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Press Release – February 23, 2006 Contact: Joseph Kung Tel: 203-329-9712 Fax: 203-329-8415 E-Mail: jmkung@aol.com |
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T h e C a r d i n a l K u n g F o u n d a t i o n |
TWO
UNDERGROUND ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS ARRESTED IN HEBEI
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Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A.
— Father LU Genjun 鹿根君,
44 years old, and Father GUO Yanli 郭彥利,
39 years old, who belong to the diocese of Baoding 保定
in Hebei 河北,
were arrested by Chinese security officials on February 17 last week while
waiting for a friend at the Baoding train station. Father GUO was sent to
Xushui County 徐水縣
detention center while Father Lu was sent to an undisclosed location. We
do not know why they were arrested and have no other information on their
arrests.
Father
Lu was previously arrested on Palm Sunday, April 5, 1998 for a short
period and was arrested again shortly before Easter in 2001 and detained
for three years in the Gao Yang County 高陽縣
labor camp in Hebei. Shortly after his release from the labor camp,
he was arrested again on May 14, 2004 for an unknown period. He was
ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1990. Father
Guo has no previous arrest record. He was ordained a Roman Catholic
priest in 1998. Bishop
Jia Zhiguo 賈志國
who was arrested on November 8, 2005 is still detained. We do not
know where he is being held. Bishop Jia is 70 years old and was ordained a
bishop in 1980. He was previously in jail for approximately 20 years
and has been under strict surveillance for many years. He takes care
of approximately 100 handicapped orphans in his house. As far as we
know, this is the eighth time that he has been arrested since January
2004. Joseph
Kung, the President of the Cardinal Kung Foundation, stated: "On
September 1, 2005, we wrote a letter
to President Hu Jintao 胡錦濤
of People's Republic of China, appealing to him "to bring modern
China into an era of true religious freedom," reasoning with him
that "a country without religious freedom is never peaceful and
constructive" and challenging him to realize "the
importance of changing the world's perception of China's human rights
policy for the better." We also not only appealed to
President Hu that "all these (religious) prisoners, both living
and dead, be officially and posthumously exonerated of so called crimes,
some as long as five decades ago," but also appealed to him "to
release all current religious prisoners from prison and labor camp…"
We concluded that "to do so will be a powerful testimony to the
Chinese government's respect for and adherence to human rights and
liberty. To do so will also prove that China is honoring the spirit
of the Olympic Games that (she) will have the honor of hosting in
2008." Unfortunately,
President Hu has never replied to our appeals, and instead, the arrests of
religious believers continue. I ask that President Hu's attention be
directed to our appeals and that he give an order to his government to
rectify the situation. He has the power and authority to do so. Otherwise,
the Olympic Committee should take note of these arrests and decide whether
or not China's continuous persecutions of innocent religious believers is
in conformity with the spirit of the Olympic games and whether or not the
Committee should consider canceling the Games in China in 2008 in order to
preserve its good name and spirit of the Olympic games." |