VATICAN CONCERNS MISSING BISHOP OF WENZHOU, CHINA|溫州主教邵祝敏失蹤 教廷不滿.中方回嗆

The Vatican-appointed bishop of Wenzhou, China, Shao Zhumin, is reported to have disappeared over a month ago. On June 26, the Vatican broke its silence and expressed serious concern. Responding to the Vatican statement the China Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it opposes any other country interfering with its internal affairs. == FATHER BERNARDO CERVELLERA Editor-in-Chief, Asia News == Monsignor Pietro Shao Zhumin has now disappeared for over a month and it is the fourth time that he has 'disappeared'since September. At Easter, he was taken away for two weeks and the congregation said he was taken to discussion meetings held by the Chinese official Patriotic Association, pressuring him to join it and leave the Vatican and establish a church independent from the Vatican. The 54-year-old Shao Zhumin was appointed by the Vatican as Bishop of Wenzhou after the death of the previous bishop in September last year. China runs a parallel system of Catholic clergy all of whom must belong to the 'Patriotic Association' a Chinese Communist Party body, in order to practise their ministry. Monsignor Shao did not belong to the PA and has thus not been allowed to take up the bishopric. The Vatican was informed that on May 15, Shao was taken away by members of the PA. Members of his congregation think that he is being forced to undergo 're-education' and pressured into joining the PA. The Vatican-appointed bishops of Fujian and Shanghai suffered similar 're-education' attempts over the past few years.This is the first time that the Holy See had spoken openly of their of the bishop's being imprisoned, after the resumption of dialogue with China three years ago. The timing is particularly sensitive as the two sides will soon start a new round of negotiations in Rome. ==LOU KANG China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson== As I just said, we oppose any country using any individual case to interfere in our internal affairs. China protects citizens' freedom of religious belief according to law, just as in other countries. The Chinese government will also strengthen the management of religious affairs according to law. China has no diplomatic relations with the Vatican. China has never recognized bishops appointed by the Vatican. China has 12 million Catholics who mostly belong to underground churches that are not officially recognized. After Pope Francis took office he has tried to improve relations with China as a diplomatic priority, but it is fraught with difficulty. The appointment of bishops, the clergy system and the fact that China wants control of the church, are huge obstacles to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 由教廷任命的中國溫州主教、邵祝敏，傳出已經失蹤一個多月。教廷26號打破沉默，對邵祝敏主教今年以來，第四度被帶走，表達嚴重關切。對於教廷的聲明，中國外交部則是重申，反對任何國家任何方面，干涉內政。 ==教廷亞洲新聞主任 塞爾韋勒神父== 邵祝敏主教已經失蹤超過1個月 這是他今年第四次失蹤 復活節時他也被帶走2星期 教徒說他被帶去參加研討會 中國官方的天主教愛國會 希望說服他加入 脫離教廷另外成立獨立的教會 54歲的邵祝敏，是由梵蒂岡在去年9月所任命的溫州教區主教，在中國屬於非官方教會團體，沒有得到中國政府承認。教廷方面得到的消息是，邵祝敏5月18號晚上被宗教局官員叫過去，之後就失去音訊，有教友認為他是被迫參加中國官方的宗教學習班，以及要強迫他加入官方的天主教愛國會。 這是3年前中國跟教廷恢復對話後，教廷第一次針對主教疑似被囚禁發表聲明。而且時機點選在雙方即將在羅馬展開新一輪談判之前，格外敏感。 ==中國外交部發言人 陸慷== 剛才我已說過了 反對任何國家任何方面 利用所謂的個案 干涉中國的內政 中國依法保護公民的宗教信仰自由 正像其他國家一樣 中國政府也會依法加強對宗教事務的管理 中國跟教廷沒有邦交，對於教廷任命的主教，中國向來不承認。由於中國有1200萬天主教徒，而且大多在不被官方認可的地下教會活動。因此教宗方濟各上任後就把跟中國改善關係當成外交優先目標，不過問題棘手，主教任命權，神職人員制度以及中國不放棄對教會的控制，都是雙方外交關係正常化的障礙。 記者 陳秋玫 報導