For the sixth time in eighteen months, on the afternoon of July 4, Bishop Jia Zhiguo was arrested and taken by police to an undisclosed location according to the Catholic news agency, Zenit. Bishop Zhiguo, 71, who has spent 20 years in prison for his faith, has been under constant surveillance since. He is the "non-official" bishop of Zheng Ding; a province with an estimated 1.5 million Catholics.
Following the death of Pope John Paul II, there has been speculation that relations between China and the Vatican may improve. It was rumoured last week that a bishop had been appointed with the approval of both the Vatican and the Chinese government. However, the Chinese government has since denied any approval from the Vatican, insisting that the appointment was theirs alone.
Pray that the situation facing China's Christians will improve and that the government will allow freedom of religious belief. Pray for the many Christians suffering in Chinese prisons.
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in China, click here.
China Aid has confirmed the trial date for Pastor Cai Zhuohua, his wife and two other family members. The trial is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on July 7 (8:00 p.m. on July 6, Eastern Time) at the People's Court of Haidian District, Beijing. The presiding judge will be Mr. You Tao.
Yousaf Masih is a sweeper who has worked over twenty years for the Pakistani military. According to VOM sources, Yousaf was cleaning the office in the house of a military officer on June 28 when he came across a bag of papers. The major told Yousaf to take the papers outside and burn them. Workers saw the papers and began accusing him of burning pages from the Koran. Yousaf, who is illiterate, had no idea of what was happening and, fearing for his life in the face of these accusations, fled and ran to his home east of Peshawar in northeastern Pakistan. That afternoon, police came to his home and arrested Yousaf, accusing him of desecrating the Koran; a crime punishable by death in Pakistan.