International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on March 9 dozens of local authorities forcibly entered the Shangqiu Catholic Church South Cathedral in Henan Province, quarantined the priests and nuns in the building, and started to tear down crosses from the church.
Without official documentation or notice, the unidentified group occupied the church, secured the doors and shut down electrical power. Frightened and confused, priests at the church called the police to report the intruders. The police, however, took the priests away and confiscated their cell phones. The group then barred the remaining nuns and priests from entering or leaving the site.
The removal of crosses lasted about five hours despite church staff and volunteers’ efforts to protect the church. A Twitter video shared by Father Francis Liu shows a crane moving a cross from the church roof to the ground.
According to a Chinese website Catholics Online, the alleged intention of local authorities was to forcibly occupy the church and its property, but they failed to do so and instead went on to remove crosses from the rooftop.
Shangqiu Catholic Church South Cathedral is sanctioned by the government and was accredited as a “Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level” in 2002. In 2013, the State Administration of Religious Affairs also recognized the church as one of…
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