China

Under new rule, churches can only use their finances with instructions from the Chinese Communist Party

The Chinese communist regime has set up a joint system to tighten control over the finances of religious organizations in a bid to more strictly enforce the sinicization of religions, according to media reports.

The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) announced that the financial affairs of religious entities, including local and foreign income, expenditure and donations, will be placed under the supervision of the Status as of June 1.

The government says the measure is designed to streamline the financial management of religious groups operating on Chinese soil, SSPX News reported April 28.

Theoretically, churches and their finances cannot be used without instructions from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) once the regulations are enacted, observers say. It will also prevent underground religious groups, including Catholics, from using the premises of state-recognized churches and chapels.

Underground church officials have expressed concerns about the new regulations, describing them as a new tool to expand the sinicization of the Catholic Church and pressure unofficial churches to join government-sanctioned bodies. ‘State.

Sinicization is a political ideology of the CCP that seeks to impose strict rules on societies and institutions based on the core values ​​of socialism, self-reliance, and support for party leadership.

For the Vatican, the agreement is an effort to unite Chinese Catholics divided between underground and state-recognized churches, although it allows China to have a say in the appointments of bishops

The new regulations come in the context of the provisional two-year agreement between the Vatican and China in 2018 on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China, which was renewed for another two years in 2020. The agreement expires in october.

For the Vatican, the agreement is an effort to unite Chinese Catholics divided between underground and state-recognized churches, although it allows China a say in the appointments of bishops. Analysts say the deal could naturally lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and China in the near future. Diplomatic relations were severed in 1951 following the communist takeover.

Two recent state measures also aim to control religious groups. In March, the government ordered that no religious websites be allowed to distribute religious content without prior permission. In February, the government created a database to monitor all active religious personnel, including Catholic clergy.

Officially an atheist state, China legally recognizes five religions: Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Islam and Taoism. However, the communists strictly controlled state-sanctioned religious groups and oppressed those who belong to unregistered and unrecognized groups such as the Church of Almighty God, Falun Gong, and even underground Catholics.

Under President Xi Jinping’s rule since 2013, China has passed a series of repressive rules, including new regulations on religious affairs, and renewed its attempts to persecute and impose stricter Sinicization on religious groups and their members who refuse to join state-sanctioned organizations or pledge allegiance to the CCP.

United States-based international Christian advocacy group Open doors ranks China 17th out of 50 countries where Christians face severe persecution.

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