Nothing has been heard from a Chinese Catholic priest, now missing for eight months after he was taken away by the authorities in December, 2017, UCA Catholic news agency reports.
Any contact with Fr Lu Danhua was lost after the personnel of Qingtian Religious Affairs Bureau visited him in his dormitory of Qingtian Catholic Church in Zhejiang province and took him away with them.
Answering enquiries about the priest’s location, the bureau has claimed he was in Wenzhou studying new religious regulations and that he would return to his diocese after legal registration.
“He has wholeheartedly taken care of the churches in Qingtian, Leishi, Dalu, Wanshan and Jingning in the diocese. He is willing to serve the weak. The church members are full of praise for his enthusiastic pastoral care,” a source said to UCA News.
Prayers, fasting and a Mass for the safety of Fr Lu Danhua are held on 29th of each month – the December date the priest disappeared – this practice has been initiated by the ‘underground’ Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin.
