Bishop James Su Zhimin has spent 40 years in prison after he refused to bow down to the Chinese government. After 40 years, there is no trace of Bishop Su.
This has made America’s Congress to believe that Bishop Zhimin has passed away while he was in prison.
In a hearing on Thursday by the US House of Representatives to demand answers from China about the whereabout, Congressman Chris Smith of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission directed a question to the President of China.
“President Xi Jinping, where is Bishop Su, and what have you done to him”, said Mr. Smith.
He later recalled meeting with Bishop Su a couple of years ago and said his case is one of the many Chinese Christians who are being persecuted for their faith.
“Bishop Su told my delegation after celebrating mass in a tiny apartment that he prayed for his persecutors and especially prayed for the cruel and misguided leadership of the Chinese communist party,” said Congressman Smith.
Reports this week show that the computers of the Vatican have been hacked by the Chinese due to the fact that there would be an agreement meeting in a month time.
The meeting is to make a deal with the government of China to allow some independence in the Catholic church in China. This deal started in 2018 but there hasn’t been any significant change.
“Cardinal Zen (of Hong Kong) said the Vatican’s silence in the agreement of 2018 on the rights of the faithful underground would allow China to succeed in eliminating the underground church with the help of the Vatican.” These were the words of Nina Shea who is a religious freedom advocate during the hearing.
With the disappearance of Bishop Su, the government of China has now demanded that a new bishop whom the Catholics in China sees as a traitor who has acted contrary to the faith should be appointed.
