More and More Catholic Churches Are Being Demolished in China
A Catholic church in Liangwang
A Catholic church in the province of Jinan, in China, was demolished by order of the government on July 17, 2018, and other churches are threatened with the same fate.
On July 17, about forty police officers burst into a church in Liangwang and forced the three guardians to evacuate the building, revealed Asia News.
Later that day, about thirty men with bulldozers arrived and demolished the church, destroying the altar and all the furniture.
The former place of worship was built in the 1920’s and designated as a “private home” during the cultural Revolution. More recently, according to UCA News a government permit was granted to the church legalizing the practice of Catholic worship in it.
On July 23, the Catholic faithful of the area returned to the church’s ruins to pray and protest against this sacrilegious action.
As for the authorities, they claim that it was due to a local development project for a new residential zone and a railway station.
Several local reports say that another church in Wangcun is also going to be demolished to make way for an urban renovation project.
These hostilities towards the Catholic religion come in the middle of the ongoing negotiations between China and the Holy See to put an end to the division between the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, that is sponsored by the government and schismatic, and the underground Church that remains faithful to Rome.
Sources: CAN / Asia News / Uca News / FSSPX.News
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