11/10/2019 China (International Christian Concern) – A Catholic community in Wu Gao Zhang has reportedly been granted new land and rebuilding compensation for a new church following the demolition of their previous location.
The Catholic Church in Wu Gao Zhang was built on purchased farmland to accommodate their growing congregation and officially opened on August 15, 2018. Just over a year later on October 31, 2019 Catholics gathered for an overnight vigil at the church when they heard the news that authorities scheduled the demolition of the church due to a lack of building permits allowing worship.
It is reported that although the government gave verbal permission for the building of the church in 2018, the church was still targeted for demolition due to the continued growth of the congregation and the threat it posed to Chinese loyalty. Several other Catholic churches have faced backlash from the Chinese government. In July and August of this year, five Catholic churches were forcibly closed.
