The communist – approved Catholic Church in China is facing persecution despite official status. Officially registered churches are harassed regardless of belonging to the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), a control arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This comes from a recent report by Bitter Winter, a magazine on human rights and religious liberty in China.
A CPCA deacon in Hebei province near Beijing explained his church joined the CPCA hoping the communists would allow them to worship in peace.
“But the situation has changed, and registered churches are sometimes harassed more than the unregistered ones,” he said. “They also have their crosses removed.”
In July, the CCP took down the cross from the deacon’s church and installed a surveillance camera at the entrance.
“The government is even more confident in controlling registered churches. Had we known this beforehand, we would not have joined the CPCA,” he lamented. Similar treatment has been reported from other locations throughout the country.
But the situation has changed, and registered churches are sometimes harassed more than the unregistered ones. Tweet Officials covered the sign reading “Catholic Church” with boards and removed crosses, benches and other religious symbols from a church in the Wangdangjia village. Soon thereafter, a nearby church was closed. The government in a prefecture-level city in Shandong province closed two CPCA churches in June, alleging “not many congregation members attend gatherings.”
Local officials in the town of Jinling removed a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and cross on the village church because “they were taller than the village committee building. In June, officials closed a CPCA church in Zhangmentun village. The closure occurred after they removed the 14 stations of the cross, the altar and a dove on the roof of the church.