Government officials destroy Way of the Cross in China’s Henan province

June 8, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Weihui, China, Jun 8, 2018 / 03:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in China’s Henan province is a popular pilgrimage site for many Catholics, where thousands have journeyed since its founding in 1903 to pray and walk the shrine’s Way of the Cross.

However, on the evening of June 5, local government authorities tore down the sanctuary’s images of Christ along the Way of the Cross, only weeks after Chinese officials told Bishop Joseph Zhang Yinlin of Weihui (Anyang) to dismantle the Way of the Cross without any given reason.

The Way of the Cross was demolished during the night on Tuesday, said Bishop Zhang, when “excavators and pickup trucks were driven to the site at night because authorities feared there would be too many church members in the daytime,” according to UCA News.

Local nuns took videos and pictures of the damages and sent them to chat groups to record the vandalism. One religious source said the Communist Party was making an example out of the sanctuary, saying the government would “allow Catholicism to exist but not develop.”

The sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the only pilgrimage site in Henan province and is located in Tianjiajing village. It was a product of the vision of Bishop Stefano Scarella, P.I.M.E., who was vicar apostolic of Northern Honan from 1884 until his death in 1902. He dedicated the shrine to Mary, in gratitude for protecting missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion.

Every year, the sanctuary hosted an annual celebration July 16, where thousands of pilgrims visited from nearby provinces, such as Hebei and Shanxi. However, in 1987, the government banned large pilgrimage gatherings and limited the number of pilgrims to 300.

Despite the shrine’s rooted history in the province, the future of the sanctuary after the recent vandalism is unknown.

The damages sustained at Our Lady of Mount Carmel is indicative of mounting strikes against religious freedom in China. Last fall, one Protestant church was dismantled in the same province, and in February, towns throughout Henan were notified of a ban against publicly posting religious pamphlets.

Crosses at Catholic churches have also been removed and demolished by government officials in Henan, which is believed to have the second largest Christian population in the country, with roughly 2.4 million Christians as of 2009. Church-run kindergarten schools were additionally taken over by officials and closed without further notice, and one bishop’s tomb was desecrated.

Eight of Henan’s ten dioceses have been ordered to be suppressed since Wang Guosheng became the Communist Party Secretary of the province in March.

Zhejiang province has also been a focus for local government persecution of Christians. There have also been reports of church demolition or removal of crosses in Shaanxi province and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom recently published its 2018 report in April, in which it identifies China as a Country of Particular Concern. This label is given to foreign governments that engages in or tolerates “systemic, ongoing, and egregious” religious freedom violations.

In April, a Chinese government official who oversees religious affairs said that government restrictions on bishop appointments are not a violation of religious freedom, as he emphasized that religions in China must “adapt to socialist society.”

President Xi Jinping, who was granted lifelong rule in March has urged greater government control and less foreign influence over religions in China. New restrictions were put in place by the Chinese government Feb. 1 making it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to enter a church building.

There were widespread reports earlier this year that the Holy See was close to coming to an agreement with the Chinese government over bishop appointments.

The Church in China is split between an underground Catholic Church and the officially recognized Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. Every bishop recognized by Beijing must be a member of the association, which is now under day-to-day direct supervision of the Chinese Communist Party.

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On Indian Independence Day, bishops reiterate Christians’ patriotism

August 16, 2023 Catholic News Agency 0
Father Isaac Honsan, pastor of St. Paul’s Church, stands in the rubble after the church was set on fire in a recent attack. / Photo credit: Anto Akkara

Indore, India, Aug 16, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

As India celebrated its 77th Independence Day marking freedom from colonial British rule on Aug. 15, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) asserted the patriotism of Christians and called for “resolving internal challenges with empathy, understanding, and unity.”

“India’s journey to freedom was not solely forged on the battlefield but also through unwavering determination, sacrifices, and visionary leadership from those of diverse backgrounds, including the Christian community,” the CBCI said in a press release.

Though British imperialism spread in India when the East India Company began trading there in the 17th century, the British Parliament took total control over the Indian subcontinent in 1858.

Following the massive freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi — the prophet of nonviolence — the British ended their rule over the Indian subcontinent in August 1947, dividing it into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Hindu nationalist outlets, under the influence of the ruling BJP (the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress), have called into question the patriotism of India’s 34 million Christians. The CBCI statement addressed the charge, saying: “Christian freedom fighters left an indelible mark on India’s history. Their dedication and sacrifices serve as a poignant reminder that the fight for freedom was a collective endeavor that transcended religious and cultural boundaries.”

“Our nation’s strength is derived from its ability to confront and resolve internal challenges with empathy, understanding, and unity. The diverse fabric of our country is a source of strength, but it also requires ongoing efforts to ensure that every citizen’s rights and aspirations are respected and protected,” the bishops stated.

Violence in Manipur

In an apparent criticism of the 105-day-old bloody ethnic conflict in the northeastern state of Manipur — in which ethnic Christian Kuki tribes have been targeted — the CBCI further called for “meaningful dialogue seeking solutions that prioritize the well-being and future of all the citizens, especially those who are suffering and feel abandoned due to conflicts, sentiments of hatred, and acts of violence.”

The tiny state of Manipur, with a population of 3.7 million, has been engulfed in a violent conflict between ethnic Kuki tribals and Meiteis that began May 3 following a solidarity march by members of the Christian Kuki tribal community in south Manipur. The protest was against a controversial order from the state high court for extending Scheduled Tribe status to the ethnic Meiteis. (Scheduled Tribe status is a provision of India’s national constitution that mandates free education and quotas in professions such as medicine and engineering, as well as government jobs.) The Meiteis were originally followers of indigenous Sanamahism and many converted to Hinduism as well as Christianity. Christians constitute more than 52% of the state’s population.

Reports of tribal Kuki attacks on ethnic Meiteis spread like wildfire after the protest, which in turn plunged the Imphal Valley, which accommodates 90% of Manipur’s population, into an outburst of violence against Kuki tribal Christians. At the same time, ethnic Meitei settlements in the Kuki-dominated hills surrounding the valley were also targets of violence.

“It is our earnest appeal that the governance system should uphold the secular fabric of our country, reinforce constitutional values, and cultivate an environment of peaceful coexistence of various communities,” the CBCI statement said.

A CBCI delegation led by its president, Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, visited Manipur in late July. According to the Times of India, Biren Singh, the beleaguered BJP chief minister of Manipur, in a statement on Independence Day eve acknowledged that “with over 150 dead and hundreds injured, homes and places of faith razed to the ground, we are not leaving a good legacy for our children and future generations.”

The Catholic Church in Manipur, which accounts for 100,000 members among the 1.5 million Christians in the state, welcomed the CBCI statement for Independence Day.

“The beauty of this country is the diversity of culture, faith, and ethnicity, with a feeling of common brotherhood,” Father Varghese Velickagam, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Imphal, which covers the entire Manipur state, told CNA Aug. 15.

“Any forces that scheme to destroy these noble ideals should be resisted immediately,” said Velickagam, who issued a summary of the violence against Christian targets in early August and stated that more than 600 churches had been destroyed.

“The resolution of the crisis in the northeastern state [Manipur] is possible only through ‘peace’ and the central [federal] and the state government is putting all its efforts into it,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address.

However, Modi has been widely criticized, even internationally, for his protracted silence on Manipur bloodshed as the state government, led by the BJP, has failed to curb the bloodshed against the Kuki tribal Christians and has even condoned it.

“Killings will only stop when the assailants are arrested and put behind bars,” pointed out Colin Gonsalves, a Christian lawyer who has been representing Kuki tribal groups in the Supreme Court of India, in an interview.

“No communal attack can continue in the country without the state head giving support … The police can stop violence in 24 hours if they are told,” Gonsalves said, pointing to state complicity in the unabated violence in his interview, which has gone viral.

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