Bitter Winter accessed a video that shows the destruction of an altar of a Catholic church in Fujian’s Fuzhou city.
According to sources, on the morning of July 29, 2018, the local government in Fuzhou mobilized nearly 100 urban management and armed police officers and drove them on two buses to an altar of a Catholic church on Shiping Mountain in the Changle district of Fuzhou. Citing “illegal construction,” the officials ordered to demolish the altar while the officers prohibited over ten believers who were there from approaching the site.
Three days before the demolition, the local government notified members of the congregation that the altar of their church would be destroyed, so they managed to remove and save crosses and other faith-related items beforehand.
Using a forklift, workers spent over an hour destroying the altar, built almost seven years ago after a member of the congregation had donated 280,000 RMB (about 41,000 USD). Witnesses report that the believers were crying watching the demolition. They used to hold special masses at the altar to pray for the deceased hoping that their souls would ascend to Heaven sooner, which is an important religious ritual for the Catholics in the area.
Reported by Lin Yijiang
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