China has relaxed a crack-down on unofficial religious groups amid the intense fight against Covid-19, but some Christian leaders feel the freedom could be short-lived.

Since this year’s Chinese New Year, which fell on Jan. 25, the harassment of under-ground Christians has eased as most officials have been engaged in fighting the raging pandemic, said Father Paul, a priest of the underground church in Yunnan province.

The crackdown on unapproved churches continued unabated even after September 2018 when the Vatican and China signed an agreement on the appointment of bishops.

The crackdown aimed to force the Catholic Church loyal to the Vatican, known as the under-ground church, to become part of the state-approved official church, Christian leaders said.

In the past two years, authorities have not allowed Christian groups to post customary spring messages with Christian blessings or prayers on the entrances of their churches or houses, said Father Paul.

“If Catholics post such messages on churches or houses, governmental agents will tear them off,” the priest said.

However, during this new year, “local Catholics posted the spring couplets and they were not torn off. Maybe the officials were busy fighting the epidemic,” Father Paul said.

The Covid-19 pandemic was first reported in Wuhan city in Hubei province in late December. By mid-January, the entire Chinese bureaucracy was busy fighting the disease that has officially killed some 3,300 people in China.