Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xinxiang in Henan province was arrested on May 21 last year.

His arrest came a day after police arrested 10 priests and an unknown number of seminarians from a Catholic seminary in the diocese that was set up in an abandoned factory building.

About a year ago, authorities in Xinxiang shut down Catholic schools and kindergartens in line with a government ban on education by religious groups.

All those arrested were accused of violating China's regulations on religious affairs and subjected to "political lessons" in detention, media reports said.

The priests and seminarians were released after brief detention but remain under surveillance, while the seminary is still closed.

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The way the government of President Xi Jinping views it, nothing really changed.

The accord was supposed to end decades of disagreement between the church and Beijing by making the appointment of bishops a joint decision of the Pope and Chinese authorities.

A few days after the accord was reached, the Pope declared the agreement a breakthrough. He told reporters: "What is there is a dialogue on potential candidates, but Rome nominates, the Pope nominates, that's clear."

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