Chinese Christians protest 'evil Communist campaign' to destroy crosses

Christians in China take a stand against the continuous removal of crosses.

Christian leaders have set up demonstrations in eastern China to take a stand against the "evil" campaign to eliminate crosses; a plan many see as a coordinated Communist party attack on their religion.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - No less than 1,200 crosses have already been taken off from the churches of Zhejiang province, since the government program began in 2013, according to activists. Conflict has stirred over the past weeks; authorities forcibly took several hundreds of rooftop crosses off Protestant and Catholic faith houses throughout the region.

On July 24, about 20 people from a Catholic clergy initiated an unusual public demonstration at the coastal city known as the "Jerusalem of the East," called Wenzhou. A banner spread out outside government offices reading, "Maintaining religious dignity and opposing the forced removal of crosses."

Reports explained that Chinese police monitored the 2-hour long demonstration, but did not break it up.

One church leader, whose name is being kept clandestine to protect him from retaliation, boldly claimed that authorities were attempting to transform Christianity "into a tool that serves the party."

"What they are doing feels like something from the Cultural Revolution era," he stated, referring to the time in the 1960s when churches and temples were raided and shattered by Chairman Mao's Red Guards.

For many Christian activists, president Xi Jinping has given, at the minimum, implied approval for the removal of crosses. He recently warned that religion should be independent from foreign influence.

Catholic officials recently issued an open letter expressing lamentation over the removals, calling it "an evil act" that "caused great resentment and anger among clergy and believers."

"Removing crosses means destroying believers' faith, as well as destroying love and indulging hatred," stated the letter.

"Without question, religious freedom is under assault in China," Republican presidential candidate, Marco Rubio exclaimed after a congressional hearing last week.

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