The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released a report on the state of the Catholic Church in China, highlighting a few sacrilegious changes the ChiComms are requiring.
In an effort to conform the church to the CCP, crosses are being removed and images of Jesus Christ are being replaced with pictures of their dear leader, Xi JinPing.
A new report details the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) efforts to 'exert total control' over the Catholic Church and other religious faiths within its borders and to 'forcibly eradicate religious elements' that the party deems contrary to its political and policy agenda ...
Yes, China is eradicating religious elements from churches because they are in opposition to Chinese communist rule.
They are literally replacing the church with the state.
Chinese officials have ordered the removal of crosses from churches and have replaced images of Christ and the Virgin Mary with images of President Xi Jinping, according to the report. They have also censored religious texts, forced members of the clergy to preach CCP ideology, and mandated the display of CCP slogans within churches.
To subordinate religions to the party, the government forces religious groups to enroll in various 'patriotic religious associations' and their local branches. For Catholic churches, this means enrolling in the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China, which is officially under the control of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs and the CCP's United Front Work Department.
It's a complete and total takeover of the Catholic Church in China by the Communist Party.
They rightly understand Christianity as a legitimate threat to party rule, so they are remaking the church in their own image. If you don't comply, well you're in a dangerous cult of course and you could be thrown in prison.
Anyone who practices religion outside of the state-approved associations is considered to be in a 'cult' and subjected to anti-cult provisions in Chinese law, a policy that has resulted in mass arrests and imprisonment, according to the report. Chinese officials have enforced the anti-cult provisions against underground Catholics who do not recognize the authority of the government-backed clergy and the distortion of the faith.
USCIRF Commissioner Asif Mahmood told CNA that the CCP considers underground Catholics to be a threat because they do not recognize the government's purported authority 'to dictate religious doctrine and regulate religious affairs.'
The ChiComms have also broken a 2018 agreement with the Catholic Church and have installed their own pro-state clergy in priestly positions. Clergy who oppose the commie infiltration into the church are regularly disappeared, according to the governmental report.
Nina Shea, the director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom and a former commissioner of the USCIRF, told CNA that the CCP is 'trying to sever the Catholic Church in China from the pope.'
'Catholic bishops are special targets because of their essential role within the hierarchical Church in ensuring communion with the successor of St. Peter,' Shea said. 'Those who resist [government intrusion] are placed in indefinite detention without due process, banished from their episcopal sees, placed under indefinite security police investigation, disappeared, and/or prevented from exercising their episcopal ministries.'
According to some, this is the most persecution faced by Catholics in China since Mao.
While Catholics are being targeted, they aren't alone. Like King Darius in Daniel, only the state's approved religion is allowed.
One of the most egregious examples included in the report is the forced internment of Uyghur Muslims into reeducation camps, where they must pledge allegiance to the CCP and renounce their language, culture, and religious traditions. The report refers to the government's actions as constituting 'genocide and crimes against humanity' against Uyghur Muslims.
The report also notes examples of forced reeducation against Tibetan Buddhists and removing or altering religious texts and imagery. Chinese officials have also destroyed or altered statues and temples belonging to Chinese Buddhists and Taoists, suppressed practices that are seen as contradictory to its goals, and forced the display of CCP slogans.
Statism is the only worship allowed in China.
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