China has begun another wave of cross removals from church buildings as the coronavirus pandemic subsides on the mainland.
The removals began over the past fortnight as government officials became relatively free from the pressure of fighting the pandemic, according to Christian leaders in the country.
Authorities have removed crosses from Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Anhui Diocese and one church in Yongqiao district of Suzhou City.
Most recently, they attempted to remove the cross of a church in Suzhou Road in Hefei City on April 27.
Parishioners were told by local officials that they were acting on the “directions from superiors”. However, no documents were produced to prove this claim.
“The same routine and tactics are used all across China,” says Fr Chen from Anhui Diocese. “This is not the case of a particular diocese or province. It is happening all over the mainland, but the mainland Church is silent.
Fr Chen fears there will be more cross removals and said the Chinese Communist Party did not stop their persecution of Christians even when Covid-19 was raging in China.
“If the churches don’t unite to resist, many more crosses will be removed,” he says.
“After the religious symbol is removed it is no longer a church.”
Since October 2018, hundreds of crosses across China have been removed.
Dioceses in Zhejiang, Henan, Hebei and Guizhou provinces have witnessed several crosses being removed, allegedly after they violated planning laws.
In October 2019, for instance, a church in Guantao County in Hebei was accused of “illegally occupying cultivated land” and then demolished.
Priests say the dioceses will normally cooperate with authorities in the removal of crosses in the hope of saving the church building.