Persecution of Christians in China: “a Christian with the surname Chen told China Aid that this church usually has 40 churchgoers attending the service, but due to the lockdown of COVID-19, local authorities utilized this gap to remove the cross.” This makes it clear that the Chinese government is using the coronavirus outbreak to step up its harassment and persecution of Christians.
This comes in the midst of an all-out campaign to turn Christianity into a weak religion that is entirely subservient to the Chinese Communist Party, and that doesn’t teach anything that would lead Chinese people away from Communist Party dogma.
The Chinese government’s campaign is a matter of grave concern for Orthodox Christians in China and all other Christians as well. Holy Orthodoxy in China predates this war on Christianity. It has a three-hundred year history in China, with the first Orthodox Christians coming into the country in 1685. In the 1980s, the Chinese Orthodox Church began to experience a revival. Pray that it not be snuffed out. The Order of Saint Andrew, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, requests once again that the Chinese government end these repressive measures, grant official recognition to the Chinese Orthodox Church, and give full religious freedom to all the Christians of that nation.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in China, see here.
“Coronavirus Does Not Stop Church Demolition, Cross Removal in China,” International Christian Concern, March 18, 2020:
03/18/2020 China (International Christian Concern) – While most churches in China have canceled in-person services due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, the Chinese government has not ceased its persecution against churches.
A church in Guoyang County, Anhui Province saw its cross removed on March 13. A video shared by the Chinese Christian Fellowship of Righteousness documented the moment when the crane removed the red cross from the church.
A Christian with the surname Chen told China Aid that this church usually has 40 churchgoers attending the service, but due to the lockdown of COVID-19, local authorities utilized this gap to remove the cross.
Bob Fu from China Aid also shared a video, showing Xiangbaishu Church in Yixing city, Jiangsu province reduced to its bare bones on March 11.
Another church in Huaishang district of the city of Bengbu, Anhui province also had its cross removed at the beginning of March. Ms. Yao, a local Christian told China Aid that the removal was led by the head of local United Front Department, a Communist Party organ employed to govern religious affairs….
