China - the torch of faith

As the Olympic Games in Beijing get under way, it is worthwhile to remind ourselves that Christians, along with other religious believers, are subjected to persecution in China. Whilst commentators from the developed nations of the West might find it fashionable to call on China to respect the human rights of its own citizens, I suspect that few of them will be willing to articulate this in a call for religious freedom in the country. Such a call would require a certain echo in Western societies that are increasingly anti-religious themselves, though this is not expressed in juridical persecution in the way that it is in a country like China.


Aid to the Church in Need feature their work to support Chinese Catholics on their website, under a campaign entitled "Torch of Faith: China 2008". This includes stories, prayer resources and the possibility of providing financial support for ACN's work in China.


Christian Solidarity Worldwide have a similar campaign called "One Dream: Freedom. It's time to go the distance". What Catholics will be familiar with in the language of "underground Church" and "Patriotic Church" is mirrored for other Christian communities as "unregistered" and "registered" Churches.

A suggestion of Christian Solidarity Worldwide's campaign is that Church communities should spend time tomorrow (Friday) in prayer for Christians in China. This is timed to coincide with the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Instead of watching the opening ceremony, we could switch off the television and pray a family Rosary for the persecuted Church.

And this is before any consideration is given to the "one child" policy and its practice of co-erced abortions.