Priests and parishioners have barricaded themselves in a Catholic church in the Chinese province of Hebei. According to reports, the Catholics are attempting to prevent the Chinese government from tearing down the Church.

The protest began at 6am on Oct 31 morning at the church in Wu Gao Zhang, part of the Guantao district of Hebei, on the coast of northern China. Officials have ordered that the church be destroyed even though it is fully recognized and approved by the government. According to the website AsiaNews, local authorities have said the building lacks appropriate permits.

In September 2017, China enacted strict new regulations concerning religion. Since then, authorities have been vigilant in enforcing permitting requirements. Churches that are not found to be in compliance are destroyed.

According to AsiaNews, many Chinese Catholics say that last September’s Sino-Vatican Agreement has served to embolden the government to take punitive action against Catholics who did not belong to state-approved churches.

Officials have reportedly claimed that “the Vatican supports us” and have ordered an additional 40 churches be destroyed.

For decades, the Church in China was split between the “Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association,” a state-run Church under the control of Chinese Communist Party, and the underground Church that was in full communion with the Holy See. The 2018 agreement, the details of which have not been released, was intended to unify the two ecclesiastical communities, although multiple reports out of China have indicated that priests and laity who refuse to worship at government-run churches are have faced increased persecution.

In the provinces of Jiangxi and Fujian in eastern China, priests who refused to sign agreements binding them to regulations government have been forced out of their homes, and their churches have been closed. The Chinese government has forbidden non-compliant priests from traveling, and many have been forced to go into hiding.

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Thailand from 20 to 23 November, after which he proceeds to Japan, 23 to 26 November, before returning to Rome.

This will be the second visit of a Pontiff to Thailand in over 35 years, after that of Pope Saint John Paul II in 1984. The motto of the Journey, “Christ’s Disciples, Missionary Disciples,” recalls the 350th anniversary of the establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam, created in 1669, that formally marked the beginning of the Church in the country.

Catholics form a tiny minority of some 0.5% of Thailand’s over 68 million population, over 90% of which is Buddhist. Muslims form a little over 4% and Christians together make up only 1%. Through the past 350 years, the Church has grown into 11 dioceses with about 390,000 Catholics.

As demonstrations pitting pro-government groups against pro-democracy protesters continue, a bishop urged Catholics to pray for the realization that all are humans and not “cockroaches or dogs.”

Ucanews.org reported Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chishing of Hong Kong addressed a prayer gathering of some 300 people on Oct. 26 at Chater Garden in the Chinese-administered city where demonstrators continue to demand freedom and democracy.

The bishop prayed that “God can help us realize that everyone is human, not cockroaches, dogs or yellow objects,” reported Radio Television Hong Kong.

The prelate referred to slogans and statements in which pro-government groups often refer-red to protesters as “cockroaches,” while protesters called police officers “dogs.”

A senior police officer was accused of describing a protester as “a yellow object.” His comment came after a video clip that showed several officers kicking and attacking the protester.

Ha explained that the prayer meeting was not held in a church but at a public place to show that the Catholic Church cares about society. He said Hong Kong was now filled with hatred and anger. Violence can only beget more violence, but never justice, he said.