated. This is the first time in 14 years that Chinese authorities have taken repressive steps against Lamb, who reportedly hosts 3,000 worshippers per week at his meeting place in Guangzhou. -- July 5. A 34-year-old woman was beaten to death in jail on the day she was arrested for handing out Bibles in Guizhou province. Police arrested Jiang Zongxiu on June 18 on suspicion of "spreading rumors and inciting to disturb social order," according to the local press. Her mother-in-law, Tan Dewei, was arrested with Jiang but later released. She said police kicked Jiang repeatedly during interrogation. -- June 23. The Vatican strongly protested to China over the arrest of three Catholic bishops -- one of them 84 years old -- in the previous month. The statement called the bishops' arrest "inconceivable in a country based on laws." The 84-year-old bishop of Xuanhua was arrested May 27. Another two bishops, from Xiwanzi and Zhengding, were detained for several days in June. -- May 24. Gu Xianggao, a teacher in a house-church group, was beaten to death by Public Security Bureau officers. -- May 16. Two Catholic priests, Lu Genjun and Cheng Xiaoli, were arrested May 14 in An Guo, Hebei province, by government security policemen. The priests were set to begin classes for natural family planning and moral theology courses. Father Lu was previously arrested on Palm Sunday 1998 for a short period. He was arrested again shortly before Easter in 2001 and detained for three years. -- May 10. Chinese Christians gave evidence of persecution at a special meeting called by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in April. The speakers testified to beatings, imprisonment, torture and harassment. Female members of the South China Church also testified to torture and sexual assault at the hands of police officers. Their evidence was supported by documents and a video showing the destruction of a church in Zhejiang province. Religion feared An in-depth look at the reasons behind the government's persecution of religious groups was published March 31 by the Norway-based human rights group Forum 18. The 10th National People's Congress that concluded in Beijing on March 14 included an amendment to the Chinese Constitution, stating that "The state respects and safeguards human rights." Forum 18 observed that this new provision aroused skepticism among commentators, given that the constitution already contained safeguards protecting human rights. Those safeguards have not impeded past violations. In fact, the report noted that on March 5, the very day the meeting opened, Bishop Wei Jingyi of Qiqihar in Heilongjiang province was arrested. And on the same day, police arrested, detained and beat Hua Huiqi, an unofficial house-church leader in Beijing. A major factor behind the repression, according to Forum 18, can be found in the Communist ideology. Official policy bars Communist Party members from adhering to any religious belief or participating in religious activities. And even if Communist ideology is no longer so popular, as recently as November an article in the People's Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, entitled "A Historical Study of the Communist Party of China's Theory and Policy Concerning Religion," inveighed against religion. "To uphold the fundamental opposition in world outlook of Marxism and religion," stated the article, "it is of course essential to uphold the fundamental opposition of science and religion. Religion is an illusory, inverse reflection of the external world, whereas the task of science is to understand the objective world in accordance with reality, advocating seeking truth from facts and pursuing objective truth." Forum 18 said that the government further fears religion because it represents a threat to the Communist Party's ability to mobilize the masses, particularly the peasantry. Officials estimate there are at least 100 million believers of all faiths throughout China, and authorities are worried that religious organizations could repeat what happened in the past, when religion was a key factor in popular revolts. Concern over human rights China also continues to maintain tight controls over political expression and organization. An April 14 press release by Amnesty International (AI) outlined some of the concerns over human rights in China. -- Crackdown on Internet users: By the end of March, at least 60 people had been detained or imprisoned after accessing or circulating politically sensitive information on the Internet. According to AI the Internet censorship practiced by the Chinese government is the most extensive in the world, and many of the toughest controls have been issued since 2000. -- Death penalty: China continues to execute more people than the rest of the world combined. Executions are carried out following trials that fall far short of international fair-trial standards. AI declared that the death penalty continues to be used extensively and arbitrarily as a result of political interference. And people continue to be executed even for nonviolent crimes such as tax fraud and pimping. -- Torture, unfair trials and administrative detention: Ill-treatment remains widespread in police stations, prisons and labor camps. As well, those accused of both political and criminal offenses continue to be denied due process and detainees' access to lawyers and family members is severely restricted. China's economic progress in recent years has yet to be matched by advances in religious and political liberty. ZE04073103 Spain Readies for 5th Centenary of Francis Xavier's Birth Celebrations for the Apostle of the East Begin in December 2005 PAMPLONA, Spain, JULY 23, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Three commissions have been set up in Spain to organize the celebrations for the fifth centenary of the birth of Navarre native Francis Xavier, patron of the missions. The civil authorities' commission will oversee the logistical and financial aspects of the commemorative events, while the Pamplona Archdiocese's panel will coordinate the pastoral and liturgical activities in the diocese, according to Father Ricardo Sada, rector of the saint's shrine. Father Sada is a member of the third commission, which is under the Jesuits. The commissions' ecclesial representatives see the centenary as a great opportunity to make the great apostle of the East known and to stimulate the missions. Centenary celebrations will begin on Dec. 3, 2005, the feast day of St. Francis Xavier. On that day, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, and all the Jesuit provincial superiors from around the world, will gather in Xavier, in the province of Navarre. The traditional "Javierada," a pilgrimage from all the villages, towns and cities of Navarre to the Castle of Xavier, where the great missionary was born, will take place from March 5-11, 2006. April 7, 2006, is the fifth centenary of Xavier's birth, and Dec. 3, 2006, will be the closing of the centenary. Father Sada told the Fides agency that restoration work has been carried out on the shrine and the castle, venues for planned celebrations. Xavier studied in Paris, where he met Ignatius of Loyola, and was ordained a priest in 1537. He was part of the small group that founded the Society of Jesus in 1539. The following year, Father Xavier was sent to the East Indies as papal legate for all lands situated east of the Cape of Good Hope. He established himself in Goa in 1542, where he began his apostolate in the East. He left for Japan in 1548, where he worked tirelessly in evangelization. He tried to enter China in 1552, his cherished missionary dream, but by then he was suffering from high fevers, which led to his death on Dec. 3, 1552. Beatified in 1619, and canonized in 1622, St. Francis Xavier was proclaimed universal patron of the missions by Pope Pius X in 1904. ZE04072303 Holy See Assails China's Arrest of 84-year-old Bishop VATICAN CITY, JUNE 23, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See denounced the arrest of an 84-year-old bishop by police in China and expressed its "deep pain." "Since May 27 there has been no news of the 84-year-old bishop of Xuanhua, who was taken into custody by police forces," said Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls in a statement, without mentioning the prelate's name. "The coadjutor bishop of Xiwanzi was placed in custody from June 2-12, whereas the bishop of Zheng Ding was held by the authorities for five days," the director of the Vatican press office added, again without mentioning names. "The Holy See feels deep pain for these measures, for which no reason has been communicated," Navarro Valls said. "They are inconceivable in a state of law and go against human rights, in particular religious freedom, which are sanctioned in numerous international documents, also endorsed by the People's Republic of China." According to the Cardinal Kung Foundation, a U.S.-based group that promotes religious freedom in China, all the bishops of the "underground" Catholic Church are either in prison, under house arrest, under surveillance, or in hiding. For months, the Holy See has been protesting news of the arrest of bishops in China. ZE04062307 back to index of Chinese articles