CASE STUDY HIS CRIME — SELLING HYMN BOOKS
Father Ma Xianshi, a senior priest in China’s state- approved Catholic Patriotic Association, was put on trial in November 2025 for selling hymn books. The hymn book in question was Tianlu Miaoyin (Heavenly Melodies). It is a legally approved publication, licensed by the Chinese Communist Party’s Zhejiang Religious Department. Tianlu Miaoyin is used throughout the provinces and municipalities of Jiangsu, Shanghai and Fujian, as well as Zhejiang. The book was being sold in a Catholic bookshop run by layman Zhuang Qiantuan in Yiwu city, Zhejiang Province. State prosecutors alleged the book was being sold illegally, as religious publications can only be distributed within faith communities. Mr. Qiantuan was also charged and pleaded guilty. Father Ma was responsible for sales as the administrator of the state church in Wenzhou Diocese.* He was appointed to run the diocese in September 2016 after the death of his Bishop Vincent Zhu Wei-Fang. Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin, the coadjutor bishop, should have automatically taken over, but state authorities doubted his loyalty to the Communist Party. Prior to Father Ma’s arrest in November 2024, he was also vice president of Zhejiang Province’s Catholic Affairs Committee. Local sources suggested Father Ma fell from favor for resisting the imposition of a government bishop in Wenzhou Diocese — which would be canonically irregular — and allegedly having met Vatican officials, without prior Communist Party permission, during a pilgrimage to Rome. His trial was originally set for July 1, 2025 at Yiwu City Court, but three days earlier, after more than 300 Catholics from Wenzhou asked to attend the proceeding, the court postponed the trial to a later date.
The trial finally took place on November 13, 2025. Catholics who registered to be present were allegedly pressured or threatened to deter them from attending. Only two registered attendees turned up: diocesan priests who were accompanied by government officials throughout the proceedings. However, a number of Catholics who had not registered in advance also attended, leading authorities to open an adjacent courtroom with live video feed so they could follow the hearing. Father Ma blessed the parishioners who turned up to support him before he left the court. Father Ma denied any wrongdoing, stating that the sale of the book was a pastoral duty. When prosecutors stated 50,000 copies had been sold generating ¥1.5 million, he stressed he had received no personal benefit from the sale. No verdict was announced until June 2026 when it emerged he had been found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in jail. But in a surprise move he was released early on July 22. Sources Andrew Law, “Father Ma, a former ‘patriotic’ administrator in the Diocese of Wenzhou, also arrested,” AsiaNews , July 11, 2025 https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Father-Ma,-a-former-patriotic- administrator-in-the-Diocese-of-Wenzhou,-also-arrested-63489.html Andrew Law “Wenzhou: Father Ma on trial for the illegal sale of church hymn books,” AsiaNews , November 14, 2025 https:// www.asianews.it/news-en/Wenzhou:-Father-Ma-on-trial-for-the- illegal-sale-of-church-hymn-books-64282.html “A Catholic Priest in Wenzhou is on Trial for Alleged ‘Illegal Sales’: Supporters Claim There Are Other Political Motives Behind the Case," China Aid , November 20, 2025 https://chinaaid.org/news/ a-catholic-priest-in-wenzhou-is-on-trial-for-alleged-illegal-sales- supporters-claim-there-are-other-political-motives-behind-the- case/ [all sites accessed 06/08/26].
* Wenzhou Diocese is part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Hangzhou which roughly mirrors the borders of Zhejiang Province.
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