James Su Zhimin: Celebrating the Birthday of a Catholic Bishop Who May Be Dead

Bitter Winter ^ | 7/12/22 | Zhang Feng

[marshmallow]

The popular Bishop of Baoding would have turned 90 earlier this month—but nobody has seen him since 2003.

An old image of Bishop Su Zhimin. From Twitter.

On July 10, 2022, Catholic Bishop James Su Zhimin turned 90. At least, July 10 is when his birthday has been more often celebrated, although in some official documents his birth date is indicated as July 1, 1932. Catholics in his diocese of Baoding, in Hebei province, started preparing celebrations for his 90th birthday in 2021. There was one problem, though, they didn’t know whether their Bishop was alive or dead. He has been in jail since 1997 and was last seen by his co-religionists in 2003.

Soon, however, a second problem emerged for the Catholics of Baoding. They were told by the CCP that celebrating the birthday of Bishop Su was absolutely forbidden. The context of Baoding is particularly problematic for the Communist Party. Notwithstanding the Vatican-China deal of 2018, it is one of the most important centers in the country for “conscientious objectors,” i.e., priests and lay Catholics who refuse the Vatican suggestion that they join the Patriotic Catholic Church, and continue a precarious existence outside of the official structures.

From January 2022, also in an effort to prevent the celebrations of July, at least ten Catholic priests of the diocese of Baoding who are conscientious objectors have been arrested. Surveillance increased as July approached. Yet it has been reported to Bitter Winter that Masses, where priests were available, or other underground ceremonies to honor Bishop James Su Zhimin on his birthday were celebrated in private homes in Baoding, Ansu, and elsewhere, eluding police surveillance.

One lay conscientious objector from Ansu told Bitter Winter that thousands prayed for the Bishop throughout the diocese, in small “and in some cases not............

[JJBookman]

Wonder who dropped the dime on them?

[Scarlett156]

Sometimes I forget about these guys and it makes me feel guilty. We think we’re being martyred when our favorite website is down for maintenance for two hours every six months.

[ebb tide]

And the traitorous, apostate red pope continues to suck-up to the murderous chicoms for 2 billion $/yr US at the expense of faithful Catholics suffering in Red China.