Wenzhou (AsiaNews / China Aid) - The faithful of Lingnei Church (Zhejiang) have re-erected the cross that the government removed on 30 July. The community’s lawyer says according to Chinese law its removal was an act of "theft".
This cross demolition is a part of the “Three Rectifications and One Demolition” campaign, ongoing for two years. Authorities say that the campaign targets “illegal" buildings, but in reality it is also targeting constructions with permits. So far, between 1200 and 1500 buildings and crosses have been destroyed or gutted.
The faithful, priests, bishops all try to resist this oppression, but often end up in prison.
The Lingnei church was destroyed at 4 am on 30 July. The same day crosses at the Gaosha Catholic church and other chapels were demolished.
The Lingnei community hired a Beijing lawyer, Zhang Kai to check the legality of the demolition. Zhang found that no official organization claimed responsibility for the act. Without legal justification, he concludes, the crosses must be considered unfairly "stolen" and therefore, putting them back does not violate any law.
For this reason, at 9 pm on July 30, the faithful of Lingnei re-erected their cross, working hard for several hours (see photo).