See the Person Profile: 张维柱 — Political Prisoner Profile.
This archive preserves the dated public record on Bishop Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang, Henan — detained since May 2021 with no publicly recorded trial — including source provenance, contradictions, and evidentiary limits.
Chronology
- May 21, 2021. Police raid a factory in Shaheqiao, Xinxiang, used as an underground seminary, and take away Bishop Zhang Weizhu, ten priests, and ten seminarians. The Union of Catholic Asian News reports the group was targeted for refusing to join the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and for alleged violations of religious regulations. (Holy Spirit Study Centre, Tripod No. 200 (2022), citing UCAN, 2021-05-24)
- 2022. The case is carried in the Holy Spirit Study Centre’s annual review of the Catholic Church in China.
- October 28, 2024. Human Rights Watch, commenting on the Vatican–Beijing provisional agreement on bishop appointments, names Zhang Weizhu among several Catholic bishops it describes as forcibly disappeared and calls for their immediate release.
- August 11, 2025. The Holy See Press Office announces the Pope’s appointment of Father Li Jianlin as bishop of the Xinxiang apostolic prefecture and states that the Pope has accepted Bishop Zhang Weizhu’s resignation.
- December 5, 2025. Li Jianlin is consecrated bishop of Xinxiang.
- August 31, 2026. The Rights Defense Network （维权网） lists Zhang Weizhu in its monthly report on mainland political and conscience prisoners, in the “detained without sentence” （羁押未判） group for Henan. (Rights Defense Network, Issue 131)
Source records
1. Rights Defense Network （维权网）, Issue 131 monthly report, August 31, 2026. Places 张维柱 in the 羁押未判 (detained, unsentenced) group, Henan region — the custody baseline.
2. Holy Spirit Study Centre, Tripod No. 200 (2022), citing Union of Catholic Asian News, May 24, 2021. Dated detention record: 2021-05-21 raid, 10 priests + 10 seminarians, refusal of Patriotic Association, prior detentions, secret consecration 1991.
3. Human Rights Watch, October 28, 2024. Names Zhang Weizhu among forcibly disappeared Catholic bishops; calls for immediate release.
4. Salt and Light Catholic Media, December 5, 2025. Confirms via Holy See Press Office: August 11, 2025 appointment of Li Jianlin, acceptance of Zhang Weizhu’s resignation; December 5, 2025 consecration.
Contradictions / evidence gaps
Secret consecration year: 1991 (UCAN via Tripod) vs 1992 (tertiary reference). No PRC official acknowledgment of the detention was found; no charges, trial, or sentence have been publicly recorded.