Julius Jia Zhiguo

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Julius Jia Zhiguo (Chinese: 贾治国; 1 May 1935 – 29 October 2025) was an bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in the People's Republic of China.

Jia was first imprisoned in 1963 for refusing to renounce his allegiance to the pope.[1] He never joined the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.[1]

Jia was ordained priest on 7 June 1980 and consecrated bishop later that year on 19 December.[2] His ordination, and consecration were conducted by Bishop Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan.[3] He had been jailed 20 years.[4] He had been bishop of the Diocese of Zhengding.[3] During his confinement at home, his requests for medical treatment were denied by Chinese authorities.

In March 2004, the Cardinal Kung Foundation sent out a press release detailing the disappearance of Jia of Hebei province in central China. Newspapers picked up the story and within a week of Kung's press release he was freed.

He was arrested again by local authorities on the morning of 24 August 2008, his twelfth arrest since January 2004.[5]

In 2009, Chinese police re-arrested Jia. The arrest came just as a special Vatican commission met in Rome to consider the situation facing the church in China.[6]

Jia was once again arrested by authorities in 2020.[7]

Jia died on 29 October 2025 at the age of 90.[8]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Chinese 'underground' bishop dies at 91 after decades of oppression". Union of Catholic Asian News. 30 October 2025. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  2. ^ "Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo (Kia Zhi Cuo, Jia Shoushen)". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  3. ^ a b Elhabbal, Madalaine (7 November 2025). "Underground Chinese bishop who said his life 'consists of speaking about Jesus' dies at 90". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Chinese Government arrests Vatican faithful bishop for the 6th time". Catholic News Agency. 4 July 2005. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
    Eckholm, Erik (26 March 2002). "World Briefing Asia: China: Catholic Bishop Arrested". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  5. ^ "Elderly Catholic bishop arrested in China". Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  6. ^ China arrests underground bishop in move to block Vatican plan [permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "当局圣母升天节前再软禁贾治国主教 欲关闭其残疾孤儿院". ADHRRF. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Hebei mourns Bishop Jia Zhiguo, a courageous pastor who survived the chains". AsiaNews.it. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
[edit]