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A Profile in Courage: Cardinal Kung and Catholic Resistance in ShanghaiOn the evening of Sept. 8, 1955, public security officers of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a mass arrest of Catholic clergy in the city of Shanghai. Among them was the first native-born bishop of the city, Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei. By the end of the month, over 1,200 priests and lay faithful were arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned.This carefully orchestrated event was the culmination of a multiyear process by the CCP to break Catholic resistance in the city and to bring the Church under the control of the state. ......

Exclusive-Historic conclave: Chinese bishops, priests brief Hong Kong clerics on Xi's view of religion HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese bishops and religious leaders briefed senior Hong Kong Catholic clergymen on President Xi Jinping's vision of religion with "Chinese characteristics" in an unprecedented meeting organised by the mainland's representative office in the city, according to four clerics.The clerics who attended or had knowledge of the Oct 31 meeting described it as Beijing's most assertive move yet in its attempts to influence Hong Kong’s diocese, which is answerable to the Vatican and includes some high-ranking leaders who have long been defenders of...

Bishop Shao Zhumin Seized by Chinese AuthoritiesThe Underground Bishop was Taken Away for “Vacation”10/27/2021 China (International Christian Concern) – International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on October 25, the authorities in China’s Wenzhou seized Bishop Shao Zhumin ahead of the month of the dead. He was officially detained to go on a forced “vacation,” a measure employed by the government to “educate” dissidents and religious clergy who fail to submit to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s control. According to Asia News, sources on the ground relay that the bishop was officially taken away a few days before November, where...

This Morning: Francis Celebrates Regime-Compatible Inter-ReligionFrancis met in the morning of October 4 at the Vatican with the controversial Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew, the Anglican Primate Justin Welby, and other representatives of false religions, in anticipation of the November 12 UN Climate Change Conference.Even the pro-Francis IlSismografo noted that the Dalai Lama, the leader of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, was missing.Why? Because for several years Francis has been bowing to the Chinese ban that prevents the Dalai Lama’s presence at inter-religion summits.It’s true that Francis prefers climate religion to Catholicism, but even more important for him is opportunism.

A Catholic from Zhejiang is fined for hosting Msgr. Shao Zhumin in his private chapel. The prelate, recognized by the Holy See, but not by the Party, is branded as an emissary of a "foreign institution". All attempts by the Party to eliminate pastors and unofficial communities, tearing up the premises of the Agreement between China and the Holy See.Rome (AsiaNews) – An increasing number of unofficial bishops in China are being prevented from carrying out their ministry. Placed under house arrest or detained in other locations, isolated, fined or encumbered in their daily lives render any gathering between the...

Jeffrey Sachs and the Vatican: Silent on China’s Rights AbusesIt remains unclear whether Sachs’ approach to China has had a direct influence on the Holy See’s own dealings with Beijing.VATICAN CITY — The Chinese government continues to be heavily criticized for its treatment of the Uyghurs, an ethnic Muslim minority in the country’s northwest, while the Vatican remains publicly silent — along with one of its influential longtime advisers. A Human Rights Watch report released Monday, titled “Break Their Lineage, Break Their Roots — China’s Crimes against Humanity Targeting Uyghurs and Other Turkic Muslims,” declared that the Chinese communist...

Scientists Create Embryos Who are Part Human, Part Monkey for Dubious ResearchScientists are pushing new ethical boundaries with human-animal experimentation.On Thursday, an article published in the journal “Cell” describes how an international team of scientists created embryos that were part-human and part-monkey, or chimeras. The researchers used the embryos to explore the possibility of growing organs for people who need organ transplantsSpeaking with NPR, several U.S. scientists raised ethical concerns about the new experiment, but another bioethicist defended the research for having “lofty humanitarian goals.”But the means are not always justified by the end goal.Follow LifeNews on the MeWe social...

The Vatican Remains Silent on the Persecution of Chinese ChristiansLast November, Pope Francis, for the first time, called China’s Muslim Uighurs a “persecuted” people, something human rights activists have been urging him to do for years. However, during his solemn Urbi et Orbi Easter blessing on Easter Sunday, Francis snubbed the Uighurs as he carefully omitted any reference to those suffering human rights abuses under China’s Communist regime when he named an array of countries, such as Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Nigeria, and Tigray where people are plagued by violence and conflict.All things being equal, there is one group...

In a handwritten letter sent exclusively to Religion Unplugged, Cardinal Joseph Zen reflected on the Vatican’s continued cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party, declaring the Church in China “schismatic,” and placing the blame on Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin. “I will never fight with the Pope, but the Pope never tried to silence me, so [I] will continue to protest against Parolin,” Zen said. Cardinal Zen, a retired bishop from Hong Kong, has been an unwelcome commentator on the Vatican’s secretive and opaque deal with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the rights of the church in China. However,...

The annual conference is hosted by Great Wall Club (GWC), a group comprised of executives from Chinese companies such as Tencent and their Silicon Valley counterparts. This collaboration, however, poses a national security threat and runs the risk of intellectual property theft and espionage per the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Tencent, for example, has been characterized by the U.S. State Department as a “tool of the Chinese government” with “no meaningful ability to tell the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ‘no’ if officials decide to ask for their assistance,”and is among the bevy of Chinese companies banned or on track...

Crackdowns on Unregistered Catholics Resume Across China As the coronavirus lockdown measures were eased, the CCP recommenced threats and intimidations against Catholics who refuse to join the Patriotic Church. On Easter eve, officials from the Religious Affairs Bureau raided the Holy Rosary Church in Fuzhou, a prefecture-level city in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. They pressured its leaders to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church (CPCA), threatening to demolish the church, impose a fine of 200,000 RMB (about $ 28,000), and arrest its priest if the demand was not implemented. Before leaving, the officials ordered to remove the church name...

A Chinese government-backed property giant has secretly raided in bulk Australia’s supplies of masks, hand sanitiser, antibacterial wipes and essential medical supplies and shipped them back to China. The Greenland Group, which manages high-end real estate projects in Sydney and Melbourne, proactively drained Australian supplies of anti-coronavirus equipment, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Three million surgical masks, 500,000 pairs of gloves and bulk supplies of sanitiser and wipes were bought up in Australia and other countries where Greenland operates. While the bulk purchases and shipping were perfectly legitimate, the goods shipped in bulk to China include the very items that...

Despite China’s incredible economic success as of late, it’s important to remember that it is still fundamentally a communist country. Recent events have been a stern reminder. Freedom can be messy, but it’s nothing like the mess an authoritarian regime creates when it fears losing power. The disturbing outbreak of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China and the communist government’s response to it should be a reminder of the consequence of a system based on state control, without rule by the people and a vibrant civil society. Many are impressed by the fact that China built a 1,000-bed hospital in 10...

Long before the coronavirus made international headlines, China’s Communist Party, which rules the country with unchallenged authority, had an image problem. Image has always been a key element of Beijing’s plan to rise to global greatness. It has worked assiduously to carve a reputation as an unstoppable power wading well into the midst of world affairs. Today, however, that carefully crafted image is badly tattered. It’s worse than it was just one year ago when nations that eagerly participated in China’s Belt and Road Initiative began to realize that Chinese “aid” was a two-edged sword. No one has done more...

The United Nations’ World Health Organization on Jan. 9 announced an outbreak of a new—or novel—coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China. In the three weeks since the announcement, the virus has intensified in China, infecting thousands there and is now spreading across the globe, far beyond its origin in Hubei province. Indeed, this new coronavirus has taken nearly 200 lives in China. As Chinese public health officials strive to contain the virus, it’s important to identify three early lessons that can be drawn from the outbreak and the initial response to it to prevent this Chinese epidemic—and others that will undoubtedly...

The Old Dominion is trending in an ominous direction, and it’s a problem for the whole country. On Monday, the Virginia General Assembly ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. Advocates of the ERA have argued that Virginia is the 38th and final state needed to add it to the Constitution, though the legal argument for that is dubious. Nevertheless, if the ERA were to become law, it would almost certainly provide the legal basis to enshrine left-wing social dogmas nationwide, among other negative consequences. Other states should take note: No matter how conservative your state has been in the past, you’re...

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has temporarily shelved a proposed rule change that would further restrict American sales to Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, after some officials in the Defense Department and other agencies argued that the measure, which was intended to protect national security, could actually undermine it, according to people familiar with the matter. The rule change, which multiple government agencies were reviewing, would close a loophole that allowed technology companies like Intel and Micron to continue shipping chips, software and other products to Huawei despite a ban that prevented the Chinese company from buying some American products....

There were no champagne corks popping, no crystal balls dropping in Wang Yi's new year. The pastor of Early Rain Covenant Church was in prison, spending his second January 1st in a dark cell, charged with a crime Americans commit every day: worshipping Jesus. The actual allegations were much more subtle -- things like "illegal business activities" or "inciting subversion of state power." But in China, government officials need no excuse. Christians, like Uyghurs, Falun Gong, and any other men and women of faith, are fair game. "Where are you taking my husband?" a woman pleads on a cell phone...

2020 to See Harsher Rules for China’s Christians New measures demand total submission to Communist Party Beijing (AsiaNews) - As of Feb. 1, 2020, new administrative measures will be put in place for Chinese religious groups. According to a communication published by Xinhua, published yesterday, they complete the "Regulations on religious affairs" revised two years ago and implemented on February 1, 2018. The text of the "Administrative measures for religious groups" published by Xinhua consists of six chapters and 41 articles dealing with the organization, functions, offices, supervision, projects and economic administration of communities and groups at both a national and local level. Every aspect of the life of religious...

Hong Kong conspicuous by absence from list of PopeÂ’s Christmas concerns ROME - When Pope Francis ticked off countries suffering political and violent unrest during his traditional Christmas blessing Wednesday, one place currenting in the thick of months of heated protests was notably absent: Hong Kong.In his traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing on Christmas Day, the pope offered prayers for Syria and the Middle East, Venezuela and the Americas, the Democratic Republic of Congo and all of Africa, and Ukraine in Europe, in each case urging efforts to ensure peace, security and an end to suffering.RELATED: From Syria to Venezuela,...