Chinese government seizes, converts churches

Map of China

Chinese government seizes, converts churches

The Chinese government has seized numerous churches and converted them to centers for promoting the Communist Party.

According to Bitter Winter, a magazine that covers religious freedom, countless churches and ancestral temples have been converted.

The first floor of a Three-Self church in the Xiuyu district’s Daitou town was converted in October. On Nov. 6, more than 100 government officials attended an opening ceremony for the center. The church pastor was forced to integrate stories about Mao Zedong in his sermon that day, sources said.

In April, a Three-Self church was shut down, and officials destroyed religious symbols inside the church. The cross outside the church was painted white to blend in with an exterior wall. (persecution.org)