The persecution of Christians in China continues to escalate, and not even high-ranking Roman Catholic officials sent by the Vatican have been spared from harassment.

Coadjutor Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin was arrested last week by Chinese officials to prevent him from taking over the growing Roman Catholic diocese in Wenzhou, according to a report from The Catholic Herald, citing Rome-based missionary news agency AsiaNews.

Shao was supposed to lead the diocese after the death of its bishop, Vincent Zhu Weifang, last Sept. 8. However, before he can meet his new flock, local Chinese police reportedly took him "on a trip" to northwest China. The coadjutor bishop was appointed by the Vatican to Wenzhou, but China refuses to recognise his appointment.

Shao's secretary, Fr. Paul Jiang Sunian, was also snatched by Chinese authorities, and was reportedly taken to Yunnan. Another priest who came with Shao and his aide was also reportedly detained in a hotel in the provincial capital of Hangzhou.

A separate report from Herald Malaysia cited unnamed sources as saying that "the bishop and the priests were taken away from the city to thwart a peaceful succession of Msgr. Shao's episcopate of Wenzhou."

Chinese officials have also limited the number of people who can attend Bishop Zhu's funeral to 400, all of whom were required to get permits from authorities.

There are about 120,000 Roman Catholics living in Wenzhou, according to AsiaNews. Some of them could not openly practice their faith due to fear of persecution and harassment from the Chinese government. Still, others are brave enough to register themselves as Roman Catholics.

Because of the thriving Catholic population and the presence of different places of worship in the area, Wenzhou has been called "China's Jerusalem." In the past years, the local government of Wenzhou has tried to demolish churches and remove crosses from the area.