The action will be repeated on 30 December. “We want to let mainland Christians know that we have learned of what has happened and we strongly support them,” said one Hong Kong Christian.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – Hundreds of Hong Kong Protestants turned up for prayers dressed in black on Sunday as an expression of solidarity with Christians facing persecution in mainland China.
The idea of wearing mourning black in solidarity with suffering fellow Christians spread online over the past few days. The action will be repeated next Sunday.
According to the organisers, at least 47,000 people were reached by the message on social media.
Four of the five Christian groups that organised the dress-in-black action were founded after Hong Kong’s 2014 Occupy movement, a civil disobedience campaign for greater democracy in the city.
The goal of this action is to raise awareness of the fate of many Protestant communities in China.
In recent weeks, three unofficial Protestant churches have been closed, namely the Zion Church in Beijing, the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, and the Rongguili Church in Guangzhou.
Wang Yi, the pastor in Chengdu, and his wife, were arrested along with a hundred other members of the community on charges of "inciting subversion against state power". In reality they only wanted to worship outside state-controlled official communities.
With respect with Sunday’s action one Hong Kong Christian said “We want[ed] to let mainland Christians know that we have learned of what has happened and we strongly support them.”