Pope Francis keeping close watch on Chinese bishop under house arrest

Pope Francis is keeping a close eye on the Chinese bishop under house arrest for defying the communist state, Thaddeus Ma Daqin, said the Vatican.

The pontiff may not have a direct contact with the auxiliary bishop in Shanghai but Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said that Francis remembers him daily.

"The personal and ecclesial life of Msgr Ma Daqin, like that of all Chinese Catholics, is followed with particular care and concern by the Holy Father, who remembers them daily in prayer," said Lombardi, as quoted by the Catholic Herald.

The communist state placed Ma under house arrest after the bishop publicly renounced his involvement with the state-approved Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CPA) during his Episcopal ordination at Shanghai's St. Ignatius Cathedral in 2012.

The state interrogated Ma for weeks, stripped away his title, and forced him to attend communist indoctrination classes. The death of Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian in April 2013 left the Diocese of Shanghai without a bishop ever since.

CPA is the official Catholic Church in China answerable to the Communist Party while an "underground" church attended by most of its 12 million Chinese Catholics remains loyal to the Vatican.

"The anticipation was he would be a yes man," said priest and editor of Hong-Kong's Sunday Examiner, Jim Mulroney, according to Reuters.

Honorary chairman of CPA, Anthony Liu Bainian, denounced Ma for deceiving the bishops and cheating the government and the public.

"How can you then take on the responsibility for such a large diocese as Shanghai? This clearly shows that (Ma) was under the influence of foreigners," Reuters quoted Liu as saying.

However, a blog post dated June 12 attributed to Ma, revealed a surprise turnaround as the bishop praised the CPA and recanted his renunciation.

"There was a period I was also tricked by outside elements, and made errors of words and deeds against the [Catholic] Patriotic Association. On reflection, I find this was an extremely unwise move," wrote Ma, according to Catholic Herald.

Ma also wrote about the significant role of the CPA in the state and attributed it for his predecessor Bishop Jin's success.

According to America magazine, an unnamed source cast doubt on the authenticity of the blog because although the writing style seems like Ma's, a part of the article is "rather rude" and out of character for the bishop.

What's certain for now is that Ma's story is still unfolding – and the pope is closely watching it.