M
markomalley
Guest
From Asia News:
Beijing (AsiaNews) - The Easter holiday will be “very discreetly” celebrated this year in unofficial (underground) communities in China. Many community leaders, bishops and priests, were in fact called in by the police for a “conversation” and even underwent weeks of indoctrination on the government’s religious policy. Several Church observers clearly see a campaign underway to “convert” the underground Church and absorb it into the official church.
"This year - an underground priest told AsiaNews - we will celebrate Easter in silence and discretion, without any solemnity. In other years, we had to find locations big enough so we could celebrate together. This year, we will celebrate Easter in small groups. Like every year there will also be the baptisms of adults and children. In my parish there are 10. There are less than usual this year because we wanted to raise the level of formation, and follow the rules of the Church, to give at least a year of catechism. "
According to the priest, the discretion and silence of this year is due to the fact that the police are rather restless: in October there will be a leadership change, with a new president and a new prime minister who will replace Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
Folks need to keep our Chinese brethren in their prayers. Regardless of how badly it seems to be getting here, it pales in comparison to other places in the world, such as China. (Yet, you will note, the Church is growing despite the repression)
Beijing (AsiaNews) - The Easter holiday will be “very discreetly” celebrated this year in unofficial (underground) communities in China. Many community leaders, bishops and priests, were in fact called in by the police for a “conversation” and even underwent weeks of indoctrination on the government’s religious policy. Several Church observers clearly see a campaign underway to “convert” the underground Church and absorb it into the official church.
"This year - an underground priest told AsiaNews - we will celebrate Easter in silence and discretion, without any solemnity. In other years, we had to find locations big enough so we could celebrate together. This year, we will celebrate Easter in small groups. Like every year there will also be the baptisms of adults and children. In my parish there are 10. There are less than usual this year because we wanted to raise the level of formation, and follow the rules of the Church, to give at least a year of catechism. "
According to the priest, the discretion and silence of this year is due to the fact that the police are rather restless: in October there will be a leadership change, with a new president and a new prime minister who will replace Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.
Folks need to keep our Chinese brethren in their prayers. Regardless of how badly it seems to be getting here, it pales in comparison to other places in the world, such as China. (Yet, you will note, the Church is growing despite the repression)