Church in China

This week has seen one of the blatant violation of religious freedom in China. The Chinese government has been destroying crosses, burning bibles, closing churches and forcing Christian believers to sign papers renouncing their faith as the crackdown on religious congregations in Beijing and several provinces intensifies. The suppression of religious freedoms is part of an official campaign to “Sinicize” religion by demanding loyalty to the atheist Communist party and removing any potential challenge to the party’s power in the country.

The anti-religion campaign affected not only Christian denominations. Around 1 million Uighurs and other members of Muslim minority groups in the country's northwest have been detained in indoctrination camps where they are forced to denounce Islam and profess loyalty to the Communist Party. Hence, it is obvious that communist ideology is rampant and has been robust in instilling it.

According to Chinese laws, religious believers are allowed to worship only in government-sanctioned congregations. But many millions of Christians belong to underground or house churches that ignore government regulations. Religious persecution is not new to the Chinese Christians. They have been persecuted for a long time but imminently after 2012. As Christians, we have the duty and responsibility to condemn any form of violation of religious freedom. We can reach out to the Christians and other religious people who have to practice their faith in fear and trembling. We are blessed to live in a free country where one can go to Church without any fear and trembling but think of those Christians who go to Church with fear. I am aware the best way to reach out to them now is to pray for them during our Mass, rosary and such. But if you think of any other way we can reach out to them, feel free to share with each other about it.

Source: Fox News