Free Republic

Their families? Left to fend for themselves. So tomorrow more pastors jailed by Chinese atheists will string fine wire for Christmas light insertions into hard plastic containers. A workday: 16-20 hours. Then the items will be marketed global for believers to have Christmas lights for one more December. It goes on and on and on.

LINFEN, China — Towering eight stories over wheat fields, the Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly 50,000 worshippers in the gritty heart of China's coal country.But that was before hundreds of police and hired thugs descended on the mega-church, smashing doors and windows, seizing Bibles and sending dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries, members and activists say Today, the church's co-pastors are in jail. The gates to the church complex in the northern province of Shanxi are locked and a police armored personnel vehicle sits outside. The closure of what may be China's first mega-church is...

BEIJING - As President Barack Obama prepares for his first visit to China, leaders of the unapproved churches there are condemning his administration for indifference to the increasing persecution they are facing. The latest example of that persecution came Sunday as followers of an unapproved church in Beijing were again forced by the government to find a new place to worship. Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-approved churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment.

Christians gathering in snow after forced out On Sunday, Novermber 1, Beijing Christians gathered in heavy snow after they were banned from an indoor place.

SHANXI--At 3:00 AM the morning of Sunday, September 13, 2009, a mass of 400 deviants in police suits and red armbands broke into the"Good News Cloth Shoes Factory", on the site of Fushan Church’s new building in Linfin City, Shanxi province. Two shovel loaders tore at the factory and new church building foundations, while the mob, with bricks and other blunt instruments in hand, beat Fushan church members who were sleeping at the church construction site. Within the hour, more than ten church members lay bleeding heavily; some were severely injured and sent to the emergency room. Several people lost...

The Chinese government has reportedly issued a secret directive to crack down on at least several major house churches in Beijing, a U.S.-based group reported Tuesday. ChinaAid Association, a religious freedom group with a focus on house churches in China, was informed by sources inside the country that the public security bureau has ordered the Beijing Huajie Plaza to terminate its rental contract with the Beijing Shouwang house church. The Shouwang house church is one of the largest house churches in the area with more than 1,000 members. For a few years now, it has rented two floors for worship...

Jesson Tian is a graduate student in Beijing working on a master's degree in agricultural biology. After graduation, Tian hopes to discover new ways to make China's farms more fruitful. But he's already learned a thing or two about harvests and fruit—of the spiritual kind. In China, just as elsewhere, college students are exposed to things their parents wouldn't approve of. For Tian, who was raised an atheist, that thing was Christianity. During his sophomore year, a friend introduced Tian to Jesus, and since he became a Christian, Tian shares his faith wherever he can, including to American students studying...

In China, Christians have a choice: Join a government-approved church—which is constantly monitored by the authorities—or join an underground church.Thank heavens things like that don’t happen in the West, you may be thinking. Think again. In Britain, the government has begun sticking its nose in church business, telling churches what to do.According to the Daily Telegraph, starting next year, the British government is going to begin forcing churches and other religious institutions to hire open, practicing homosexuals. It will happen under the provisions of the so-called Equity Bill, which forbids discrimination against homosexuals or transsexuals. The law would “cover...

BEIJING – By all accounts, Shi Weihan was a model Chinese citizen. A kind-hearted man with a sense of social responsibility, he donated funds to send poor kids to school, raised money for those suffering from congenital heart disease, and when the Sichuan earthquake hit, worked tirelessly for the emergency relief effort. But Shi had a fatal flaw. He printed Bibles – and gave them out for free. This week a criminal court in Beijing sentenced him to three years in jail.

John Calvin was a Frenchman, but he is being remembered in Geneva this week because it was here that he built Calvinism. Invited to reform the city in 1541, almost as what would now be called a management consultant, he formed an alliance with the city fathers. Over the next 20 years of preaching and pastoring they turned this tiny city, with a population then of only 10,000, into a model of church government and theology which has changed the world. His followers now form the third-largest Christian grouping in the world. The world alliance of reformed churches claims 75...

Note: Photo included. Note: The following text is a quote: Monday, May 18, 2009 Video Launched to Expose Torture of Christian Attorney Gao Zhisheng US Senators Call on Chinese President to Release Gao from Prison By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service BEIJING, CHINA / WASHINGTON, DC (ANS) -- It has been more than 100 days since Christian human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng has been seen in public. Gao Zhisheng Now two Christian groups, who work for the rights of believers in countries where they face persecution or discrimination, are working together for his release. And a group of...

A murmur of “Amen” echoes softly down a corridor in a luxury Beijing hotel. Dozens of young Chinese are gathered in a beige-carpeted conference room to listen to the word of God. After helping themselves to hot water or tea at the back of the room, they find a seat and chatter with friends. They tuck Louis Vuitton and Prada handbags under their seats, switch their mobile phones to silent and turn to listen to a young woman who takes the microphone to ask for silence and recite a prayer. A casually dressed, grey-haired Chinese man takes to the podium....

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On her first trip to China as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton downplayed the Asia giant's human rights record and instead emphasized concerns over global warming and the world economy. Virginia Republican Congressman Frank R. Wolf has drafted a stinging letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton chiding her for diminishing the importance of human rights when dealing with China. Clinton, while stopping in Seoul, South Korea as part of a four-country tour to Asia, told reporters Feb. 20 that other issues were more pressing than human rights. “Successive administrations and Chinese governments have been poised...

ZHAO XIAO, a former Communist Party official and convert to Christianity, smiles over a cup of tea and says he thinks there are up to 130m Christians in China. This is far larger than previous estimates. The government says there are 21m (16m Protestants, 5m Catholics). Unofficial figures, such as one given by the Centre for the Study of Global Christianity in Massachusetts, put the number at about 70m. But Mr Zhao is not alone in his reckoning. A study of China by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an American think-tank, says indirect survey evidence suggests many...

The congregation seemed to come alive as the worship team led one of the most beautiful and touching songs that I have ever heard in China. The song, entitled "5 o'clock in the morning," comes from a collection known as the Caanan Hymns, miraculously written by a peasant girl in Henan, who could by all accounts not even read music before she wrote almost 1000 hyms. The song is a prayer to God that He will bless China's harvest and bring peace upon the nation. As we sang this song, I could not help but look around and watch as...

BEIJING — Security agents detained an elderly bishop of an underground Catholic church in northern China hours before the closing of the Olympic Games, a U.S.-based group said Monday. Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, 73, of Zhengding, a city in northern Hebei province, was taken by six government officials from his cathedral on Sunday morning, the Cardinal Kung Foundation said in a statement. The independent foundation, which aims to promote the Roman Catholic Church in China, said it did not know where or why Jia was being detained. A woman who answered the phone at the city's public security bureau said...

Beijing, Aug. 25, 2008 (CWNews.com) - China's most prominent "underground" Catholic bishop was arrested on Sunday, August 24: the day that also saw the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding was taken into custody by several police officers at Wuqiu cathedral. No immediate reason was given for his arrest, and authorities have not disclosed where the aging bishop is being held. The 73-year-old Bishop Jia, who heads an active diocese of over 100,000 Catholics in the Hebei diocese, spent 15 years in prison, from 1963 to 1978. Since his release he has...

Beijing, Aug 11, 2008 / 11:48 am (CNA).- Sunday morning in Beijing, President Bush attended the Beijing Kuanjie Protestant Christian Church.  After the government-established church service, the U.S. president gently encouraged the Chinese government to consider granting religious freedom to its citizens, telling them not to fear Christianity.The president expressed that he and his wife experienced “great joy and privilege of worshiping here in Beijing, China.”  Bush explained that the service showed “that God is universal, and God is love, and no state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion.” He also thanked the pastor and the...

Despite severe persecution, Christians in China are flourishing and churches are growing. Chinese Christians suffer unimaginable brutality and suffering because of their faith. VIDEO

Pope Benedict Tells China: Open Up To Christianity By DANIELA PETROFF Associated Press Writer OIES, Italy -- Pope Benedict XVI urged China Tuesday to open up to Christianity as he visited the birthplace of a 19th century saint who died as a missionary there 100 years ago. China's officially atheistic Communist Party forced Chinese Catholics to cut ties with the Vatican in 1951, and the two sides have not restored formal relations. Many of the country's estimated 12 million Catholics worship in congregations outside the state-approved church and often are arrested or harassed. "It is important for this great country...

American Christian activist detained in China. Coming up on Laura's show. Listen online on KRLA IN LOS ANGELES

THE NEON SIGNS at Sauna City, a nightclub-and-massage complex in northern Beijing, offered little promise of spiritual comfort. But the rent was good and the landlord sympathetic, so Jin and his partners signed a lease in May 2007 on their improbable new home, a fifth-floor office large enough for 150 chairs, a choir and a band. Then Jin took a step once inconceivable for a non-sanctioned church in China: He printed business cards. In proclaiming his name and number and the location of the newly christened Zion Church, he spurned the label of "underground" church. He describes his group as...

A new plant can turn out 12 million copies a year. Some are for export, but most are for domestic sale. The factory looks like it could be any plant in this export-driven nation. Hundreds of Chinese workers huddle over loud machines churning out large orders for customers at home and abroad. But what they're making might surprise you: Bibles. As Tibetan monks grab headlines protesting the lack of religious freedom under Chinese rule, a booming Bible industry is on its way to turning the world's biggest atheist nation into the world's largest producer of the Good Book. Chairman Mao...

Religious Boom in China after Quake JUNE 10, 2008 08:31 As religious gatherings for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake are being held in large scales, the Chinese Communist Party is worrying about a possible explosive increase in religious population. The party is tolerating such religious events in consideration of public sentiment for now, but is known to be jittery about the possibility of uncontrollable trouble. â–½ Worships and Buddhist service for earthquake victims The Buddhist Association of China held a large-scale service for those who were killed or displaced by the earthquake on May 14, two days after the...

Oct. 12: This file photo shows couple during a wedding photo shoot at a deserted Catholic seminary in Pengzhou in southwest China's Sichuan province. Five couples were having wedding photos taken when a massive earthquake struck on May 12, destroying the seminary. May 12: Bricks fall from a deserted Catholic seminary as an earthquake strikes during a wedding photo shoot in Pengzhou in southwest China's Sichuan province. Five couples were having wedding photos taken when the earthquake struck, and all escaped without injury. The century-old seminary was destroyed in the quake, which left tens of thousands dead in Sichuan. May...

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – The World Day of Prayer for the Church in China which we celebrate tomorrow is a great day. We entrust the destiny of China and its Church in the hands of Our Lady on this day for She likes us and is very powerful. Since the situation in China is not as optimistic as some might believe, Our Lady is our only hope to tear down walls and touch hearts. Here in Hong Kong we prepared ourselves for the Pope’s Day of Prayer with a novena in every parish church dedicated to Mary. There are about...

The Chinese owner of a bookstore near the 2008 Olympics complex in Beijing has been re-arrested and detained, only about a dozen weeks after he was cleared of allegations of illegally publishing Bibles and Christian literature due to "insufficient evidence," according to a new report from Compass Direct. As WND reported earlier, Shi Weihan was released in January after being taken into custody shortly after Thanksgiving 2007 during police raids on his home and office. China Aid Association then reported the fact he was released, along with several others, although the government offered no explanation for his case. An American...

The Vatican yesterday was accused of currying favor with China by "censoring" the Easter reflections for tonight's solemn Good Friday service at the Colosseum that Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong wrote at the request of Pope Benedict XVI. But many commentators insist the choice of the outspoken Shanghai-born bishop for the task reflects the full support he enjoys from the pontiff. The pope asked Cardinal Zen, 76, to write the reflections, or special prayers, for the Way of the Cross ceremony, which will be beamed on live satellite television to millions of Christians around the world. The prayers...

The new Orthodox metropolitan of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia says his priorities include dealing with the Chinese government to bring about the recognition of Orthodox Christians in mainland China - writes Francis Wong. "There are many Orthodox in the port cities in South China. Greeks are working on the ships and they want a place of worship," Metropolitan Nektarios told Ecumenical News International on 29 February, the day before his enthronement. "The pastoral activities are first for the [Orthodox] Greeks, then for the Chinese. There are only a few Orthodox Chinese there." At present, the Chinese government recognises only...

(BEIJING) — There was Hu Jintao, head of the Chinese Communist Party, warmly shaking hands at a party-sponsored New Year's tea party with one of the country's main Christian leaders. To make sure the message got through to China's 68 million party faithful, a large photograph of the moment was splashed across the front page of the official party newspaper, People's Daily. Hu's display of holiday courtesy to Liu Bainian, general secretary of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, was one in a series of recent signals that China's rulers, despite the party's official atheism, are seeking to get along better...

Dozens of Christians have been questioned, arrested, jailed or beaten in a series of attacks on house church Christmas programs as China tries to wipe out "subversive" or "reactionary" forces before the 2008 Olympics, according to China Aid Association. The organization has released a list of the most recent assaults on Christians, including the detention in Henan province of Pastor Liang Qi Zhen, vice president of the Chinese House Church Alliance. "After disbursing Liang's congregation, police officials took him by force and transported him to an undisclosed location where he was tortured for several hours. Liang's ears and right hand...

n China it is known as the “sacred doctrine” and it has become one of the country’s bestselling books. Yet it has nothing to do with the thoughts of Chairman Mao and its teachings have been in conflict with the forces of Communism for generations. Demand for the Bible is soaring in China, at a time when meteoric economic growth is testing the country’s allegiance to Communist doctrine. Today the 50 millionth Bible will roll off the presses of China’s only authorised publisher, Amity Printing, amid public fanfare and celebration.

Beijing's Southern Cathedral has the kind of congregation many Catholic churches in Europe can only dream of attracting. At Sunday morning Mass, the church is overflowing with worshippers. Those that cannot squeeze in sit on benches outside. There are no official ties between China and the Vatican, despite attempts by both sides over recent months to overcome their differences. But that does not seem to matter to the faithful at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to give the Beijing church its full name. The solid-looking brick cathedral, founded in 1605 by Jesuit Matteo Ricci,...

We often hear Christians talking about certain theological ideas and ministry models as “Western.” The implication is that, these ideas and models came from the West, and the church in Asia must take a critical look to see if they are suitable for use in ministry in Asia. What exactly does the word “Western” mean? And what did the Chinese church import from the West? WHAT IS “WESTERN”? The Gospel of Jesus Christ spread in several directions in the first and second centuries. The Christian faith went to India, according to tradition, by the Apostle Thomas. Christians also took their...

The survey found a large rise in Christians in China The number of religious believers in China could be three times higher than official estimates, according to a survey reported by state media.A poll of 4,500 people by Shanghai university professors found 31.4% of people above the age of 16 considered themselves as religious. This suggests 300 million people nationwide could be religious, compared to the official figure of 100 million. China is regularly criticised for cracking down on unauthorised worship. Believers are only allowed to attend government-approved churches, mosques and temples. Correspondents say the poll's findings back up...

Monday, July 31, 2006 Hundreds of Chinese Christians Wounded and Arrested As Large House Church Destroyed in Zhejiang Province By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service MIDLAND, TEXAS / ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA (ANS) -- A large house church building was destroyed and many Christians were arrested and wounded during a confrontation on the afternoon of July 29 in the Chinese Provibce of Zhejiang. The house church building is located at Che Lu Wan Village, Dangshan Town, Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. According to eyewitness reports provided to China Aid Association (CAA), the destruction of the church building started...

CHINA -- The government here tells Westerners to stay away from the illegal "house churches" spreading like wildfire throughout this officially atheistic country. But through contacts I was able to visit two churches made up of urban professionals this month, with the agreement that locations of meeting places remain unspecified and individual participants unnamed. A word of definition: All Chinese churches are supposed to register with the government and place themselves under its authority, so "house church" means a non-registered church and not necessarily one that meets in a home. Most do, but some in the countryside meet in caves...

On April 3rd, my wife and I came back from a 2-½ week trip to China. I wanted to share with you some of my experiences on this trip. We have all heard in the news about the lack of freedoms in China, and I wanted to put these many stories to the test. During my trip I had on almost every opportunity engaged in conversations with some successful business people, taxi drivers, people on the street and my in-laws on topics including religion (sharing with people openly about my faith), about freedom, democracy, and human rights in China, and...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican's top foreign affairs official said the church seeks no privileges in China, but only wants the freedom to organize its internal affairs. The comments by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo came after a month of heightened church-state tensions in China over the ordination of bishops unapproved by Pope Benedict XVI. The archbishop said interference by Chinese authorities in the bishop selection process ends up exacerbating divisions among Chinese Catholics. He spoke in an interview with a Romanian newspaper, and the Vatican translated and distributed the text to journalists June 1. "As in all countries of the...

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer Fri May 5, 9:33 AM ET VATICAN CITY - Vatican officials cited church law that called for automatic excommunication in condemning China for appointing bishops without papal consent, but legal experts said Friday that the appointees may be spared formal censure because they may have been pressured. The Vatican said Thursday that the consecration of two bishops this week in China carried with them the automatic penalty of excommunication for the two men as well as the bishops who ordained them because Pope Benedict XVI hadn't approved the appointments. While Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls...

he Vatican is excommunicating two bishops who were illegally ordained by China's breakaway Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his "deep displeasure" over the appointments. The rift comes as Beijing and the Vatican are engaged in talks with the aim of re-establishing relations, which were severed more than 50 years ago. Excommunication is automatic under Church law for bishops who are illegally ordained, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome. The Vatican also said it had received information that bishops had come under "strong pressure and threats" to take part in the ordinations. If that was proved, the excommunications could...

Vatican Excommunicates 4 Chinese BishopsBy ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press WriterVATICAN CITY - The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated two bishops ordained by China's state-controlled church without the pope's consent, escalating tensions as the two sides explore preliminary moves toward improving ties. The Vatican also excommunicated the two bishops who ordained them, saying church law mandates excommunication for bishops involved in ordinations without Vatican approval. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls cited Article 1382 of the Roman Catholic Church's canon law. That article states that "both the bishop who, without a pontifical mandate, consecrates a person a bishop, and the one who receives the...

BEIJING (AP) – A leader in China's state-backed church defended government limits on religious freedom in China Tuesday, saying Christians are free to worship and spread their faith as long as they do so privately. "So we don't have religious activities in public places because we don't want to cause religious disharmony," Cao said at a news conference. Government controls on religion have attracted sharp criticism from Christians overseas and Chinese who refuse to submit to state authority. At issue, is what many feel is a duty for Christians: the right to propagate the faith. Unauthorized Protestant churches, often called...

Christianity always seems to grow where its followers are persecuted and paradoxically seems to die away where its followers have the absolute freedom to worship. The United States seems to be one of the few exceptions so far -- despite all the freedoms and distractions that we have, there are many who practice authentic Christianity. We need to pray that this will last.China is not as fortunate as we are. Early missionaries were not always so successful in gaining new believers. My sister-in-law's mother grew up in China as a missionary child and her family had to flee when the Communists...

Chinese authorities have arrested another Catholic priest of the "underground" Church in the Hebei province, and an underground bishop has disappeared, the Cardinal Kung Foundation has reported. Father Wang Wenzhi was arrested on December 11, and has been held in custody since that time, the Cardinal Kung Foundation says. Local officials are evidently trying to persuade the priest to accept the authority of the government-backed Catholic Patriotic Association. Father Wang is the senior priest in the Yongnian diocese; while in custody he has celebrated the 20th anniversary of his ordination. Meanwhile Bishop Han Dingxiang, the head of the Yongnian diocese,...

Beijing, Dec. 24 -- Santa Claus might have never expected that he could be so popular in China. Christmas trees and baubles are decorating homes, shops, restaurants and office buildings in major cities, while images of Santa and Rudolph are young urbanites' favourites. About 90 per cent of 2,000 Chinese recently surveyed said they would have special arrangements on Christmas Eve. For them, Christmas is the second most important holiday in China after the Spring Festival. Bars and karaoke halls are expected to be packed with customers on Saturday night as 43 per cent of respondents are planning to have...

TIANJIN, China, DEC. 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- A group of priests and nuns were beaten with iron bars, bricks and clubs by a group of assailants in this seaside city, after protesting the expropriation of Church property. The priests and nuns were attacked Friday after having demonstrated against the seizure of several buildings belonging to their Archdiocese of Taiyuan, in Shanxi province, according to AsiaNews. The attack followed a similar incident in Xian several weeks ago, when 16 nuns were beaten for having stood in the way of the demolition of a diocesan school. In the Tianjin incident, one priest was...

It looks like a modest two or three-bedroom apartment from the outside. The casual observer would never guess it is the home of a growing house church in one of China’s major metropolitan areas. But on Sunday they come—all day. What started with four or five members has mushroomed to 100 attenders—mostly students from a nearby university—in a little more than a year’s time. “They share with friends and classmates, roommates or teachers,” explains Jet, the young leader of the congregation. “This is the common way.” Some are drawn to the church as they search for the meaning of life....

"Population Control" Eyewitness Steven W. Mosher is president of the pro-family Population Research Institute based in Front Royal, Virginia. For more than 20 years, Mr. Mosher’s has been a leading voice speaking out against the abuse of human rights in Communist China. He was interviewed by John F. McManus, publisher of THE NEW AMERICAN.Q. How did your relationship with China begin?A. As a doctoral candidate from Stanford University, I was the first American social scientist to go to China after President Carter normalized relations with that nation in 1979. I spent an entire year living in a village in South...

Nun wounded in Chinese government raid of Catholic Church (courtesy: China Aid Association) The communist Chinese government bulldozed a Catholic Church building in Xi'an city, wounding 16 nuns. The U.S.-based China Aid Association, citing "reliable sources," said about 30 uniformed young men rushed into the church with wooden sticks in their hands at about 6 p.m. Nov. 22. Two hours later, a bulldozer started tearing down the place of worship. China Aid said officials from the government's religious affairs bureau came to the site, and the destruction was halted until the next evening. Then, about 40 uniformed young men...