LifeSiteNews / X
CV NEWS FEED // A Chinese Catholic bishop has been punished by the government for celebrating Mass in public without federal authorization. His penalties include a fine for the U.S. equivalent of $27,500 and the demolition of his residence and the chapel where he celebrated Mass.
AsiaNews reported that Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou is not officially recognized by the Chinese Communist Party. Catholics in China currently have a complicated relationship with the Vatican and the federal government under the Vatican-China Provisional Agreement.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the agreement stipulates that bishops in China must be approved by both the Vatican and Chinese authorities. The agreement was first made in 2018, and bishops had previously been appointed by the government without the Vatican’s endorsement.
According to AsiaNews, Bishop Shao was appointed coadjutor bishop of Wenzhou by papal mandate in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. The outlet reported that “he was never recognised by the authorities who consider the see ‘vacant’ and support Fr Ma Xianshi, a ‘patriotic’ priest, as the leader of the local Catholic community.”
Bishop Shao has continued to celebrate Mass for Catholics, often being arrested for doing so. The fine and threat of destruction of his chapel and home come after a Dec. 27 Mass he offered with 200 faithful in attendance. The government claims that his actions violated an article under the Religious Affairs Regulations as well as an article under the Urban Planning Law.
“So, after arresting him several times, now Zhejiang provincial authorities are using administrative tools against the underground bishop,” AsiaNews reported.
Bishop Shao has also defied the Chinese authorities on other occasions, including in a Christmas 2024 letter to Christian faithful in which he exhorted them to participate in the 2025 Jubilee of Hope.
“I hope that this Jubilee will strengthen our faith, stimulate our hope, and make us grow in charity. For hope is born of love and ‘does not disappoint’ (Romans 5:5),” he wrote, according to AsiaNews. The outlet added that the letter constituted “unacceptable words to Chinese authorities, if said without first submitting to the rigid control of the Party.”
