A priest from China's underground Church has been handed a three-year jail sentence for consecrating a new church, despite the fact that he had official permission to build it.

Fr Wang Zhong, 41, from the diocese of Xiwanze in Hebei province, was sentenced on 14 November having been arrested in July and kept in isolation and allowed no visitors. He is not affiliated with the official Church, the China Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA).

Fr Wang was accused of organising an unlawful meeting, referring to the consecration of the church building in Guyuan, and using the official seal of the parish without the permission of state authorities.

The church was built with the correct permit and paid for by the faithful themselves, who raised the money over a two-year period, reported AsiaNews, which received an unofficial transcript of the trial. Those who could not make a financial contribution offered their own labour. Some 7,000 people, including 21 underground priests and a bishop, attended the consecration on 18 July 2006.

Fr Wang's lawyer told the court that the consecration was not illegal. He said: "The new church and its consecration were approved by Zhangjiakou [district] authorities [in Hebei]. The permit issued by them was presented as an exhibit at the trial. The local Religious Affairs Bureau and United Front Work Department even contributed about 1000 yuan (£65) to the construction."

More than 200 of Fr Wang's parishioners were present to hear the judge sentence the priest for "organising an unlawful meeting". The defence lawyer said he would appeal. One of the parishioners reportedly said that the Government's Religious Affairs Bureau "is engaged in a full-blown ‘normalisation' campaign" against underground Churches in order to force them to register with the CCPA.