{"id":181316,"date":"2015-02-13T17:42:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-14T01:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=181316"},"modified":"2021-09-14T20:48:01","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T03:48:01","slug":"chinese-catholics-seek-answers-bishops-fate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/02\/chinese-catholics-seek-answers-bishops-fate\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Catholics Seek Answers to Bishop\u2019s Fate"},"content":{"rendered":"
Following reports of Bishop Cosma Shi Enxiang’s death<\/a> last week, conflicting accounts of his fate and the reluctance of authorities to provide proof of death\u00a0have left Bishop Shi’s\u00a0relatives\u00a0and supporters wondering when\u2014and whether\u2014he died<\/strong><\/a>. The New York Times’ Michael Forsythe reports:<\/p>\n The Chinese government has been so secretive about Bishop Shi\u2019s detention that there is no certainty that he is dead.<\/p>\n The Catholic news agency UCANews reported the bishop\u2019s death on Feb. 2, citing his great-niece Shi Chunyan, who said the family had been informed by a local official. But a Hong Kong-based reporter for the agency, Lucia Cheung, said that after the family approached the local authorities to recover the bishop\u2019s remains, they were told that the official who had told them he was dead had been drunk, or misinformed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe public has a right to know what\u2019s going on,\u201d said Joseph Kung, who runs the Cardinal Kung Foundation in Stamford, Conn., named after an uncle, Ignatius Kung Pin-mei, the late bishop of Shanghai. \u201cI am not sure whether he is alive or dead.\u201d<\/p>\n […] Ms. Cheung said Bishop Shi\u2019s family had heard rumors as long as three years ago that he had died. \u201cThey are quite prepared to receive the news, but they at least they want to get the remains back,\u201d she said. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n