THERE are Catholic churches even in China today. But as the Chinese government makes progress in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities have likewise resumed the removal of crosses from church buildings and their crackdown on religious practices.
According to a report from UCA News, priests are cooperating in the removal of exterior crosses in the hope that entire church buildings will not be demolished or converted for other uses.
According to parishioners in the Chinese province of Anhui, Chinese officials cut down the cross from the top of the Our Lady of the Rosary Church on April 18, 2020. This church belongs to the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), the Catholic Church officially sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party and operating both in communion with Rome and under state control.
The bishops of the CPCA, who in many cases were illicitly consecrated and under official excommunication, were received into full communion with Rome as part of the Vatican’s 2018 provisional agreement with China.
The full terms of the China deal were not released to the public but it was explained that on April 13, 2020 the leaders of Our Lady of the Rosary — which does not have a member of the clergy assigned to it, and all religious activities are organized by the laity — asked city authorities about making repairs to the church building. Three days later, the community director of the city requested keys and access to the church in order to remove the cross.
Concerned parishioners went to Bishop Joseph Liux Xinhong of the Diocese of Anhui. Xinhong was one of the bishops who had his excommunication lifted and his position recognized by the Vatican following the 2018 provisional deal. On April 17, 2020, the parish community leader said he had been given authority.
Elsewhere in the province of Anhui, on April 19 a cross was removed from a church in Suzhou City during pre-dawn hours, presumably to avoid the chance of a crowd protesting its removal. A man from the diocese named Paul told UCA News that the removal had previously been scheduled.
A priest from the Diocese of Anhui identified only as “Father Chen” told UCA News that these sorts of activities are “happening all over mainland China” and are not limited to one diocese or province. Churches that are not found to be in compliance are destroyed.
Now, for a Catholic, who would like to live in China? The Chinese government does not like the cross.
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