Vatican protests at arrest of Chinese bishop

Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Holy See Press Office, released the following statement today concerning the arrest and imprisonment of Bishop Jia ZhiGuo in China: "We have learned that a Catholic Bishop, previously held in prison for 20 years, was arrested again yesterday by the authorities of the People's Republic of China. "Once again a member of the Catholic hierarchy has been deprived of his personal freedom without any juridical motives being provided. "This is inadmissible in a State of law that declares that it guarantees 'freedom of religion' and 'respects and safeguards human rights'." Source: VIS