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<font size="4"><b>China removes Christian symbols from citizens’ homes as a condition of gov’t aid</b></font><br>In order to receive social
welfare payments, citizens in several Chinese towns have to replace
religious symbols with images of Chinese Communist Party leaders
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<span class="gmail-author-name gmail-author-name-lg">By Martin Bürger</span></div><div class="gmail-author gmail-author-large"><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/china-removes-christian-symbols-from-citizens-homes-as-a-condition-of-govt-aid">https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/china-removes-christian-symbols-from-citizens-homes-as-a-condition-of-govt-aid</a></div></div>
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<p>BEIJING, China, July 21, 2020 (<a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/">LifeSiteNews</a>)
– Several towns in China are using their<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> </b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">citizens’ status as social
welfare recipients as a pretext to prohibit them from having Christian
symbols in their homes. Anybody refusing to comply with the local
government,</span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> and thus the governing Chinese Communist Party, would no
longer be financially supported by the state.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>“The government is trying to eliminate our belief and wants to become God instead of Jesus,” </b></span>one Christian preacher told <a href="https://bitterwinter.org/people-on-social-welfare-ordered-to-worship-ccp-not-god/">Bitter Winter</a>, a magazine dedicated to reporting on human rights and religious freedom in China.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">City officials </span>were ordered “to remove <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">crosses, religious symbols and
image</span>s from <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">the homes</span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> of people of faith </span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">who receive social welfare
payments </span>and replace them with portraits of Chairman Mao and President
Xi Jinping,” </b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">wrote Bitter Winter.</span></span></p>
<p>One member of a Christian church recounted how city officials raided
his house, tearing down all religious symbols and replacing them with a
portrait of Chinese communist founding father Mao Zedong. “<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Impoverished
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">religious households</span> can’t receive money from the state for nothing—they
must obey the Communist Party for the money they receive,” </b></span>the person
explained.</p>
<p>According to Bitter Winter, “The policy is being implemented in other
localities across China.” In one locality, officials canceled “a
disabled Christian’s minimum living subsidy and a monthly disability
allowance of [roughly $14].”</p>
<p>His wife commented, “Officials told me that we would be treated as
anti-Party elements if my husband and I continued attending worship
services.”</p>
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</div></form></div></div></div></div></div><p>In another town,<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> an elderly Christian woman</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>was banned from receiving
social welfare for </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>simply saying, “Thank God,”</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">after receiving her
payment of about $28 in January of this year.</span></p>
<p>In yet another town, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>one official told </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>a Christian</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span>after raiding his
house and</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>putting up portraits of Mao and Xi Jinping: “These are the
greatest Gods. If you want to worship somebody, they are the ones.”</b></span></p>
<p>“A Christian from Weihui city in the central province of Henan has
been taking care of her two sons by herself after her husband died
unexpectedly more than ten years ago,” Bitter Winter wrote. “She started
receiving a minimum living allowance from the state in 2016. In early
April, a village official ordered the woman to sign a statement
renouncing her faith and destroy all Christian symbols in her house.
Since she refused, her allowance was canceled.”</p>
<p>China is well-known for persecuting Christians, as well as other
religious and ethnic minorities. In June, the U.S. State Department’s
International Religious Freedom Report for 2019 dedicated <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-report-on-international-religious-freedom/china/">115 pages</a> to China alone.</p>
<p>As the report points out, the Chinese constitution guarantees
“freedom of religious belief but limits protections for religious
practice to ‘normal religious activities’ and does not define ‘normal.’”</p>
<p>The report’s section on China lists countless examples of Catholics
and other Christians being attacked for their faith by the government.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Fathe</span>r Paul Zhang, for example, was taken into custody after<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> he “had
refused </span>to join the government-run [Chinese Patriotic Catholic
Association]. According to AsiaNews, authorities stopped <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Zhang’s car, </span>
smashed the window, and beat <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">him</span> before taking <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">him </span>away. <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">Another man</span> in
the car was also beaten but not taken into custody. Fifteen days prior
to this event, police had raided a house in which <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Zhang was leading
Mass</span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">His whereabouts </span>were unknown at year’s end.”</b></span></p>
<p>One year ago in July, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>“the Central Institute of Socialism in Fujian
Province organized a course on the work of the Catholic Church in the
province.”</b></span></p>
<p>Several dozen priests who are members of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the state-run imitation of
the Catholic Church</b></span> participated. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>“The lessons and activities centered
on the theme of ‘guiding the Catholic Church to follow a path conforming
to socialist society.’ </b></span>AsiaNews noted the course seemed to focus almost
entirely on political doctrine with very little mention of Christian
teachings.”</p>
<p>The report also mentioned <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former bishop of
Hong Kong, and his criticism of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the secret deal between the Vatican and
the communist Chinese government.</b></span></p>
<p>“Similar to the previous year, neither side provided details of the
provisional agreement, such as how the Holy See and the government would
make decisions regarding appointment of bishops,” the report pointed
out.</p>
<p>Paradoxically, Chinese bishop Vincenzo Guo Xijin, “an underground
bishop recognized by the Holy See, remained in a subordinate position
under Bishop Zhan Silu, who was originally ordained without Holy See
approval. The Holy See had previously excommunicated Zhan, a member of
the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, but in December
2018 allowed him to replace Guo as bishop of the Mindong Diocese in
Fujian Province.”</p>
<p>“Zhan was one of the seven individuals whom the Holy See recognized
as bishops under the 2018 provisional agreement,” the report added.
“Police had detained Guo, who had been appointed by the Holy See,
earlier in 2018 for his refusal to jointly lead Easter services with
Zhan, who at the time was not recognized by the Holy See.”</p>
<p>Zen recently <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cdl-zen-vatican-has-delivered-church-in-china-into-hands-of-the-madness-of-our-government">commented</a>
on the fact that Pope Francis, on July 5, chose not to speak out
regarding the tensions between China and Hong Kong, even though the
prepared remarks given to journalists beforehand contained a passage on
that very issue.</p>
<p>“I have seen the text, which is very mild, in no way offensive to the
Chinese government,” the cardinal pointed out. “Some say maybe the Holy
Father thought it was better not to say [something], or some say he may
have received some word from the Chinese Embassy in Italy.”</p>
<p>“It’s not an isolated episode,” he clarified<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>. “It’s already a
long-standing policy of the <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Vatican </span>not to offend the Chinese
government.”</b></span></p>
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