{"id":1664,"date":"2020-09-01T13:45:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T17:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=1664"},"modified":"2020-09-01T13:45:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T17:45:06","slug":"over-900-crosses-removed-from-churches-across-china-in-first-half-of-2020-according-to-new-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/09\/over-900-crosses-removed-from-churches-across-china-in-first-half-of-2020-according-to-new-report.html","title":{"rendered":"Over 900 Crosses Removed From Churches Across China in First Half of 2020 According to New Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SFT HQ\/WikiCommons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

China is continuing to crackdown on Christianity and places of worship in a major way. In some situations, Christians who tried to stop cross removals were injured by authorities or detained, the Christian Post reports.<\/p>\n

According to Italian-based magazine Bitter Winter, over 900 crosses were removed from state-run churches across China in the first half of 2020.<\/p>\n

For many Chinese provinces, the cross-demolition campaign has become part of national policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a church refuses to remove its cross, congregation members may lose their social benefits, like pensions and poverty-alleviation subsidies, and possibilities for their children\u2019s future employment will be affected,\u201d a Chinese Christian said.<\/p>\n

Churches were removed from over 250 state-run Three-Self churches in the eastern part of<\/p>\n

Anhui, an area with the second-largest Christian population in China. This all took place in the first four months of the year.<\/p>\n

Another 656 state-run Protestant churches in the province also saw their crosses taken away in the first of 2020.<\/p>\n

Congregants in a church in Hanshan country were told by United Front Work Department officials that any crosses higher than government buildings \u201cmust be demolished because they overshadow state institutions,\u201d a Church member shared with Bitter Winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly churches that look like enterprises are considered legal. To \u2018sinicize\u2019 Christianity, Xi Jinping does not allow churches to have Western crosses,\u201d the believer said.<\/p>\n

That believer also shared that government officials cautioned that \u201cprotesting cross demolitions means protesting against the government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel sad thinking that all crosses in our church have been demolished,\u201d the believer shared. \u201cEven though it is a symbol of our faith, who dares to disobey the central government order?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

China is continuing to crackdown on Christianity and places of worship in a major way. In some situations, Christians who tried to stop cross removals were injured by authorities or detained, the Christian Post reports. According to Italian-based magazine Bitter Winter, over 900 crosses were removed from state-run churches across China in the first half…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[167,977,974,138,723,980],"class_list":["post-1664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-china","tag-china-christianity-crackdown","tag-china-crackdown","tag-christian-persecution","tag-cross-removal","tag-crosses"],"yoast_head":"\nOver 900 Crosses Removed From Churches Across China in First Half of 2020 According to New Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2020\/09\/over-900-crosses-removed-from-churches-across-china-in-first-half-of-2020-according-to-new-report.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Over 900 Crosses Removed From Churches Across China in First Half of 2020 According to New Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"China is continuing to crackdown on Christianity and places of worship in a major way. 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