China removes crosses from churches, replaces images of Christ with Xi Jinping

3 of out of 2024 s 12:00

A US agency report shows the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to “exert total control” over the Church and other religions and to “eradicate religious elements by force.”

The analysis, released last week by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), says the policy of sinicization of religion violates religious freedom. The term Sinicization means to conform something to Chinese culture. This policy essentially subordinates beliefs to the political agenda of the Chinese Communist Party and the Marxist view of religion, according to the report.

Chinese authorities ordered the removal of crosses from churches and replaced images of Christ and Our Lady with images of President Xi Jinping, according to the report. They also censored religious texts, forced clergy to preach party ideology, and ordered the exhibition of slogans of the party within the churches.

To subordinate religions to the party, the government forced religious groups to register with patriotic religious associations and their local branches. For Catholic churches, this means registering with the Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church of China, which is officially under the control of the State Administration of Religious Affairs of China and the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party.

Anyone who practices their religion outside of state-sanctioned associations is considered a member of a sect and subject to the anti-sect law, a policy that has resulted in mass imprisonments, according to the report. Chinese authorities have enforced anti-cult laws against underground Catholics who do not recognize the authority of government-backed clergy.

USCIRF Commissioner Asif Mahmood said that CNA, the English-speaking agency of EWTN Newsthat the Chinese government views underground Catholics as a threat because they do not recognize the government's authority to dictate religious doctrine and regulate religious affairs.

Although some Catholics choose to worship legally within the state-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, they are certainly not free, as they must obey harsh mechanisms of control and interference, said Mahmood. Ultimately, the Chinese government only seeks to instill unwavering obedience and devotion to the CCP, its political agenda and its vision of religion, not to protect the religious freedom rights of Catholics, said Mahmood.

The report said the Holy See entered into a secret agreement with China in 2018, establishing cooperation between the Church and Chinese government authorities in the appointment of bishops. However, the report states that “the government unilaterally installed CCP-aligned bishops without the consultation and approval of the Holy See” despite this agreement.

Authorities continue to disappear underground Catholic religious leaders who reject the state-controlled Catholic Church, such as Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin and Bishop Augustine Cui Tai, Mahmood said. The government also refuses to reveal the whereabouts of Catholic leaders who have been missing for decades, such as Bishop James Su Zhimin.

Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Hudson Institute and former USCIRF commissioner, told CNA that the communist government is “trying to separate the Catholic Church of China from the pope.”

Catholic bishops are particular targets because of their essential role within the hierarchical Church in ensuring communion with St. Peter's successor, Shea said. Those who resist are imprisoned indefinitely without due process, banned from their episcopal seats, subjected to an indefinite police security investigation, disappear and/or are prevented from carrying out their episcopal ministries.

Shea says the Holy Shine-China Agreement offers no guarantees to bishops who refuse to join the association for reasons of conscience, nor does it address religious persecution. She said religious persecution under Xi was the most repressive against Chinese Catholics since the Mao era.

The problem extends to Protestants, Muslims, Taoists, Buddhists and followers of popular Chinese religions. Chinese authorities also repress the Falun Gong religious movement.

One of the most egregious examples included in the report is the forced internment of Uyghur Muslims in re-education camps, where they must swear loyalty to the Communist Party and renounce their language, culture and religious traditions. The report calls the government's actions genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims.

The report also notes examples of forced re-education against Tibetan Buddhists and the removal or modification of religious texts and images. Chinese authorities have also destroyed or altered statues and temples of Chinese Buddhists and Taoists, cracked down on practices seen as contrary to their goals, and forced the exhibition of slogans of the party.