Shao Zhumin, Peter Shao Zhumin, born in 1964, a native of Zhejiang Province and a Catholic, was formerly the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province.
In 2007, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop by Pope Benedict XVI of the Vatican;In September 2016, In September 2016, following the death of Bishop Zhu Weifang of the Wenzhou Diocese (official name: Yongjia Diocese, which had approximately 150,000 Catholics), he naturally succeeded to the position of bishop. However, because he refused to join the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (referred to as the “Patriotic Association”), the authorities refused to recognize his episcopacy, citing the grounds that he was “ordained by a foreign entity” and “violated the principles of self-governance, autonomy, and self-support of the Chinese Church.” Instead, they insisted on treating the position as “vacant” and supported another “patriotic” priest, Ma Xianshi, to serve as the leader of the local Catholic community; Since then, he has been regarded by the authorities as a leader of the “underground” Catholic Church. Because his clerical status is recognized only by the Vatican and not by the authorities, he has frequently been subjected to arrest and persecution;
In June 2017, he was forcibly taken away by local authorities and went missing. As his diocesan community and family had no news of him, nor did they know on what charges he was arrested or where he was being held, the “Vatican’s Holy See Press Office issued a statement regarding Bishop Shao Zhumin,” expressing the hope that he “might return to his diocese at the earliest opportunity and be allowed to carry out his pastoral duties in peace”;
In December 2024, he was detained for writing a letter to the faithful of the Wenzhou Diocese, inviting them to be in communion with the universal Church during the New Year and to celebrate the Church’s Jubilee Year (2025), and on December 27, 2024, "EN-US">27 of December 2024 (a transliteration of the Latin Missa, also known as the “Eucharist,” which is the Holy Church’s great sacrifice offered to God, originating from the Last Supper in the New Testament of the Bible), At that time, 22 priests and approximately 200 faithful attended. Consequently, the church was soon investigated by the Longwan District authorities, and by February 2025, the church was again subjected to restrictions on religious activities by the authorities. It was accused of conducting Mass ceremonies without official approval or registration from the religious affairs bureau, rendering them illegal. Furthermore, the church was deemed an “unapproved structure” with a “floor area of approximately 200 square meters," thus violating Article 40 of the Urban Planning Law, resulting in a fine of 200,000 yuan and the order to demolish the structure;
On March 7 of the same year, he was suddenly arrested by local police in Wenzhou and placed under administrative detention for 7 days, which he later learned was punishment for presiding over the Christmas opening Mass on December 27 of the previous year; On April 10, 2025, he was arrested again by the National Security Bureau police; his secretary, Father Jiang Sunian, was also arrested and has been out of contact ever since, remaining in detention to this day; It is reported that this arrest is suspected to be related to his refusal to pay a 200,000 yuan fine, but it is more likely linked to the authorities’ escalating crackdown on religious beliefs and his refusal to recognize or join the state-controlled “Patriotic Association.”
His current place of detention is unknown.
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