KateYHuang
12-28-2003, 02:54 PM
According to the Hong Kong human rights information center, on Wednesday December 24, police in central China detained a pastor for several hours over "illegal assembly" after he performed a Christmas service at his home.
80 residents in Fengqiu town of Henan Province gathered in pastor Liu ShanSongˇ¦s home to celebrate the Christmas Day. The detention took place at noon by Fengqiu police. They detained pastor Li and took away 11 holy bibles.
According to the center, Zhang Qiang, a police official, confirmed the incident when contacted by AFP by telephone. Pastor Li was released after having been detained for about eight hours.
Authorities have warned all institutes of higher learning to be on the alert against "illegal religious activities" during the Christmas holiday. All the religious activities which held outside the official church are identified ˇ§illegal.ˇ¨ The government says China has 15 million Protestants and five million Catholics in official churches. But according to the center, there are believed to be millions more - including an estimated 10 million Catholics - in 'underground' or 'home' churches, which refuse to submit to government meddling and identified ˇ§illegalˇ¨ churches.
Chinese authorities carried out what some critics consider one of the harshest crackdowns against underground Christians in the past year, with dozens of churches demolished and many worshippers arrested.
80 residents in Fengqiu town of Henan Province gathered in pastor Liu ShanSongˇ¦s home to celebrate the Christmas Day. The detention took place at noon by Fengqiu police. They detained pastor Li and took away 11 holy bibles.
According to the center, Zhang Qiang, a police official, confirmed the incident when contacted by AFP by telephone. Pastor Li was released after having been detained for about eight hours.
Authorities have warned all institutes of higher learning to be on the alert against "illegal religious activities" during the Christmas holiday. All the religious activities which held outside the official church are identified ˇ§illegal.ˇ¨ The government says China has 15 million Protestants and five million Catholics in official churches. But according to the center, there are believed to be millions more - including an estimated 10 million Catholics - in 'underground' or 'home' churches, which refuse to submit to government meddling and identified ˇ§illegalˇ¨ churches.
Chinese authorities carried out what some critics consider one of the harshest crackdowns against underground Christians in the past year, with dozens of churches demolished and many worshippers arrested.