A bishop loyal to Rome, whose resignation to make way for a bishop appointed by Beijing is a key element in a much-anticipated Vatican-Beijing deal, has reportedly disappeared.
The disappearance of “underground” Bishop Vincent Guo Xijin was reported on Tuesday by AsiaNews agency. A Vatican official told Associated Press recently that Bishop Guo had agreed to a Vatican request to become the auxiliary bishop of Mindong to allow the state-appointed Zhan Silu, to become the Vatican-recognised leader of the diocese.
The fact that Guo disappeared for several weeks last year around Easter was seen as a strong indication that government agents had detained him this week. Police officials in the city of Fu'an, where Guo is based, as well as the city of Ningde, which oversees Fu'an, said they “did not know” anything about the reported detention.
The disappearance was reported as China's ruling Communist Party stepped up its control over all religions by closing its longstanding State Administration for Religious Affairs agency and handing its functions to the party's United Front Work Department (UFWD). The department - once described by Chinese leader Xi Jinping as a “magic weapon” - now has daily oversight and direct control over the state-run organisations of all five official religions, including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which is the part of the Church in China whose first loyalty is to Beijing.
Stricter new rules on religion in China were introduced on 2 February. The new rules place heavier oversight on discussion of religious matters on social media, on religious gatherings, the financing of religious groups and the construction of religious buildings. Religious education is brought further under the umbrella of the state, with explicit provisions on the establishment and registration of religious colleges.
President Xi Jinping, who recently engineered legislation providing for his own indefinite rule over China, has emphasised the need to guard against foreign infiltration through religion, and aggressively promoted what he terms the “sinicisation” of Christianity, which effectively means ensuring that it does not contravene the dictates of the Communist Party.
PICTURE:Bishop Guo ©Twitter
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