Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

China has arrested a 73-year-old underground bishop of the Catholic Church, Julius Jia Zhiguo, in Heibei province. He was arrested last Sunday, according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation. Jia was consecrated bishop of Zhengding in 1980, mandated by Pope John Paul II, and leads a Catholic community of 110,000 members. This is the 12th time Jia has been arrested since 2004. He has spent 18 years in prison. He is one of approximately 40 underground bishops of the Catholic Church in China, every one of whom is either in prison, missing, under house arrest or under surveillance, the Cardinal Kung Foundation says.

The persecution of religious believers is very much alive in China and it is ongoing, regardless of the fact that the Olympic Games have just been held there. I am an adherent of another religious faith, but I find it astonishing that a great country like China would arrest a bishop of one of the world’s greatest religions. In what other major power in the world would we tolerate the arrest of a bishop of the Catholic Church who recognises the authority of Rome—that being the reason for his incarceration by the authorities in Beijing?

This parliament and this House should affirm the right of religious freedom in all countries, including in China and including one of the great religions of the world, Roman Catholicism. It is absolutely unjustified for the authorities in Beijing to arrest a Catholic— (Time expired)

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