Communist authorities in territory covered by the Anhui Diocese removed crosses from the top of two church buildings, sources told ucanews.com April 27. The sources said they fear more such actions.

Authorities removed the cross of Our Lady of the Rosary Church April 18, said a man ucanews.com identified only as “John, a source in the diocese.”

He said the parish was registered with the government, but had no priests or nuns to lead its religious activities. Lay parishioners managed parish religious programs.

Five days before the incident, John told ucanews.com, parish leaders approached local authorities about repairing the building, but officials said the plan was to remove the crosses of both Catholic and Protestant churches in the area.

On April 16, a local government official asked parishioners for the keys to the church. “They wanted to enter the church and remove the cross,” John said.

The local official told the parishioners that officials were acting on the “directions from superiors.” However, no documents were produced to prove the claim.

The parishioners reported the developments to Bishop Liu Xinhong of Anhui. He directed them to go to the local office of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and ask for details, but local officials of the association denied having information on the matter.

In another incident in Anhui Diocese April 19, a cross was removed from a church in Suzhou City around 4 a.m., said a parishioner identified only as Paul. The cross was originally scheduled to be removed in the afternoon.