Bishop Says China Has Ordered an End to Church Demolitions

UCA News ^ | 3/19/15

[marshmallow]

400 crosses have been removed and 35 buildings destroyed in Zhejiang province since 2013

China’s central government has ordered an end to a demolition campaign that targeted churches in Zhejiang province, according to a senior official of the state-sanctioned Catholic Church.

Bishop Paul Meng Qinglu of Inner Mongolia, a vice-chair of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, said he heard the news during a recent religious meeting in Beijing.

“Church leaders across China had complained about the demolitions over the past year,” he told ucanews.com.

Bishop Meng said the orders to end the demolition campaign were supposed to have taken effect “early this year”.

Bishop Meng told the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao on Sunday that the order likely came from two central government departments: the State Administration of Religious Affairs and the United Front Work Department, a body that oversees relations with non-party groups.

At least 400 crosses have been removed and 35 Protestant and Catholic churches destroyed in Zhejiang since the end of 2013, making the campaign among the most destructive against Christians in the region in recent times.

Last month, Christian Solidarity Worldwide published a detailed timeline of the demolitions that appeared to show the campaign slowing down in December, when there were only four incidents recorded in the southeastern province — among China’s most prosperous.

Leaked government notices last year suggested the Zhejiang provincial government launched the campaign based on the premise that churches were violating building codes.