#WuhanPneumonia #Church
Russia's Orthodox Church tells staff to disinfect icons amid virus fears

//Russia's Orthodox Church urged worshippers on Tuesday to refrain from the practice of kissing the cross at the end of services and told staff to regularly disinfect religious icons sometimes kissed by churchgoers, as precautions against coronavirus.

...the Novaya Gazeta newspaper last week reported hundreds of worshippers in St Petersburg were kissing a relic being wiped down with a cloth despite fears over the new virus.//

Source: Reuters #Mar17
#Russia #Holy

#Newspaper

China: Police arrest Christians participating in Zoom Easter worship service

//Christians were participating in a Zoom worship service from their homes on Easter Sunday when six leaders were arrested and detained by the Public Security Bureau. 

//The 5,000-member Sichuan house church, led by pastor Wang Yi, has not been able to gather in person since the communist regime shut down the church in 2018 and arrested their pastor and other leaders. Since then, it has opted to gather online.

//At that time I was also in the Zoom call, but there was a long period of time where I did not hear a thing. I thought it’s the network connection issue at first, but I soon heard a quarrel erupt. Our co-worker Wang Jun was questioning some people, [saying], ‘Who are you to do this [to us]?

//One member’s home had its electricity cut off, while others received phone calls that “police [were] coming to visit them soon

Full Article: The Christian Post, (17-Apr)

#Christian #Church #Zoom #Surveillance #Easter #Sichuan

#OpinionArticle

Provincial authorities ordered to eradicate crosses “no matter what,” and in four months, many state-run Protestant churches were left without them by Lu An

//From January to April, crosses were removed from at least 250 Three-Self churches in Lu’an, Ma’anshan, Huaibei, and other cities in the eastern province of Anhui. A local believer revealed that in November and December last year, crosses were removed from 22 Three-Self churches in Bozhou, Huaibei, and two other cities.

//A congregation member told Bitter Winter that local officials claimed that the cross-removal campaign was being implemented in line with a national policy, which requires to eliminate all Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, and other religious symbols. Such orders are being passed down from one government level to another, and every cross in Anhui will be eradicated eventually, the believer added.

//In mid-April, officials from the county’s United Front Work Department and other government institutions removed crosses from all the 33 Three-Self churches in the county. As the cross of the largest church in the county was being removed, believers attempted to save it. Still, the demolition proceeded as planned because local officials feared repercussions from higher authorities for disobeying their orders.

//A congregation member told Bitter Winter that local government officials declared at the end of last year that because of the animosity between the United States and China, the government fears that Christians, whose number is growing in China, will “unite with foreigners against the state.”

Full article: Bitter Winter, (09-Jun)

#China #Church #CrossesRemoved #Religion

⬆️⬆️⬆️ Continue reading

#HumanRights #Dignity #Coronavirus #Church
Churches Open Compounds To Citizens For Meals as Government Bans Dining In

The all-day ban on dine-in meals at restaurants took effect on July 29, 2020. People could be seen eating along the streets during lunch hours. Many churches opened their compounds for the public to have their meals. Many construction workers and white-collared workers were seen having their meals in the churches.

Thomas Law, a priest at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, said that there is hardly a proper place for the citizens to have their lunch, and the provision of places in the church is "a basic act of decency."

Poon Yuk-kuen, May, a pastor of the Methodist Church of Hong Kong, pointed out that she saw many citizens having their meals on the streets.

"We all want to eat. How did Hong Kong fall into such a state?" She also criticized the government for not considering the situation at a grassroots level, as many cleaners are prohibited to stay in the offices that they work for to consume their meals. Therefore, the church was "doing what they should do" while facing the dangers of the epidemic, for the sole purpose of providing comfortable places for the citizens to consume their meals.

Source: InMedia #Jul30
#FailedState

#Newspaper #Church

Sheng Kung Hui Holy Trinity Cathedral prays for introducing medical staff from mainland China, suddenly deletes content about praying for National Security Law

(1 Aug) Sheng Kung Hui Holy Trinity Cathedral, in its latest instalment of the weekly magazine “9th Day of the Pentecost”, originally had included prayer items to “pray that the national security law can bring a prosperous and stable future to Hong Kong, pray for the steady enforcements despite the difficulties, and pray for the successful implementation of such laws in the areas of politics, economics, legal aspects and people’s livelihood” in the “Social, country and the world” section of its weekly prayer topics. However, the aforementioned content was found deleted in the online version of the magazine.

In addition, although there has been heated debates around whether Hong Kong should introduce medical staff from mainland China to assist in dealing with the virus, in the latest weekly prayer topics of the Cathedral, the controversial topic “pray for the high feasibility for Hong Kong to introduce excellent mainland doctors to combat the virus along with local doctors” still remains .

Source: Apple Daily
Translated by: Hong Kong Echo

#ShengKungHui #MedicalStaff #NationalSecurityLaw #Religion

#PoliticalProsecution #HumanitarianCrisis
HK Police Freeze Charity Church's Account, Arrest at Least 2 Members, Take Away a Social Work and Raid 3 Homeless Hostels

On Dec 7, 2020, the Good Neighbourhood District Church, a registered charity which provides social services and run the “Safeguard Our Generation” campaign, found that their HSBC bank account was frozen.

Read more:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27161

The next day the Narcotics Bureau and Financial Investigation Police raided the church in Fanling, a branch in Kwun Tong and three homeless hostels.

The police arrested a 24-year-old former director of the church and a 37-year-old current staff, accusing them of fraud and money laundry by crowdfunding. Lau Ka-Tung, social worker and church member, was taken to the police station.

The Good Neighbourhood District Church posted at around 6pm on Dec 8, 2020 on Facebook that police raided their office in Fanling with a search warrant issued by the court. Police left at 8pm and took away with them documents as "evidence". Police also put Pastor Roy Chan and his wife on the wanted list.

Social worker Lau Ka-tung wrote on his facebook, reminding Hongkongers to "hang on".

Source: Apple Daily; Lau Ka-tung's Facebook #Dec8
https://bit.ly/36REJCm

https://www.facebook.com/108296297598557/posts/196218175473035/?d=n

#Church #LauKaTung #RoyChan #SafeguardOurGeneration #PoliceState #Retaliation

#Smearing #June4
Hostile Banners Seen outside Churches in Hong Kong, Smearing June 4 Memorial Masses and Warning of National Security Breach

Photo: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29886

Tomorrow, June 4, 2021, marks 32 years after June 4th Tiananmen Massacre, a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy civilians by the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, in 1989.

In Hong Kong, the annual candlelight vig has been banned by the police. Despite that, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese will continue to organize a Mass outside their seven churches in the evening.

However, on the morning of June 3, 2021, some hostile banners with words "Cult invades religion" were placed outside the churches, smearing the mass as a potential breach of the #NationalSecurityLaw.

Porson Chan, project officer of the Commission, responded that they had no intention to correlate the false accusations on the banner to the June 4 Mass, emphasizing that the Mass is a legal religious activity protected by Basic Law. Thus the event would be held as scheduled.

Image: Big
Text: InMedia HK #June3

#PoliticalSuppression #Masses #Church #TiananmenMassacre

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HK Police Arrest #GrannyWong
for "participating in unauthorized assembly" ALONE

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29822

#NeverSurrender: Hong Kong Hospital Authorities Employees' Alliance Speaks Up for June 4 Tiananmen Massacre

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29830

Pro-democracy Activists Reopen June 4th Commemorative Museum in Hong Kong

https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/29877