NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- At least 30 Chinese priests and one bishop have been placed under house arrest, according to the US- based Cardinal Kung Foundation.

      The Foundation said that Bishop Julias Jia Zhiguo was one of the priests assigned to house arrest. Bishop Zhiguo does not belong to the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association.

      In Rome, Vatican officials were unable to verify the report of the bishop's arrest. Bishop Zhiguo had previously been placed under house arrest, in February, during a visit to China by three American religious leaders.

      Father Bernardo Cervellera, the director of the Vatican news agency Fides, reported that Bishop Zhiguo is a very dynamic pastor, who has undertaken many risks in his work for the underground Church. He said that Catholics have appealed to US President Bill Clinton to help the bishop leave China.

      Fides has reported that 30 priests of the underground Church were placed under restrictions before Clinton's visit to China. "They want China's problems to stay inside the country," Fides explained.

      The foundation said Bishop Julias Jia Zhiguo of northern Hebei province was taken into custody in the past few days by Chinese officials who in recent years have detained dozens of other bishops and priests who refuse allegiance to the state-sponsored Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, an organization that eschews connections to the Catholic Church as led by the pope and College of Bishops.

      The arrest coincides with reports of dissident arrests in areas where Clinton will travel in order to prevent them from being interviewed by American journalists. The Vatican said it could not confirm the arrest, but the official Fides news agency said it believes the report because Bishop Zhiguo had already been arrested once this year.