The Way of the Cross at a pilgrimage site in China’s Henan province has been forcibly demolished by authorities in the latest clampdown on religious freedom. Local government officials removed images of Jesus at the well-known Our Lady of Mount Carmel pilgrimage site in Tianjiajing village of Anyang Diocese at 8 pm on June 5.
A source said authorities sent personnel one month ago to tell Bishop Joseph Zhang Yinlin of Anyang that the Way of the Cross must be dismantled, but no specific reason was given.
Nuns living nearby took photographs and videos of the demolition and sent the evidence to chat groups.
A religious source said the Communist Party’s policy appeared to be to “allow Catholicism to exist but not develop.” In 1987, the local government sent troops and armored vehicles to the site after estimating there would be 50,000 pilgrims, the source said.
In 2009, Henan had about 2.4 million Christians, of whom 300,000 were Catholics. By the end of 2011, there were 2,525 Christian churches and 4,002 Christian premises in the province.
