Deo Gratias! Bishop Jia Released By The Chinese!

And nary a bit of compromise in sight!

My eldest son is charged with the task of praying for His Excellency every night, so this is very exciting news for us.

From Zenit:

Chinese Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, who was arrested and imprisoned in March 2009, was released by the authorities Wednesday.

The prelate was arrested on the first day of a three-day meeting in the Vatican of a commission established by Benedict XVI in 2007 to study the most important issues of the life of the Church in China. The abduction was seen as an affront to the efforts of that commission.

Bishop Jia, 75, is a member of the "underground" Church but has worked for reconciliation of the Church in China, where the government permits religious practice only with recognized personnel and in places registered with the Religious Affairs Office and under the control of the Patriotic Association.

This explains the difference between the "national" or "official" Church, and the faithful who oppose such control and who wish to obey the Pope directly. The latter constitute the non-official, or underground, Church.

Bishop Jia has been repeatedly refusing to become part of the Patriotic Association.

Instead, he has been attempting to collaborate with Bishop Jang Taoran of Shijiazhuang, a member of the national Church recently reconciled with Rome, on a joint pastoral plan for the Hebei region where they are both stationed. Yet the authorities attempted to end this collaboration, and this latest arrest was Bishop Jia's 13th since 2004.

And most importantly:

He made a point of declaring that he did not join the Patriotic Association during his imprisonment, nor did he accept the authority of the government-approved bishops' conference, AsiaNews reported.

The slow martyrdom of the Chinese Church continues. Please continue to pray for these brave people, especially Bishops Shi Enxiang and Su Zhimin, who are mentioned at the end of the article as still missing.

Support The Cardinal Kung Foundation as well. They need all the help they can get.