Julius Jia Zhiguo (born 5 June 1934) is an underground

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the People's Republic of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Bishop Jia had been jailed for as long as 20 years, but had been released before he disappeared. During his confinement at home, his requests for medical treatment were denied by Chinese authorities. In March 2004, the

Cardinal Kung Foundation The Cardinal Kung Foundation is a not-for-profit Roman Catholic organization based in Stamford, Connecticut. Founded in 1994 by Joseph Kung, nephew of the late Cardinal Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei, the foundation monitors the treatment of Catholics in ...

sent out a press release detailing the disappearance of Bishop Jia of

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

Province in central China. Newspapers picked up the story, and within a week of Mr. Kung's press release, the bishop was freed. In 2008, he was arrested again by local authorities on the morning of August 24, the twelfth such arrest since January 2004. In 2009, Chinese police re-arrested Bishop Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, the most prominent leader of the Chinese "underground Church." The arrest came just as a special

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

commission met in Rome to consider the situation facing the Church in China. Zhiguo was once again arrested by authorities in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jia, Julius, Zhiguo 1934 births Living people 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in China

See also

References