BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in northeastern China have arrested a ranking bishop in the country's underground Roman Catholic church, a U.S.-based religious rights group said.
Bishop Wei Jingyi, 44, who once served as secretary of a conference of Chinese bishops loyal to the Holy See, was picked up by police in the city of Qiqihar on September 9, said the Stamford, Connecticut-based Cardinal Kung Foundation.
No other details on Wei's case were available, it said in a statement seen Tuesday. Police in Qiqihar could not be reached for comment.
Wei was previously in Chinese labor camps from 1987 to 1989 and from 1990 to 1992, the group said.
It said his arrest was a sign China is tightening its noose on the spiritual leaders of eight million Chinese Catholics the Vatican estimates are loyal to the Pope, compared to only five million in the state-backed Catholic Church.
"Currently, every one of the approximately 50 bishops of the underground Roman Catholic Church is either arrested, under house arrest, under strict surveillance or in hiding," it said.
"The persecution of the underground Roman Catholic Church is obviously getting worse."
Communist China officially endorses religious freedom but only recognizes the authority of state religious organizations. It broke off relations with the Vatican half a century ago.
A court in Hebei province, which borders Beijing, sentenced three Catholic priests to three years in a labor camp in July for "cult" activities China says threaten social stability, rights groups have said.
Police in the northern province of Shaanxi arrested Bishop Lucas Li Jingfeng late last year amid a campaign to force a large community of closet Christians to join the state-backed China Patriotic Catholic Association.