Church in China Demolished
- 10 years ago
Chinese officials have demolished a church in Wenzhou, raising suspicions in the Christian community that the act was a statement against the practice of the religion.
Chinese officials have demolished a church in Wenzhou, raising suspicions in the Christian community that the act was part of a campaign against their religion.
The government insists there was no such motivation behind the building’s removal.
They assert it was simply a matter of upholding the law, as the church was in violation of building size limits.
At 85 thousand square feet, the religious building was 4 times the allotted area.
Parishioners learned of the plans to bulldoze their place of worship prior to the slated demolition date and began to protest.
For a month, they occupied their church, creating a standoff between themselves and local authorities.
In the end, not only was the building ultimately torn down, but several area officials involved in it being built were placed under investigation.
Oddly, in the early planning stages the church construction was approved by the government, and hailed as an outstanding display of engineering.
It’s been noted by ChinaAid Association, a watchdog organization for religious freedom in China, that the mood changed after a Provincial Committee Secretary of the Communist Party of China declared that crosses placed on steeples were, “too conspicuous and too flashy.”
Chinese officials have demolished a church in Wenzhou, raising suspicions in the Christian community that the act was part of a campaign against their religion.
The government insists there was no such motivation behind the building’s removal.
They assert it was simply a matter of upholding the law, as the church was in violation of building size limits.
At 85 thousand square feet, the religious building was 4 times the allotted area.
Parishioners learned of the plans to bulldoze their place of worship prior to the slated demolition date and began to protest.
For a month, they occupied their church, creating a standoff between themselves and local authorities.
In the end, not only was the building ultimately torn down, but several area officials involved in it being built were placed under investigation.
Oddly, in the early planning stages the church construction was approved by the government, and hailed as an outstanding display of engineering.
It’s been noted by ChinaAid Association, a watchdog organization for religious freedom in China, that the mood changed after a Provincial Committee Secretary of the Communist Party of China declared that crosses placed on steeples were, “too conspicuous and too flashy.”