A friend who spent time evangelizing in China during the last decade recalls a meeting with a 90+ year-old survivor of the Cultural Revolution, a devout Catholic. Asked about religion today, the old man, in excellent English would only say “they control….they control.”
“This isn’t about a building,” he adds, “since you don’t need a building to pray. Something else is going on.” A China hand, he is suspicious of state-sponsored religious groups, he says.
Today’s installment of The Telegraph reports, in the last graph, on the Party’s position. State media, in this case People’s Daily, which can also be found in English on line, quotes Wang Zuoan, head of China’s State Administration of Religious Affairs. Says Mr. Wang: …practices (like religion) should be carried out “under the leadership of the Party and the socialist system.”
“Flies on a dashboard,” comments another friend, who lived in China for many years.
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China denies church ‘demolition campaign’ but says Christianity’s growth ‘excessive’
Communist Party in Zhejiang rejects claims of campaign against Protestant churches but one official describes Christianity’s growth as ‘excessive’
At least 10 churches in the eastern province of Zhejiang are currently facing demolition or having their crosses removed, activists claim. Other churches have reportedly been ordered to make themselves “less conspicuous” by turning their lights off at night.
Last week, Christians flocked to the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou – a rich port city known as the “Jerusalem of the East” because of its large Christian community – after its demolition was announced. Read more.