{"id":691,"date":"2011-05-18T19:52:21","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T23:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/?p=691"},"modified":"2011-05-18T21:09:45","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T01:09:45","slug":"chinese-catholics-decide-to-defy-day-of-prayer-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/05\/chinese-catholics-decide-to-defy-day-of-prayer-ban.html","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Catholics defy Day of Prayer ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Underground Bishop Julius Zia Zhiguo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chinese underground Catholics have decided to challenge their government’s ban on the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China.<\/p>\n

The Communist government has forbidden the underground Catholic community in Shanghai from visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan on 24 May — a day the Pope has called for Catholics worldwide to pray for the persecuted church in China.<\/p>\n

\n

To read more about China’s persecution of Catholics CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Chinese Catholics are required by law to be a part of the government-run Catholic Patriotic Church — and to have no affiliation with the Vatican or any Catholics outside of China. While several million Catholics, generally elderly, do attend the government-run churches, many more are “underground,” led by priests and bishops loyal to Rome, not Beijing. Those leaders are routinely arrested and jailed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Worshippers in an underground Catholic congregation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nevertheless Catholic underground churches are growing. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

To watch a video smuggled out of China about the underground church, CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And after decades of quietly\u00a0resisting\u00a0government control through passive disobedience to the Chinese government,\u00a0several of the underground communities have decided to challenge\u00a0the ban\u00a0and will go on pilgrimage to the shrine in Sheshan over the previous weekend, May 21. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“The atmosphere is very tense,” an underground\u00a0priest told AsiaNews,<\/em> “and we should remain calm. At the same time we want to obey the instructions of the pope.<\/span><\/span>” <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\ufeffTo read about the Chinese government’s escalating persecution of Protestants at Beijing’s Shouwang Church CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span>In 2007, Benedict XVI established May 24, the Feast of Our Lady of\u00a0Help, as the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In\u00a0a papal letter to Chinese Catholics in 2007, he expressed the intention that through prayer\u00a0they might strengthen the unity between China’s underground and official Catholics.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The letter also asked\u00a0the Lord to give China’s Catholics “for the strength to persevere” in their\u00a0“Christian witness, even in the midst of suffering of persecution.” <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

CLICK HERE\u00a0to read about China’s oppression of its Nobel Peace Prize winner<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
One of the government-appointed "Patriotic" bishops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since 2008, Chinese authorities have tried to prevent pilgrims from going on any pilgrimage to the Sheshan shrine. This year, the government “invited” priests to go on “government paid holidays” on the Day of Prayer.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Each year, police\u00a0have\u00a0allowed only a few pilgrims to\u00a0hike up the slopes to the shrine — turning back thousands, threatening them with arrest. Some have been held for 48 of questioning.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Worldwide, Catholic priests and bishops are appointed by the Pope. The Chinese government has forbidden any communication with the Vatican and last year the government-appointed “Bishops Council and Patriotic Association” ordained\u00a0several <\/span><\/span>bishops without papal permission.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0CLICK HERE to read about 17 Chinese Protestant pastors’ decision to risk prison by requsting the government grant Christians religious freedom.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chinese underground Catholics have decided to challenge their government’s ban on the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. The Communist government has forbidden the underground Catholic community in Shanghai from visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan on 24 May — a day the Pope has called for Catholics worldwide to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,78,123,126,130,59,5,4,125],"tags":[12,14,35,40,122,113,112,66],"class_list":["post-691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china-2","category-chinese-catholics","category-communist","category-house-church","category-inspiration","category-news","category-persecuted-christians","category-persecution","category-shouwang-church","tag-china","tag-christian","tag-christians","tag-inspiration","tag-news","tag-persecuted-christians","tag-persecution","tag-shouwang-church"],"yoast_head":"\nChinese Catholics defy Day of Prayer ban - Pray for the Persecuted Church<\/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\/pray_for_the_persecuted_church\/2011\/05\/chinese-catholics-decide-to-defy-day-of-prayer-ban.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese Catholics defy Day of Prayer ban - Pray for the Persecuted Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chinese underground Catholics have decided to challenge their government’s ban on the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. 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