Aid to the Church in Need: China - Violence Against Christians in the Year 2001

China - Violence Against Christians in the Year 2001

Posted by Info Report on 14/11/2002, 8:21 am
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China - Violence Against Christians in the Year 2001

CHINA
THERE are up to 12 million Catholics in China – dwarfed in number by the 100 million Buddhists, by far the largest religious group in the country. Despite persecution of all religions, Buddhism clearly has a major influence on the Chinese. The Communist People’s Republic of China has the largest number of atheists in the world. 21.4% of all Chinese say they are atheists.
It is impossible to accurately count the number of Catholics in China. If someone were to try this, many Catholics would refuse to give their names. They have learned their lesson in the past. What is requested as “innocent information” today will likely be misused for less innocent purposes tomorrow.
It is incorrect to talk about a split in the Chinese Catholic Church. However, there are two branches within the Church: there is the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and the so-called underground Church.
The persecution described below continues today. Just two months ago, 46-year-old Bishop Wei was arrested after saying Mass.
January 2001: About 70 students and professors are removed from the national seminary in Beijing because they boycotted the ordination of patriotic bishops in the course of 2000. Around 100 students and professors boycotted the ordination because the appointment of new bishops did not receive approval from Rome.
March: 30 Catholic Sisters from the official patriotic movement in Harbin are thrown out of their house after refusing entry to the state-appointed prioress.

13 April: Over Easter, 79-year-old Shi Enxiang of the Chinese underground Catholic Church is arrested during his visit to Beijing on 13 April. Bishop Shi, of the Yixian diocese, has been persecuted since 1996. He has already spent 30 years of his life in prison; the last time from 1990 to 1993. At the same time, five priests and at least ten laymen are also arrested during the Holy Week.
30 May: Communist authorities in China arrest 35 Christians for illegal religious activities and sentence them to 15 years in a forced labour camp. They are Protestant Christians and are arrested while attending a church service in a house church in Dongsheng, in Inner Mongolia. Among those arrested is a woman, Wang Yulan, whose position was worse than that of the others: her husband had previously been jailed. The result was that their 12-year-old son was left without parental care.
July: The Chinese authorities arrest the 83-year-old bishop of the underground church, Li Honngye of Luoyang, the local dean and 14 sisters. For the time being, no official charges are made. Also arrested are 16 priests of the underground church in the province of Jiangxi. Father Liao Haiqing of the Yujiang diocese is arrested at home. The 15 other priests are arrested in the middle of the night.

21 October: The Chinese government decline an offer from Pope John Paul II to start negotiations about starting diplomatic relations. According to the Chinese government, Rome has taken a positive step, but it is not yet enough for negotiations. “We would like to point out that the Pope still has not offered his apologies for the canonisations which deeply offended the Chinese people.”
25 October: The government of the province of Zhejiang, in the east of China, destroys the Catholic church of the city of Linjianyuan for the third time in 18 months. During the public holidays from 1 to 7 October, the parish repaired the church; on 25 October the government destroyed the building again. This happens after the parish refused to become a member of the local patriotic church.
Violence Against Christians in the Year 2001 can be downloaded free of charge from the Australian website of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need www.aidtochurch.org The report totals 288 pages

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