A church in Shanghai.
Protestants and Roman Catholics in the Zhejiang province of Eastern China are pushing against the Communist party campaign that has removed the crosses of more than 1,200 Chinese churches "for the sake of safety and beauty" according to a government official.
Last Friday, Jul 24, Catholic bishop Mgr Vincent Zhu Weifang, along with 26 priests, took to the streets to protest the infringement of their religious freedom by the Communist government and rallied outside of government buildings in Wenzhou, a place known as "Jerusalem of the East" because of its large Christian population.
Catholics and Protestants in Zhejiang have also taken to making crosses and carrying them to peacefully protest the government removal of the crosses from church roofs, pledging to "make the cross flourish throughout China."
"Each time they take a cross down, we will put more up," said a church leader to the Guardian at a protest on Friday.
Chinese Catholic officials in Wenzhou also wrote and openly circulated a letter earlier this month saying that the removals have "caused great resent and anger among clergy and believers."
"Removing crosses means destroying believers' faith as well as destroying love and indulging hatred," the letter states.
The government crackdown against churches began in late 2013 resulting in the removal of crosses from hundreds of houses of worship and even in the destruction of some church buildings.
An official from Zhejiang's ethnic and religious affairs bureau told the Global Times, a government-run newspaper, that the crosses had been removed "out of safety concerns."
Zhejiang authorities have launched a beautification campaign called "Three Rectifications and One Demolition" aimed at enhancing the region of Zhejiang by destroying illegal building structures. They insist that they are targeting illegal buildings that have not followed building regulations, not religious structures. Some activists believe that the campaign is backed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Zhejiang is one of the country's most churchgoing regions and has China's largest Christian congregation, according to the Guardian. An estimate of 100 million Christians call China home, as opposed to the 88 million members loyal to the Communist party.
Chinese pastors and Christian activists argue that authorities are utilizing the campaign to slow the growth of Christianity in the nation.
"The authorities have attached great importance to this religious symbol," pastor Zheng Leguo from Zhejiang said in May, according to Christian Post.
