The orphanage founded by
Julius Jia Zhiguo, underground bishop of Zhengding, could be taken over
by the government.
The facility has existed for more than 20 years and
is home to about a hundred disabled children who have been rescued by
the bishop and a group of nuns.
The seizure represents an act of revenge
against the bishop for refusing to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic
Association (CPCA).
Mgr Jia took in his first disabled child 20 years ago.
The child had been left in front of his home.
After that, the prelate
began taking in disabled boys and girls.
He also set up an order of
nuns, who now number around 30, to care for the children.
The orphanage is in Wu Qiu (Jinzhou, Hebei) and is
well known in China and abroad. Even though it is illegal, the facility
is appreciated by the population, which helps and supports the bishop in
his charitable work.
For this reason, the authorities in the past
turned a blind eye and allowed the facility to grow.
The bishop has been
able to cover orphanage expenses thanks to Chinese and foreign donors.
Mgr Jia, 75, has spent more than 15 years in prison.
Since he became an underground bishop in 1980, he has been arrested
several times and has been held in prison for months, subjected to
political sessions (brainwashing) to force him to join the CPCA.
According to information provided by the Kung
Foundation, the decision to seize the orphanage is probably an act of
revenge against the prelate’s “stubborn” refusal to join the
organisation that controls the Church.
In recent months, the CPCA launched a new decisive
campaign to undermine both the official and the underground Church by
organising Episcopal ordinations without papal mandate and setting up an
assembly to elect the president of two institutions that the Holy See
views contrary to Catholic doctrine.
According to the Kung Foundation, “In December 2010,
Mr. Yin of the United Front Department of Jinzhou, Mr. Guo of Political
Secretary, Mr. An of the Bureau on Religious Affairs of Jinzhou, the
Communist Party Secretary in Wuqiu Village, and Director Chen of the
Public Security Bureau of Shijiazhuang took Bishop Jia away on three
different occasions.
They tried to force Bishop Jia to sign an agreement
to release all his orphans to the government, and to disperse the
thirty Catholic nuns who have been serving the orphanage.”
Party officials threatened Mgr Jia with another
prolonged “political session” if he did not sign the agreement. In any
event, they told him that the orphans would be taken away with or without his signature.
Mgr Jia refused to sign and turned instead to the
Central Bureau on Religious Affairs in Beijing, protesting the
above-mentioned threats from the local authorities.
However, the Central
Bureau washed its hands saying that such matters fall under the
jurisdiction of the local bureau.
Many observers believe the government’s move is an
attempt to destroy the bishop’s moral authority with the population and
his community.
The diocese of Zhengding is located some 270
kilometres south of Beijing, and has about 110,000 members loyal to the
underground Church.
SIC: AN/INT'L