BEIJING, Dec. 13, 00 (CWNews.com) - A human rights group said on Wednesday that China's Communist government has embarked on a campaign to destroy churches and temples that are not officially part of state-controlled associations.
More than 1,200 churches have been destroyed in Zheijang province alone this year, according to the Hong Kong-based Center for Human Rights and Democracy. Wenzhou, a city of 7 million that is heavily Christian, has many new churches, often indistinguishable from surrounding buildings save for signs that say «Christian Teaching Hall.»
The Wenzhou Patriotic Catholic Federation said the city has more than 100,000 Catholics and half a million Christians altogether. «Religion is developing healthily (in the city), with more and more believers each year,» a church member said on condition of anonymity. The government campaign has been going on about a year.
The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in illegal, underground churches following only bishops appointed by the Pope.
«In rural areas, religious superstition is still very rampant,» said a spokesman for the city Foreign Affairs Office, who would give only his surname, Zhou. «The government's goal is to demolish those illegal buildings as well as correct those decadent rural lifestyles.»
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
13. desember 2000